By Dean Hamstead
WHY WiFi?
Y
ou’ve spent
thousands of dollars
installing flat screen
TVs and a pumping sound
system in your gym, and
hundreds more dollars to
provide a handful of sports
and music channels that
create a great, upbeat
environment for your
members to work out in.
The crazy thing is that none
of them are really paying
attention to any of it!.
Look around – your members are
all listening to music on their mobile
devices, using something like iTunes or
streaming services such as Pandora,
Spotify or Rdio. Look at the people
using your bikes and treadmills and
20
you’ll notice they’re actually watching
YouTube, Netflix or other similar contenton-demand platforms.
Oddly enough, for many these activities
are offering them solace from the ‘noise’
you’ve paid so much to provide them;
but they are paying too – chewing
through their mobile/data allowances
really quickly!
WiFi is a great feature for gyms as it
allows your members to listen to music
and watch videos of their choice, or
even manage their emails, while working
out. It’s a logical next step from Pay TV
and offers a far more personalised user
experience for all of your members – and
often for less than the cost of one Pay TV
channel!
WiFi has been available in a variety of
public and communal places for a while
now – think about your favourite café,
the library, or your local shopping centre
– and gyms are finally catching on. Soon,
it will be an expected feature of every
facility.
When adding WiFi to your service
offering, you can expect your gym to
have a customised capture and log
in page, which collects user’s email
addresses, Twitter handles or Facebook
pages, so you can stay connected with
them. You can make this service an
even more powerful marketing tool by
encouraging people to ‘check in’ to
your gym, participate in social media
competitions, and ‘tag’ you in their
workout photos. Your customers will
become more engaged, provide great
viral advertising opportunities, and all at
a fraction of the cost!
Article by Dean Hampstead.
Dean is the director of ByteFoundry,
which launched its managed WiFi
product two years ago. ByteFoundry
removes the stress, so you can focus on
training and growing your business.
For more information on Bytefoundry go
to www.mygymneedswifi.com or visit the
My Gym Needs WiFi profile page HERE >
WHAT’S NEW IN FITNESS - WINTER 2016