It wasn’t luck that got Evolve Fitness owner Blake Robinson $12,000 — with one text — in four hours. By tactfully taking advantage of a sales-heavy holiday weekend, Blake planned a one-text text promotion to be sent to his existing fitness club members that elicited several timely responses.
Striving for Commitment
Blake strives to create an environment of commitment and accountability at Evolve Fitness, which is located in a renovated WWII manufacturing warehouse in downtown Salt Lake City. Blake focuses on creating a fitness club built on principles of fitness, nutrition, and accountability. Evolve works for those who are willing to commit to working at their fitness goals consistently.
The deal Blake sent out was a win-win situation for Evolve members and himself. The promotion allowed the first five members who responded to pay upfront for five months and get the sixth month free. The $12,000 instant cash return allowed Blake to purchase new fitness equipment.
Writing the Text
Around the end of May, Blake needed a quick way to pay for this new fitness equipment. So, he decided to send his promotion out to members in conjunction with Memorial Day weekend sales. The text read:
[Contact First Name] Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all those who have laid down their lives so that we may live ours in safety – We hope you all have a safe, fun and warm weekend this Memorial Day and have a special offer but it’ll go quick so jump on it.
By keeping the text concise and to the point, Blake targeted his members effectively to get them interested in his offer.
If Blake sent out his promotion over email, it most likely would have gotten lost in his members’ inboxes. In fact, people open only about 20-30% of emails. In comparison, text open rates sit at about 98%! Texting almost guarantees that recipients will receive your message immediately.
Winning the Day
Members acted fast — on average it only takes someone five seconds to read a text. In the four hours after Blake sent the text, he easily got five people to commit to pay for the next five months. Limiting the number of people receiving the deal created urgency for his members. Plus, as Blake puts it, “giving away free months doesn’t really keep the lights on.”
Blake attributes part of his success to the Skipio Marketing Strategy Guide, aka the “Marketing Bible” for gym owners. He has read it more than once, taken notes, and continually applied the principles he’s gathered from it.
With several major holidays right around the corner, take advantage of business texting and plan a great text promotion as part of your customer retention strategy. It really can be as simple as one text and a few hours for your company to see major returns.
