Understanding Your Sales and Marketing Funnel

If you’re like most gym or studio owners, you’d love to be able to wave a magic wand and get new members walking in your front door. In reality, it isn’t that easy.

If you’ve ever listened to a business podcast, browsed Google Analytics or searched online for marketing advice, you may have come across the term “funnel.” If you’ve ever wondered what a funnel is and how it can help you, keep reading.

What is a funnel?

A “funnel” is a path people take towards a business goal. Some people drop off as they continue down that path, which is why when visualized, it’s an inverted pyramid (or funnel shape).

There are different types of funnels for different businesses, but we’ll focus on the most common: the sales and marketing funnel.

The parts of your sales and marketing funnel

1. Awareness

People learn that your business exists. Awareness can result from Google searches, advertising, referrals or simply seeing your sign while walking down the street.

2. Interest

Some people will begin to show a genuine interest in what you offer. Perhaps they live nearby and can afford a membership. They demonstrate interest by visiting multiple pages on your site, following your social media accounts or calling for more information.

3. Evaluation

This is where potential customers actually visit your business, test-drive what you have to offer and begin the decision-making process.

4. New Member Signup

This is the ultimate goal. They’ve tried you out, and you and your staff will follow-up. Potential members will weigh all the factors. If all goes well, you’ll have a new member.

Grow your membership by growing your funnel

The beauty of a sales funnel is that it helps to visualize how to grow your membership base.

Here are five tips for improving your funnel:

1. Keep metrics for your website, social media accounts, intro offers, and conversion. See how they improve over time. Tools like Google Analytics and iKizmet make this easy.

2. Increase awareness by creating instructional content, improving your social media presence, and running ads on Facebook.

3. Make it easy to show interest by ensuring your pricing, schedule, and contact information are easy to find on your website (including on a smartphone).

4. Create intro offers that are compelling, risk-free, and easy to redeem. For Mindbody customers, creating an intro offer is easy.

5. Be sure to follow up during the evaluation phase. Have your staff ask new faces for feedback. When people don’t convert, find out why. Use all this information to improve your service when you can.