To increase revenue, high-end gyms and fitness facilities have taken to publishing digital media.

This is not just a marketing strategy aiming to attract new customers or retain existing ones. Gyms are strengthening their brands and creating various media offerings to encourage other companies to sponsor and advertise with them. Gyms are putting out how-to videos, podcasts, interviews, serialized programming, streamed workout sessions, music, documentaries, and more.

Upscale fitness facilities and studios have been building internal media teams to boost sales and marketing while hiring professional photographers, videographers, and other content creators. Content can be informative, instructional, promotional, and inspirational—but most of all it should be motivating. Social media can be leveraged not only to connect with customers, but also to effect positive change.

It doesn’t hurt that gyms are also actively supporting and developing fitness instructors to serve as in-house talent while growing their amount of social media followers. Employees can be trained further to become more involved in a gym’s digital marketing strategy. Brands should encourage them to actively interact with customers online while promoting themselves and the business.

For example, SoulCycle, the brand of indoor cycling classes, even holds live concerts which are then posted online. One of their concerts, sponsored by Bose and Ketel One, boasted 300 attendees. Equinox, the luxury gym chain which owns SoulCycle, relaunched its magazine Furthermore in 2016 which has become a comprehensive media business with sponsorships and advertisements. 305 Fitness uses influencers to market its cardio workouts to live DJs.

By creating and publishing content, gyms can even monetize reaching the people who prefer learning how to exercise with online instruction over paying for gym memberships. Following the footsteps of brands like GoPro and Red Bull, this has proven lucrative for many gyms as social media revolutionizes exercise and more people invest in fitness and wellness, consuming related content.

Visit the E-Sports International newsroom for more informative articles about global trends in the fitness industry.

Photo Credits:

Images are from Green Spark, Dean Agar, and DesignMyNight.