One of the benefits of 2020 (and they were few and far between), was people realised how important their health and fitness was – both physically and mentally.
However with so many fitness businesses having to shut their doors down for a number of months last year, people had to look for different ways to train and stay healthy. In addition to this, health and fitness businesses had to investigate innovative ways to keep their members and clients moving and motivated.
Some of these changes I see continuing in 2021. If you manage a health and fitness business, it is important to be on top of these trends to ensure your business grows and thrives.
So without any further delay, let me run through the top 5 health and fitness trends which will have the biggest impact for your fitness business going in 2021.
1. Know your ideal prospect better than yourself
I can’t stress this enough – you have to know who your target audience is. You can never be everything to everyone otherwise you are nothing to no one.
There are many ways to do this, based on age, location, health and fitness issues, what they want to achieve and so forth.
What can you do?
To help you identify your ideal audience, look at your current members and ask three questions:
- Who has paid me the most?
- Who has been with us the longest?
- Who has given you the least grief (or who has been the least pain in the backside for you)?
This will give you a sense of who you should target in 2021.
2. Get outside
The topic of outdoor fitness is gaining in importance precisely because of Coronavirus. Research has shown intensive training is much less risky outside than indoors. Fitness studios should therefore look to move equipment and activities outside. This creates more safety for members and hopefully keep them more loyal.
What can you do?
Consider offering an outdoor option at a local park or hold some personal training in the great outdoors. Personally my outdoor training boomed last year and is still going strong today.
3. Marketing and social media
As the popular adage says, “when times are good you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise”.
Even with all the challenges businesses are facing now, it is critical to take advantage of all the opportunities to market your business.
Social media still continues to play an important role to promote your business to your ideal audience (see my first point). It is an effective and relatively cost efficient way to let your audience know who you are, what you offer, why they should use you, what are the benefits you can bring them and why they can trust you.
Don’t dismiss traditional methods – direct mail, partnering with other businesses with a similar audience to yours, refer a friend, and influencer marketing can be highly effective as well.
What can you do?
Get your marketing plan in place including online and offline marketing strategies to help achieve your 2021 business goals.
4. Technology
2020 saw an explosion of digital solutions as we had to adapt to a new way of delivering our services. As we found ourselves staying at home more, businesses had to look to Zoom, pre-recorded workouts and on demand classes.
I can’t ever see online workouts replacing or taking over the inhouse experience (for me I love the idea of training with other people) but online solutions like live streams and on-demand fitness platforms can help you win over online audiences, increase brand awareness, and could eventually convert digital members to a more personal experience.
As more people look for fully connected experiences, fitness businesses will need to create digital solutions to serve multiple personas, needs and expectations.
What can you do?
Perhaps it’s incorporating the latest fitness tracker or fitness app – whatever it is, your entire offering, both digital and in-person, will need to be world-class to keep members coming back again and again.
5. A greater connection to mind and body
The trend towards programs such as yoga, mental training or Pilates already existed before Corona. But it has been intensified by the pandemic. More and more people want to combine physical training with mental relaxation. According to ClassPass, Yoga was the top digital workout of 2020.
When talking about fitness, we often think of physical activity and health. But mental health is just as important and fitness goals now extend beyond physical activity alone. With lockdowns across the nation and feelings of isolation rising through multiple age groups, mental health is a big focus this year, and for a good reason. The line between mind and body is merging with people looking for ways to exercise both at the same time.
What can you do?
Look at adding some mind and body sessions to what you already offer or maybe look at partnering with a centre that offers these classes to compliment and add value to your business.
