What do Communities mean to your members?

There’s lots of talk about building communities around your club, but what are the best ways to do this, and how can it help with member retention?

This is tip number 7 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. Stay tuned for more...

What is a Community?

The difference in definition between a club and a community is that a club is a group of people who come together for a common purpose, whereas a community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

So, a club is not necessarily the building or venue

(although we often visit the club). And when we talk about communities, we’re often referring to the clubs within the club; it’s important to think about communities in plural, or multiple clubs, particularly when it comes to improving retention.

Looking at different collective groups of members, you have people who follow a particular instructor, especially group exercise. There are groups who arrive as the doors open for their early swim, members who always join in with the latest fitness challenge, or members and non-members who congregate at the club once or twice a week to get together and go for a run.

Les Mills Launch Days

Group exercise is a great example of a strong community, and events like quarterly launch experiences (e.g., Les Mills) are excellent ways of strengthening and delivering value to that community. By the same token, chair-based exercise sessions are often well attended, but even more so if there’s a coffee and cake afterwards. Many participants are less into the class, but more excited by the natter and network that happens. If the café is closed after the session, there will be hell to pay!

Gym, fitness, or other active challenges are another really good way of building communities, particularly if you make them simple, inclusive, and varied. Read last month’s article (or many more from the archive) for lots of challenge ideas to improve retention.

Referrals within communities

While we’re looking at the article archive, check out tip 4 on referrals. Two people are the smallest community, and while you’re probably not going to segment and tailor content for them, friends who visit, exercise, or workout together will stick around longer. And when they bring another friend, their community is growing! With similar goals and motivation, they’ll achieve their goals, and if you can support them, you create a virtuous circle. 

Public leisure facilities are generally really good at creating communities, partly because of the history and set-up of the business, also because there is often a café or area to congregate and come together (for kids’ parties as well as family swimming). Local independent gyms also often get community right, as they know and understand their members so well, and even join up with other local clubs for events and competitions. As local business owners, they also naturally get involved in local communities...

Local Communities 

Supporting your local community by reaching out to schools, businesses, and other clubs (sports, youth groups such as scouts and guides, charities, etc.) is a great way of extending your reach, engaging with more people, and creating more communities around your club. Depending on your model, not everyone needs to become a member, but they could take part in your next challenges, get some health and fitness tips, or subscribe to a monthly or quarterly HealthCheck.

Social Communities 

Creating and nurturing communities online is a natural extension of the face-to-face experience. Some clubs have member curated fitness challenges that continue to thrive since lockdown. As well as social pages and feeds, there are a plethora of groups from WhatsApp to Strava, that you can use to bring your members together for a little extra motivation or connection. Talk about, and invite members to join your communities in club, but also on your email newsletters, or even on your club app. But it’s not all about social media – a good old social community at a pub or members (and guests) summer barbeque is where the real connections get made.

Focus and added value

The possibilities with communities are almost endless, so the trick is to understand which one are working for you and your members, which ones are creating the best engagement, and then focusing your efforts on those groups. Ensure that they get heaps of added value and benefits. This could range from free smoothies (or beers) for the running club, to a loyalty card for external visitors to the martial arts club, or simply ensuring the café is always open after a certain exercise class that has attracts a community that is important to you.

Identify and develop your club communities and ask your members what they want from a community perspective too. If you get it right, they’ll help you with your member sales and with retention too!

Here to help

If you would like advice on strategy, definition, or implementation of your member challenges, please get in touch. This is what we do at GGFit. We work with public, private, and independent clubs, bringing learning and experience together from different models with a single focus on getting your members to stick around longer.