How to keep your members engaged and develop community

A membership business can be a strong and robust business model when done right for so many reasons, from being able to predict your income each month, which is a luxury that not all businesses have, to the fact that often your community is your best asset, writes Cam Falloon, founder of popular fitness network, BFT.

If you have a healthy and connected community at the core of your membership business, you can experience so many advantages – from word of mouth, as a happy member is going to be your biggest advocate, to even receiving valuable feedback, insights and suggestions from their perspective, which can help you perfect your business model.

Here is a look into the key reasons why your community is so important when it comes to a  membership business model.

The value of community

A strong and welcoming community in a membership business, such as a fitness studio, fosters a sense of belonging and connection among members. When members get along with each other and forge relationships within your business’ community, they will want to show up and train together, leading to increased engagement.

Feeling uncomfortable within a space is one of the biggest reasons why people neglect their gym memberships. By creating a community feel, members are likely to feel more satisfied and encouraged to turn up!

A strong community helps to create a positive, supportive environment where members feel comfortable to share their experiences and may even offer feedback, which gives the business owner a chance to perfect their model. This feedback loop helps to build trust and reinforces the value of the membership, leading to higher retention rates and more referrals.

Regular income

Businesses that sell a one-off product often don’t have the luxury of an accurate forecast of their monthly income. Having a strong community and high retention rate within a membership business model can afford the business owner this sense of predictability, allowing for easier management and prioritising of finances and key expenses.

Sense of loyalty and word-of-mouth

When membership businesses put in the work to create a community that is truly engaging and supportive for their members, they can expect to receive the same support in return, often in the form of good old-fashioned loyalty and word-of-mouth. When a member loves your business, and the community feel they experience, they will sing it from the rooftops. This is the best form of free marketing!

While we all cringe at hearing about the lockdowns these days, they brought with them a true test of loyalty that many fitness businesses experienced first-hand. Many businesses reported that although there was no expectation for members to keep paying their fees, many of those with the capacity to pay kept doing so in support of the community they had grown so fond of. This is a great, tangible example of how building a community now can pay off in unpredictable moments of truth in the future.

How to create an engaged community

With over 230 studios open, how does BFT encourage all franchisees to foster relationships with their members and within their community? We have a few strategies in place to help facilitate this in a natural and authentic way.

1. Bring franchisees together

BFT hosts an annual conference where all franchisees from across the globe can meet and learn from a variety of speakers discussing topics including running a business, coaching, marketing, community-building tips and more. Pulling everyone into one space so they can align and share experiences is a great way to motivate and inspire franchisees to make any tweaks that will further help their business.

2. Member challenges

Our head office organises four 8-week challenges for our members per year. The challenges are centralised, marketing material is distributed to all studios, and from there, the studios just need to promote it. Having a playbook for the challenge makes it easy to roll it out worldwide.

In terms of keeping the community engaged, our BFT metrics app shows the digital leaderboard so members can compete against one another, which is a great gamification tactic. Once the challenge is complete, studios are encouraged to host a celebration event to share their members’ success and announce prize winners.

3. Info nights and catch-ups

We also encourage franchisees to organise info nights and social catch-ups outside of class times, as it gives members a chance to connect further when they are not thinking about going to work or coming home from work.

A strong community is your best asset if you run a membership business, so do what you can to foster relationships and have your members become comfortable and connected with one another.

4. Know your people!

By understanding who your community is – what they value, what they are interested in, and how they interact, you can tailor your service to optimise engagement.

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