Walk into most gyms, large or small, around the country and you are likely to find people focused on two things: working out and watching a screen.  While the gym remains, a temple dedicated only to bettering oneself for some people, more and more people are using their time at the gym to multitask.  Why just workout when you can also catch up on the latest Game of Thrones episode or binge on Netflix to help a workout go by faster.

A recent Arbitron study found that 70% of health club members watch an average of 40 minutes of programming per visit.  Using Digital Signage in your fitness studio allows you to provide informative and fresh content with individuals who want to be engaged by screens while working out.  The following list is just some of the ways that you can use Digital Signage to reach customers in a medium that they are comfortable using.

Digital Signage Screen showing digital wayfinding
Sample event scheduling with viewneo

1. Class Schedules and Activities

Running late for yoga class and forgot which room it’s in today?  Sure, you could use your phone and try to load the website then navigate to the class schedule, or you could just look up and see the information you’re looking for displayed.

Digital Signage makes displaying class schedules easy and gets the information to your customer directly.  Additionally, if you need to make a last-minute schedule change, just update your Digital Signage display and everyone can be aware of the changes in minutes.

Additionally, Digital Signage makes for a great way to remind customers of upcoming special events or activities.  If boot camp sign-ups end on Friday, a front, and center display while they are at the gym, is a great way to remind potential attendees.

gym digital class schedule
Provide your clients with gentle reminders about upcoming classes.

2. Motivation

Sometimes just going to the gym is all the motivation that you need.  Other days you could use some words of wisdom to get through the last couple of reps.  Help provide your customers with the motivation that they need on your Digital Signage display.

Another way to motivate your customers is to highlight a workout move of the day.  You can set up a schedule that allows your display to let everyone know that Tuesday is plank day. As individuals see improvement in their fitness levels over time, it will help them gain additional motivation to keep going.  Additionally, it provides an opportunity to introduce new workout sequences, that can then be used in a later class.

Instagram fitness motivation digital signage
Instagram walls provide ready to go motivation.

3. Success Breeds Success

There are few things in life that motivate better than seeing the personal account of another individual who has accomplished what you would like to accomplish.  Posting success stories with before and after photos is a great way to celebrate accomplishments and motivate others.  It also lets your customers know that you are involved and care about their success.

Additionally, it is important to remember that success is not always just measured through weight loss or photos.  Incorporate stories from individuals who have met a variety of different goals, such as, shortened recovery time after a surgery or improved quality of life.

4. Employee Spotlight

According to a recent Gallup analysis, only one-third of US workers strongly agree that they have received recognition for their work in the last seven days.  This leaves a majority of the workforce feeling as though their efforts are being ignored.  Furthermore, employees who don’t feel as though they are being adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they plan on quitting in the next year.

Share your employee’s success with everyone by using Digital Signage to highlight your high performers. Another suggestion is to incorporate suggestions for recognition from customers as well.  This shows both your employees and customers that you value their feedback and use it to make improvements.

5. Sales and Advertising

It would be remiss if a discussion about Digital Signage in gyms didn’t talk about the potential to advertise and increase sales.  The key is to do it in a way that doesn’t annoy customers or turn them off from your product.  A great way to do this is to highlight specials, such as happy hour at the juice bar, or special pricing on personal training sessions.  Make sure that your advertising is targeted towards your customers and limit yourself on the overall number of advertisements.

viewneo active on screen, digital signage
viewneo active uses gamification to help motivate and engage. motivation.

6. Healthy Competition

There are some folks who are always up for a little healthy competition at the gym.  Fortunately, there is now an app, by viewneo, that will allow you set up and broadcast competitions.  They are able to do this by using Fitbit data from participants and transmitting it live onto a digital display.

Additionally, you can change up the type of challenge from a number of steps, to distance traveled, to the number of flights of stairs climbed.  This allows different individuals to get involved and keeps the competition from getting stale.  Another option allows individuals to join a team and compete against other teams.  This is a great way to get people interacting and making new social connections while working out at the same time.

7. Important Information

Need to do maintenance on the pool or locker room.  Make sure that your customers are informed about any changes that are going on in a timely manner.  Keeping customers informed also helps with your customer retention.  Just a 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10%.  (Leading on the Edge of Chaos, Emmet Murphy and Mark Murphy). 

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