As the summer weather makes exercising outdoors easier, engaging your members becomes harder.

Hiking and outdoor water sports like kayaking, surfing, and sometimes swimming can draw members away from your multipurpose club during the summer. This leaves you with lower retention rates and a mounting pressure to attract new members.

Relying heavily on new members without a balance of stable retention rates puts your long-term growth plans at risk. Creating a solid retention plan for the summer is crucial for sustainable growth, and it all depends on marketing the right classes to the right members.  

Your marketing strategy determines how easy it is for your members to find and engage with the classes they’re interested in. To keep members active, you need to understand their interests and personalize your messaging.

Using the right tools to get information to the right members can increase your retention rates and set you on a path towards growth.

Here are three steps you can take to maximize your marketing and boost your club’s performance this summer.  

Plan the Right Programs Using Member Data

Your members are unique, and your summer offerings should embrace that. When your schedule reflects their particular needs and interests, your members will keep coming back for more. Did your attendance go up last summer when you offered an outdoor class? Which classes are your members enjoying right now, and is there a way to adapt those programs to the season? Analyzing your data and performance indicators can help you spot those trends in member behavior.  

Understanding your performance analytics gives insight into what your members want to see this summer. Don’t risk your retention rates by guessing which classes will be successful or following what other clubs are doing. With a clear understanding of your members’ preferences, you can craft special programming that reflects their needs and boosts their engagement.  

Reach the Right Members Through Segmentation

Now that you’ve got a stellar summer schedule, how do you get it into the right hands? Broadcasting every offering to every member may get the word out initially, but you’ll quickly become white noise in their inbox. Your marketing is most effective when you target the right members with the right offers.  

You can increase retention rates by segmenting your members based on similar characteristics or behaviors. Segmentation allows you to specialize your outreach and send offers to the members most likely to engage with them. Marketing your summer kid’s program to members without children won’t increase attendance. Show your members you understand their needs by sending them the right offers, and they’ll stick around.

Expand Your Reach With SMS Messaging

Once you know which members to contact, you need to get the information into their hands. Your members will be limited on time and attention this summer. You can skip their inbox and reach them in real time with text messages and push notifications.  

Text messages have a 98% open rate, and 83% of texts are read within 3 minutes of being received. SMS reminders are the quickest and most effective way to reach your members. Optimizing your message delivery success rates and keeping members informed can create huge returns during the summer.

Your long-term growth plans don’t have to suffer this summer. With the right tools, you can optimize your marketing and boost your member engagement. Nurturing your retention rates this summer will give you the stability you need to focus on driving new memberships and club growth.  

Interested in learning more about how Club Automation can support your growth? Get a demo today.