Nowadays, especially since lockdown, the online environment is rich with fitness content. In fact, there’s so much choice for consumers that it can seem like an environment in which it’s hard to stand out.
And yet, as a health club operator, who better to serve your community than you? Why should other providers take over responsibility for (and ownership of) your members’ fitness experiences the moment they walk out of your club?
The fact is, if you provide a service that meets your members’ needs, all packaged under a brand they already know and trust – yours – the online environment is one in which your business can absolutely thrive.
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Online is a non-negotiable
In fact, you probably already pivoted to online during lockdown, offering members an at-home solution via the likes of Instagram and YouTube.
The question now – as we emerge from crisis/response and move towards a longer-term perspective – is how you will continue to offer online services in a sustainable, business-enhancing way.
Because new habits have been formed: people have embraced online fitness and want to continue with it. This applies even to those happy to come back to the gym; we need to also bear in mind the many members who remain nervous about attending the gym as regularly as before, or even at all, for the foreseeable future.
An online presence is now a non-negotiable. As you plough your energies into re-opening your physical facilities, you must therefore ensure your online focus doesn’t waver. If anything, you should take it up a gear, ensuring your online offering is future-proofed.
Wexer is here to help.
Your own TV channel
Our topline advice is this: you must take back control from third party platforms like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook to own the online experience yourself, as well as the data it generates and the member relationships that result from it.
You must also give yourself the option to monetise your online content; it shouldn’t be offered for free forever.
This is where the Wexer Web Player comes in: our ‘any time, anywhere, any internet-enabled device’ solution that can be white labelled to your club and password-protected, which of course means you can put your content behind a paywall.
The Web Player has always provided access to hundreds of on-demand, music licence-free classes curated from our global content providers. The classes mirror those available on Wexer Virtual, meaning people can enjoy the same on-demand classes at home as in-club.
And now a new feature, Web Player Connect, means you can create and upload your own content onto your Web Player too, featuring your own rockstar instructors. Launched last week for the upload of on-demand content, and with live streaming functionality coming soon, Connect effectively hands you your own TV channel – a platform through which you can share classes, workshops, seminars or indeed any other content, all perfectly tailored to the interests of your specific member base.
It’s the perfect way to maximise the reach and impact of your in-house superstars, making their expertise available to all members, on-demand, 24/7. With it, you’ll also build even stronger relationships between members and staff.
Quick, easy, effective
Web Player Connect is also incredibly easy to use. The key here is to get familiar faces in front of your members, so don’t worry too much about glossy production values: mobile phone footage is absolutely fine.
Pick out some of your team’s superstars and talk to them about their passions and expertise. Do they run a particular class that’s always over-subscribed and that members might like to see available online? If so, film it. Are they expert in nutrition, mindfulness, sleep, injury prevention, pre-natal exercise? Ask them to record a workshop or seminar that members can take part in at their convenience.
It really is simply a case of filming it, uploading onto the Web Player, scheduling when it should go live… and that’s it. The content will appear in the Connect section – at the very top of your Web Player home page – all ready for your members to view.
Put simply, Web Player Connect is there to connect the dots between your instructors and your members. It gives members ‘any time, anywhere’ access to your expertise – an important aspect of a club offering even in good times, giving you a 24/7 role in people’s lives, but invaluable right now in social distancing times.
To find out more, please email info@wexer.com