If you work in the fitness industry, you're no stranger to making people feel good.
I mean, super good. Good for producing endorphins, improving health and mood.
It would make sense to leverage that feel-good factor to drive growth for your business, right?
Here's how.
Customer testimonials.
Whether you're a personal trainer, yoga instructor, or run a gym, jamaica phone number list customer testimonials can play an important role in attracting new clients, retaining existing ones, and increasing revenue.
In this article, we'll show you why and how to capture customer testimonials to boost your fitness business.
What is a customer testimonial?
Let's start at the beginning.
A customer testimonial is a customer's statement of recommendation after a positive experience with the services you provide.
testimonial definition
Customer testimonials come in many forms, from written quotes and case studies to video testimonials, and can be displayed on the marketing channels of your choice – your website, social media channels, and even in print materials.
Our handy guide explains how to use customer testimonials in marketing in more detail.
3 Reasons Why Every Fitness Business Should Use Testimonials
There's no doubt that the past two years have been tough for the fitness industry.
Pandemic rules affected the operations of fitness companies, while clients began to follow their workouts online.
Total industry revenue in 2021 fell to almost half of pre-pandemic levels , and forecasts for 2022 have been revised due to the closure of gyms and other fitness businesses.
What we are left with is a very tough and competitive market to capture the business of the 174 million fitness club members worldwide.
Which brings us to why customer testimonials are so important to distinguishing yourself from the competition.
1. People look for businesses they can trust
Did you know that 77% of consumers read reviews when researching local businesses ?
That means that almost 8 out of 10 of your customers wouldn't even consider your business if you didn't have reviews or testimonials about what you do.
Testimonials build trust.
Confirm that you are a live health and fitness business that helps real clients improve their fitness.
And customers who trust a business are more likely to buy from them again and again. One study shows that 75% of people with high brand trust say they will buy that brand’s product (even if it’s not the cheapest), will only buy from that brand, and will keep an eye out for new products and services from that brand.
brand trust influences fitness industry
2. People trust other people
You can tout what a great trainer you are, but people are more likely to believe it if one of your clients says it.
Even if they say exactly the same thing.
This is called social proof, when people look at others to confirm what they think.
What does this have to do with customer testimonials? Well, 49% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from a friend or family member.
social proof in fitness testimonials examples
Client testimonials that talk about the fantastic training results they achieve with you show potential clients what to do, i.e. join your gym.
3. People want to talk about their favorite businesses
Word-of-mouth advertising occurs when people talk about their experiences with the products and services they use with friends and family.
Word of mouth can be positive or negative, but both can spread quickly.
Apparently, 96% of dissatisfied customers won't complain to you, but they will tell 15 friends !
On the other hand, 85% of small businesses that customers discover do so through word of mouth recommendations.
Customer testimonials give your customers a chance to talk about their fitness journey so you can use them to attract more customers.
WOM recommendations fitness testimonials
Our ultimate guide to customer testimonials explores the reasons why you should collect customer testimonials in more detail.