Social media rules many things in the digital marketing world; we know that already. It’s generally understood that in order to effectively reach a health club audience, including potential and existing members, a gym must be on Facebook.
Why you ask? Well simply put, that’s where all your prospects are. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the average U.S. consumer spends approximately 58 minutes per day on the social network, according to a 2018 earnings report. That’s 58 minutes of scrolling through status updates, commenting, sharing, and liking each and every day.
On the other hand, Facebook – and all social networks for that matter – changes its rules so frequently, sometimes hindering the ability for brands and companies to easily reach their audience. Sponsored posts this, Facebook advertisement that. Organic reach this, advertising that. What does it all mean and is it all worth it? Do Facebook fans really even matter anymore?
The answer is for the most part, yes … and sometimes no. Let us explain.
Facebook fans DO matter because:
- In case you didn’t catch it earlier, Facebook is where health club member prospects are.
- When advertising to prospects on Facebook, fans who already Like a health club page are more likely to convert via promoted membership offers at a much higher rate than opposing non-Facebook fans. Bottom line: it’s more cost effective to convert fans to members, rather than non-fans to members. However, being successful with this will depend on how well you’ve executed a strategy for attracting prospects to your page to begin with.
- Facebook is a fast, easy and effective way to drive strong traffic to a health club website by simply sharing blog posts as status updates and sponsored posts.
Facebook fans DON’T matter if:
- A health club has already developed a highly engaged high-volume prospect email marketing subscriber list and loyal blog following. Note: Facebook is a great tool to nurture prospects to membership, but may be more costly to use since it’s not owned by any one health club.
- It is too competitive to pursue advertising to buy Facebook fans. For example, if it costs more than $5 per Like. Instead use Facebook ads to promote blog posts, content offers, or “join now” offers to a strategic and targeted Facebook audience.
As you can see, answering the question of whether Facebook fans matter is unique to each health club and it really depends on your situation. More often than not though, Facebook fans DO matter and are generally worth it as a key part of the lead-nurturing process. There is also a perceived value from prospects when a health club has a large fan base and that can work to your benefit as well.
So go for it! Dig into an analysis of whether investing in Facebook fans is the right move for your health club and carry on. Remember, you can always adjust your marketing plan as you go should you choose to change things up a bit.
So tell us: what has worked for your health club through using Facebook as a marketing strategy? Have you had trouble attracting non-members to your Facebook page and converting them?
