Building Community for Your Fitness Business

There are over 7 billion people on this planet, each with unique experiences and preferences. Amazingly, we are all asking a similar question: Where do I belong? The word “community” has been a hot topic within the fitness and wellness industry for many years. But what does that word mean? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a community as “a unified body of individuals.” Often, though, what people are searching for includes connection and camaraderie, which can be found and nurtured through building community.

While community is the structure of unity, connection is the direct link between individuals. Camaraderie is the friendship and mutual love that grows from the connection (see “The 3 Cs of Unity,” below).

These 3 Cs are important to your business for many reasons, one of which is loyalty. Loyalty is a primary driver when consumers decide what company to support; for example, have you ever met a New York Yankees fan? Enough said, right? Acquiring new customers can cost you five times more than retaining customers who return to the business due to their loyalty (Landis 2022). When you focus on nurturing your community, you can increase your financial and business success by fostering loyalty.

Building Community Through Unity

Ready to create and build your community in a way that will also build loyalty? Here’s a five-part plan to guide you on your way:

1.         Understand

2.         Narrow

3.         Investments

4.         Technology

5.         You

If you isolate and combine the first letter in each step, you spell UNITY. Why? Because you can’t have community without unity.

See also: Building Community

Understand (what builds trust)

Your first step in building loyalty is to understand why consumers choose to join your business and, eventually, become a part of your community.

People make financial decisions based on trust, credibility and loyalty (Kalia 2016; Ryan 2022; Qualtrics 2022). There are many ways to build trust in people, services and products; however, there are two all-encompassing methods: consistency and relative confidence.

Imagine that you went into a new bakery and enjoyed a carrot-cake cupcake. You returned a week later, expecting the same experience, but were met with a different, less tasty recipe. Would you go back to the bakery again? Probably not.

Providing consistent experiences paired with consistent branding encourages trust. If customers are confused by or unsure because of their ever-changing experience at your business, they are far less likely to become loyal customers. So before diving into strengthening and building community, make sure you are providing consistency throughout the customer journey (Alder 2019).

The Power of Referrals for Building Community

Did you know that you are four times more likely to make a purchase when referred by a trusted friend (Landis 2022)? You are also more likely to remain loyal to the same business as your trusted friends. There are valid reasons why platforms like Yelp and Google Business exist!

Lisa Druxman, MA, CEO and founder of FIT4MOM®, a fitness franchise that builds and supports pre- and postnatal communities nationwide, explains: “Word of mouth—or, in our case, ‘word of mom’—is your most powerful marketing tool. At the heart of a referral is trust. They trust your product or service. They trust that you will take care of their friends. You must follow through on the promise of your business to keep that trust.”

Narrow (the audience)

To create a community and establish unity, there must be a reason for these people to come together. You’ve probably been well-introduced to the need for a target market, a specific group of people with shared traits to whom you market your services.

It’s essential to isolate your target market so you can highlight what unites them while they are together in your business. This unity heightens the amount of camaraderie throughout the connection points. Friendships and bonds are established through shared experiences—even if, or sometimes especially if, those experiences are struggles.

Pain points are the issues plaguing your audience. Each of us faces different struggles, but we can categorize large buckets of information based on a person’s age and stage of life. For example, many first-time moms have the same questions and issues. Many recent retirees have similar limitations and strengths to one another. How to identify them? Be a compassionate questioner.

“Experience and knowledge are great tools to build your business. But staying curious and compassionate toward the people you support are powerful ways of serving their needs and remaining relevant,” says Nathalie Lacombe, MSc, an international career coach and wellness leader for the industry. “When you change the focus of your business from yourself to the client’s needs and issues, you begin cultivating a community of support, friendships, joy and love. That is the magic that keeps people coming back to your business.”

Investments (starting with brand awareness)

At each entry point into your business, you should have a reliable and dedicated method of nurturing connections—between your customers and from each customer to you. Remember: You want to show similarities and uniting factors while strengthening the feeling of friendship throughout each offering.

There are a few layers of offerings you should consider when building community for your business:

• brand awareness
• low investments
• mid investments
• high investments

Brand awareness tools include your social media, website and blog. People should be able to scan them quickly to see if they fit into the community you are building. Share testimonials, feature current clients, ask questions and facilitate answers that are pertinent to the narrowed-down audience you are targeting.

Low investments should require only a small amount of time, effort and energy from both you and the consumer. Digital downloads, recorded workshops and online groups and events are great ways to develop small connections. Events are powerful tools to show unity; if you have ever attended a concert, you know just how true that statement is.

Mid investments require more investment by both you and the consumer. These are group activities like classes or small group training activities. In this stage, you can focus more on connecting people by highlighting similarities. For example, in class, ask everyone to separate into two groups based on who had more or less than 4 hours of sleep. Use groups and partner work to your advantage. And consider linking people with similarities such as neighborhood, occupation and family.

High investments require time, effort and energy and begin with a deep level of camaraderie. Typically, if consumers enter this stage, they have a high level of trust and loyalty to your business. Keep your highly dedicated clients feeling the love by celebrating their successes privately and publicly, asking them to contribute to your brand awareness testimonials, and rewarding them for their commitment.

See also: Fitness Business Collaboration Beyond Brand

Technology (as a tool for connection)

Technology can mean many things, but for this purpose, we focus on how technology can help show consistency and deepen your relationships. The more consistent your look, voice, values and style, the more consumers know what to expect. Brands that focus on consistency and dependability are three times more likely to win consumers’ trust (Ramaswami 2020).

How can you use this knowledge—and technology—to help build a stronger community? Start with focusing on the location and timing of your digital communication.

    Are you going to engage on social media? If so, where and when?

    Are you going to host a blog or deliver emails to clients? If so, where and when?

    Are you going to host a private online group or an email strategy for any of your offerings? Then it would be best if you decided on your communication cadence. Create a calendar of days and times for all your communications to create a consistent strategy.

Technology can also help you establish a consistent look and voice. Your website, emails and social media should all look the same, and the voice you have online should be the voice you offer in person. Start by choosing a set color palette, simple templates and a designated brand voice. This will make creating content for your community much easier.

Also, plug in your direct communication times once you have finalized your digital communication strategy. Decide when you will personally reach out to clients via phone calls, text messages or personal emails. Schedule it into your calendar so you won’t book appointments over this time.

You (as a leader and personality)

You are the leader of your business—from the internal culture within your business to the community surrounding your members. Your clients and team members will follow you, so make sure you lead by example. If you want them to feel more united, facilitate that unity. If you want your community to ooze positivity, you have to lead with that characteristic. They will follow suit if you show your lack of commitment or disappointment in the business. Your clients and team members will feed off the values, voice and characteristics you demonstrate.

Take some time designing the feel and vibe of your community and culture. Choose a small handful of adjectives, and let those characteristics shine through all of your communications, whether digital or direct, internal or external facing. Make sure to convey those characteristics to your team members as well.

“Viewing and respecting team members as major stakeholders in the community and making sure their work environment is truly inclusive, ‘safe,’ enjoyable and welcoming of their feedback and contributions makes for a strong, retentive and resilient team community,” says award-winning fitness program leader Kia Williams, MBA, MS. “It’s easy to remain positive and lead with positivity when people enjoy being around each other and look forward to coming to work.”

See also: Authentic Leadership in a Changing Industry

Bringing It All Together for Building Community

Building community, connections and camaraderie will foster loyalty to your business, and the stronger your connections are, the more resilient your business will be. Creating a strategic plan around uniting your members can develop strong friendships within your community; these bonds are what will keep people coming back for more. Unite them by showing them how much they belong.