WAG Marketing Strategies to Help Boost Enrollment?

[CoachMeg]

Calling all gym owners, coaches, marketers...or just anyone with creative ideas

Our gym is heavily down in enrollment numbers for our recreational side. We offer:
- preschool gymnastics
- rec gym (beginner - advanced)
- rec tumbling (beginner - advanced)
- Ninja (2 levels)
- pre-team
- Xcel
- Women's JO

Our preschool and rec are taking quite a big hit this session. Beyond improving teachers and the class structure...any marketing ideas to get more kids into our door? I also noticed our birthday parties and open gyms are taking quite a hit as a brand new trampoline park (ugh) opened like two doors down. Literally within walking distance. Trying to stay afloat because our team isn't big enough to keep it running and rec is where the $$$ is at!

TIA!

 

[John]

How about bring a friend for free day? For rec and team.

 

[coachmolly]

Patti Komara (owns a very successful rec. gym) posts a lot of business related stuff on her Facebook page dealing specifically with gymnastics businesses. Some of it is advertising a product she played a part in developing (lesson plans), but others are just articles or ideas that she has found helpful along the way. All kinds of stuff from class structure, employee management, customer service, and games/ideas for in the gym. I will say I really don't know anything about her as a person nor am I affiliated with her in anyway- she just posts good gymnastics business stuff from what I've seen.
https://www.facebook.com/TumblebearConnection

A gym I used to work at was hugely successful with their parents night out programs. They offered on Friday and Saturday night and they were a massive hit. I think they were 3 hours and around $20 which included pizza. It did help that they were inside a fitness club so parents could drop their kids and work out or take a class and also very close to shopping/restaurants. Where I am now it's a bit of a hike to any place parents would want to go, so our attempts at that kind of thing have largely flopped. They also will do contests and promotions via Facebook for free Parents night out coupons.

I think a good social media presence is super important these days. My SIL will not even go to a restaurant that doesn't have a good online presence . Post events at the gym, team results as well as fun things happening in classes. Parents who love what you offer tend to share those posts with their friends and conversations happen.

 

[Pirouette]

Contact local preschools and elementary schools to see who has a newsletter that you can advertise in. Also offer a "field trip" option at reasonable price to preschools -- my sons' preschool classes did this and a lot of kids joined gymnastics classes from that field trip. I think they waived the registration fee if you signed up during the field trip. Also with the schools, see if they have any kind of big school parties with raffles, and offer to donate something - a free class for 1 session, a discounted birthday party, a coupon book -- anything to get your gym's name out there.

One local gym here has traveling equipment and the PTOs from schools can pay to have them come in for a week during the kids' gym classes. I have no idea how it works or how much it cost the PTO, but I do know that that gym signed up a LOT of kids from my kids' school.

And I agree about having a strong online presence -- everyone I know, and I mean EVERYONE, uses the internet to scope stuff out. Host contests on Facebook and Instagram, use kids' photos when you are legally allowed, and try to post at least 3-4 times per week. It sounds like overkill, but it really works. I worked in marketing in a different field for 12 years, and our online efforts were critical to our continued success.

 

[John]

I forgot about the preschool field trips. That is a great idea, the preschool will pay the gym and the gym could also gain athletes. If there are any large homeschool organizations in your area you could reach out to them as well?

 

[txgymfan]

Promoting gym classes to homeschool is great. Many gyms here offer a weekly or 2x "gym class" for homeschoolers. The gym is largely empty and the students have involved parents and friends.

 

[tpMom]

Our gym teaches several preschool classes a week. I think the charge is $5 per child per day, and they usually have 10-15 preschoolers in each class. The best part is, a lot of those preschoolers move on to rec and eventually team. The catch is, and maybe this goes without saying but I'm saying it anyway, you HAVE to have an amazing coach working with that preschool class. He or she needs to be amazingly good with children or all they'll do is drive off potential business. Also, this might be a good time to consider a free or reduced free gym for an hour or so a week. We do free gym on Saturdays and for the month of August it was free. By September every rec class was completely full.

 

[CoachAlex]

I would say you need to find out why people are leaving (at the rec level) - are they going to another gym? Do they do 87 other activities? Are the kids bored? Not advancing, etc.

As far as preschool - field trips are a great start, we have had some success with open play groups for little ones (think indoor playground during the winter), social media is huge - Facebook and Instagram. Parent night out, bring a friend day - if you host meets then maybe advertise those to your rec program so they can have an idea of what competitive gymnastics is.

 

[mls529]

I would say you need to find out why people are leaving (at the rec level) - are they going to another gym? Do they do 87 other activities? Are the kids bored? Not advancing, etc.

As far as preschool - field trips are a great start, we have had some success with open play groups for little ones (think indoor playground during the winter), social media is huge - Facebook and Instagram. Parent night out, bring a friend day - if you host meets then maybe advertise those to your rec program so they can have an idea of what competitive gymnastics is.

YES! Some really great ideas here, but nothing beats "market research' before you start taking action -- find out why preschool and rec are lower than you want. Without that basis, you will never fill the upper levels. Talk to former students parents, parents who just left and parents who have been there a while, either in the form of a survey or phone interviews. I work in the field -- explore the entire "customer experience" and ask questions around everything from the perceived cleanliness of the gym, the personality of the staff answering the phone, the coaches, perceptions of the sport especially in the light of what has happened recently, "competition" as defined by parents of young kids. I bet you will learn a lot and it will help you focuses your effort. Good luck!

 

[mommyof1]

Many day care centers bring in soccer, dance, music, etc. programs to give classes at their facilities during the school day at an additional charge to parents. This could be a way to raise revenue and build awareness of your rec program at the same time.

 

[John]

@CoachAlex makes a good point. I watch the kids in rec and it seems like the same class over and over again. I guess that is ok if rec class is simply a fun time filling activity. You cant expect a child to do the same class over and over and not be bored. If your goal is long time enrollment I would think the gym would need levels of rec with move ups being determined by skill levels. Rec gym is something I always wondered about, I guess I did not pay attention when DD was doing it. I just remember the coach asking me if she could move to the next class.

 

[suebee]

I live in a middle class suburban town. It’s pretty common here for preschool kids to take a few different short classes in different things to “try” them, but they may not stick with them for long, unless they love them. So to increase younger rec enrollment, you may need to reach more kids and their parents.

My town has a pretty strong recreational program, especially for preschool age kids, and sometimes local private programs (gymnastics, soccer, taekwondo, fencing, etc.) offer classes with registration through the town’s recreational program to reach more potential customers. The town sends out a very nice booklet every session with the classes offered to every town resident and has a website with the offerings as well. If the town your gym is in or other local towns have strong town recreational programs, that might be something to consider.

Would your gym consider offering mommy and me classes for the under 3 age group? Lots of parents are interested in getting their young kids to activities that can, in an age appropriate way, improve their gross motor skills and be a social opportunity. My kids did classes like that. Also an open gym for the preschool age group during the day with a membership option and a pay per session option might be something to consider. Several gyms near me do that weekly. There are several active moms groups in my area of preschool age children, most on Facebook, and that is a way to reach this demographic.

 

[Flyaway]

@CoachAlex makes a good point. I watch the kids in rec and it seems like the same class over and over again. I guess that is ok if rec class is simply a fun time filling activity. You cant expect a child to do the same class over and over and not be bored. If your goal is long time enrollment I would think the gym would need levels of rec with move ups being determined by skill levels. Rec gym is something I always wondered about, I guess I did not pay attention when DD was doing it. I just remember the coach asking me if she could move to the next class.

We didn't go through rec at our gym, but I know that they have "levels" and goals for each class. They move at a much slower pace than a pre-team class, but they still move forward, and definitely don't do the same thing every day. A good rec program is going to be progressive and measurable. I like the idea of market research and exit interviews with parents of kids that have just left the rec program. You want to make sure that they aren't leaving because they have the impression like John above, that they were simply filling time with the same class over and over again. We all know that watching our kids learn gymnastics is like watching paint dry. Imagine how slow and pointless it must seem to parents of kids that only go for 45 min to an hour a week! Our rec kids have evaluations, they get ribbons and stickers, they have a sheet with all the skills they are going to learn over the course of a year and get to check them off as they get them... this sort of trackable progress keeps them engaged.

ETA: we also allow our advance rec kids to participate in our home meet. It's a small in house meet with only a few teams and our advance rec kids compete the level 2 routines (easy enough to teach them in a few classes since most advance rec girls are 10+). It gives them a taste of competing, not necessarily to recruit for team, but just to give them something specific to work towards.

 

[sce]

I hate to say it, but the recent issues with USAG are going to hurt gym enrollment. Just like the US winning gold at the Olympics creates a spike in enrollment, the negative situation is going to cause less people to sign their kids up. I think getting the word out about things like your ninja program will help your overall enrollment, especially if you add more alternative classes like that. In our area we are seeing more kids who want Ninja type classes, or classes to help them learn to do tricks and flips. Maybe hold a special Ninja event.

I also agree with making a connection with your local recreation program. I have connected my kids to a few different local places that started as a recreation class through a city. And the homeschool offering was another great suggestion. Maybe a pre-school open gym time, something that allows Mom to drop-in once or twice a week, without having to sign-up for a regular class time. The more people that come through your door the more that will sign-up and stay. My ds' gym offers school break camps, but just in summer. ie Winter break, spring break, some other single days off etc.

I guess, all that is to say it's not just about advertising but it may require changing what you offer to meet current demand.

 

[ayyyrial]

I worked at a gym that did a semi-structured open gym night on Saturdays from 5 to 9, so parents could drop their kids off and go out on a date or something. We'd do an organized warm up and maybe a few games, and then it was open gym with some time for pizza. Attendance was usually mostly rec kids with a few lower level team kids and some Xcel kids, but a lot of them also would bring a friend or two to show off to and play with.

Our summer camps were also a big source of new enrollment in the fall. A lot of kids who had previously taken some classes, or taken gymnastics elsewhere, came to our summer camps, which were heavily advertised along with a general activity-based summer camp across the street. There was a lot of cross-pollination between the two camps, which was helpful.

 

[MuggleMom]

Our Gym does groupons for the Rec classes ( a reduced rate for one month or two months depending on the option you choose) We also have a big "summer camp" push we do that parents can sign up for a week or more of summer camps. They also have partnerships with other summer programs and schools to have a week summer thing at the gym. They always pass out pamphlets for the rec program to all the summer camp attendees. You could also do a groupon for birthday parties.

 

[TumbleTimes4]

A very popular method that increased enrollment in our gym was “bring a friend to class” day. One day in an 8 week session, a friend could come to class with you free of charge. If they signed up for a class after that, not only was the friend given a 10% discount, but the child of the friend was also given a discount. Parents of current rec students became active in helping recruit because they got a small financial benefit as well.

Another big drawing point for me when we chose our current gym was at the end of each 8 week session, the coach evaluated each gymnast and gave a small report to the parents. Under each apparatus was s list of four or five skills that they were evaluated on. You were given a “1” for an attempt, a “2” for completed with spot, and a “3” for completed without spot. Once you achieved a “2” or a “3” on key skills, you were moved up to the next level rec class. I really liked and kept the evaluations because I could track progression over the sessions and I knew she was actively learning. I felt like I knew what I was paying for.