Category: Article

Is the nation more active then ever?

**Is the nation more active than ever?**

With the recent release of the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report all eyes turn to see how the sector has managed over the past 2 years of disruption. The report shows that there has been a slight decline in members from 2019 to 2022 by 4.7%. This loss of 500k members has affected the market value to the tune of £300m and resulted in a penetration rate currently standing at 14.6% (down from 15.6% in 2019).

However, if our industry reported on ‘Active’ members and not just paying members could we being seeing positive movement over the last 3 years? Looking outside our industry we can see this type of reporting on active users elsewhere. Take Facebook for instance which reports roughly 3 billion monthly active users or YouTube with 2.1 billion monthly active users. They have many more users but the focus is on those that are actively engaged with their platforms on a monthly basis.

Especially in an industry that has physical activity at its core, reporting on active users surely makes more sense.

Back in 2019 some leisure operators had up to 45% of their membership base dormant or ‘sleeping’ – yes, we couldn’t believe it ourselves either. Accepting that this is a fairly extreme figure, we looked back on our records and estimated that 20-30% of most clubs’ membership were not active within the last 30 days. Therefore the 15.6% penetration rate representing 10.4 million members back in 2019 was actually more like 8 million active users. Following the repeated closure of facilities during the pandemic the industry experienced a boom in cancellations as sleeping members (some decades old) were woken up and subsequently ceased their payments. So current sleeping member percentages are likely to be around 5-10%, meaning the actual active users in 2022 is likely to be around 9 million and therefore an actual increase on 2019.

I asked Dave Minton, Founder of Leisure Database Company, for his thoughts on this perspective. “I believe that the industry and the brands within it need to be more open and transparent. We are now in discussion with the major brands to start collecting more data more often to provide the active monthly KPI. The leisure industry needs this data to evidence its impact on the health of the nation and reverse the Government’s view that we are non-essential.”

At Active Uprising on 28^th June, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson presented the long-term strategy for ukactive and outlined Vision 2030 which plans to generate 5 million more users of facilities – which I strongly support. But shouldn’t we be talking about active users? More people, more active, more often. I know this can be implied by the fact that customers have joined with good intentions but we know from previous years’ sleeping member percentages, this isn’t always the case. Generating interest and gaining commitment to join a club or centre is only part of the journey. Creating exercise habits and lifelong change is the hard bit!

And for operators thinking about the commercial benefits, an active user is hugely more valuable than just a sleeping member. Active members refer more friends and family, add secondary spend income, are more likely to leave a positive review and contribute more to social value.

So my final thought turns to the 5 million more users. Our sector is more than just gyms, studios and pools. We have an abundance of physical activity spaces that might not generate a monthly subscription like a traditional gym membership but they offer something to communities that still has a positive impact on physical and mental wellbeing. Let’s get 5 million more badminton players, 5 million more bowlers, 5 million more exercise referrals, 5 million more children swimming, 5 million more climbers – you get my point. Our industry should play a huge part in improving the health of the nation and 5 million more active members can just be the start.

AUTHOR: John Leaver

Head of Marketing

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MAD//Fest 2022 – Highlights and Best Bits

MAD//Fest 2022 made an explosive return on the 5^th July, bringing together delegates, speakers and traders from all corners of the marketing industry and beyond. The TA6 team travelled to London to take part for the first two days of the event, which were packed with talks on a huge variety of topics. We’re going to look at what each of the team had to say about the event, and discuss their highlights and best bits.

John Leaver, Head of Marketing

There were numerous international brands in attendance, including Burberry, KFC, Boots, EA, Ford, Unilever and more. Experiencing talks from these industry giants provided some essential insight into how their marketing operations have helped them to reach such heights, and which techniques and methods could be applied across the board not only for our clients but for our own business operations as well.

I attended primarily talks that discussed digital marketing topics, and each of the speakers had their own unique way of getting their point across, including showing current ads, presenting statistics, and even running clips from South Park.

Ethical marketing was a consistent theme throughout the event, and encompassed important current events that have an affect on marketers and consumers alike; privacy was central to many of the talks, which is certainly relevant considering the expected third party cookie ban from Google Chrome in 2023.

Some of the key features that I have taken home include:

Ian Maskell from Unilever stated one of the brand’s big mantras; “It’s not about OUR why, it’s about THEIRS”. This seeks to combine purpose with creativity, as well as tying back into ethical marketing and ‘doing good’ with their operations.
The importance of reactive moment targeting; this involved adapting advertising messaging based on a set of circumstances. This could be changes in the weather, global events and new internet trends.
Motoring titan Ford is looking to move fully to online trade by 2025. This will clearly have a huge impact on the current operations of the business, dealerships and franchises alike. In the same talk, the speaker revealed that upon the release of the Ford Mustang and its electric range in the UK, 80% of customers had never before purchased from Ford. What techniques did they use to market this range, and what made it so successful?

Tamara Bailey, Customer Engagement Manager

The focus on the talks that I attended was the customer experience, and the importance of building the customer journey in a way that focuses on purpose, value, empathy and learning. Many of the speakers focused on presenting their respective businesses in a way that demonstrates empathy and ‘doing good’ by their customers; some examples of this include the following:

What 3 Words; a classic example of doing good by doing business, this company has been hailed for helping to not only offer convenience in circumstances such as delivery driving and locating a tricky-to-find house, but it has been commended for helping the emergency services to save lives. This business exists with the primary intention of helping others.
Cadbury; a global superpower of a business that focuses it’s marketing activities on the idea of generosity and kindness to others. During Easter, the company did a promotion surrounding Easter egg hunts that didn’t focus on the winner, but rather the joy of giving.

These empathetic approaches to marketing have demonstrated that a business doesn’t have to focus only on selling to their audience to get really good results; showing a deep understanding of the needs of the customer can provide equally, if not better, results as well as strengthening the trust between business and customer. Humanising the customer will only become more important as technology continues to develop, and it’s critical that businesses use technology to further their understanding the needs of the customer. In other words, technology should enhance the personal approach, not diminish it.

Neil Harrison, Head of Operations

There were a number of themes running through MAD//Fest this year, many of which could be picked up across each of the talks throughout the two days. Here’s some examples of what I considered to be the most stand-out points of the event.

Don’t sugar coat facts – it’s essential to reflect on failures and not waste mistakes. Failures and mistakes can be a great opportunity to learn and grow, so make the most of them.
Don’t let personal success exceed the objective of the marketing concept or belief. Keep your activities aligned with the marketing objective and don’t lose your way when personal successes come up; of course it’s great to enjoy your successes, but don’t let this eclipse the purpose of your marketing activities.
Make the most of your app – having an app is a brilliant resource for leisure operators, and it’s quite common to see operators with apps that aren’t being used to the best of their ability. Not only is it good to utilise your own app, it’s important for marketers to consider using apps for advertising purposes, as this doesn’t rely on third party cookies.
Understand the value of the customer – consider what the value of each individual is and where they are in relation to your product. At what stage are they in the buying phase? It’s also worth considering the use of technology to understand your customers better.

Emma Kapur, Marketing Account Manager

MAD//Fest 2022 provided a fantastic opportunity to not only meet and network with incredibly talented and successful marketers, but also gave me the chance to attend demonstrations on topics that, when considered in practice, could provide a real boost to the service we provide our clients. Here are some of my main take-home points from the event that I feel are important for us as marketers to consider moving forward.

The development of technology – technology is changing and developing all the time, and it’s important for businesses to allow customers to seamlessly connect their physical and digital selves with a brand. Within this, thinking long-term about the further development of technology and staying ahead of the curve is a strategy that will help your businesses chances of staying technologically proficient, as well as making integrations into a digital customer experience smooth and efficient.
The significance of using video ads – a recent Facebook and IAB UK case study found that video ads have a 17% higher conversion rate than static ads. This goes to show how much videography can have an impact on overall marketing performance, as well as demonstrating the importance of quality video content; even using simple animations can work well in bringing your advert to life and drive conversions. If a video can demonstrate the brand value proposition or a product’s key benefits in the first three seconds, your business should definitely be using video for ads.

With the ever-changing sphere of digital marketing coming more to the forefront of business activity every day, marketers are looking at an exciting opportunity to learn new ways of reaching the customer and making new kinds of impact in the market. Keeping ahead of technological developments and understanding which types of advertising are most effective will help to ensure a successful future in the years to come for all types of business.

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“What Brings You In Today?” – Is This The Missing Link?

“What Brings You in Today?”

Is this the missing link?

One of the challenges facing operators in a post-COVID-19 world is that consumers may not go back to pre-pandemic norms. Increasing numbers of people will continue to work out from home, and many users will choose online rather than in-person services. Not only this, the cost-of-living crisis is having a significant impact on the financial priorities of the general public.

As operators have begun to navigate the post-COVID-19 world, the use of data analytics tools is extremely valuable in helping them adapt to the changed attitudes of the customer, and ways in which people want to be active. Operators are being presented with the challenge of getting to know a very changed market; it is essential that the changed attitudes and habits of the customer are recognised and understood as thoroughly as possible. Because of this, data analytics tools are more valuable than ever before.

Both Big Data and Thick Data should be used for detecting new purchasing patterns and the behaviour of the customer, which in turn can assist in delivering a greater personalized experience.

What is Big Data?

Big Data is quantitative in nature; it is the numbers and figures that are scrutinised and analysed at the end of the day, week, month, and year to see what has been achieved or not achieved. This comes in the form of figures including sales, clicks, leads, enquiries, visits, and class attendance, and is a gauge for many operators to measure their level of success.

It is also how future trends and purchasing habits are predicted, which can indicate what products and services operators can offer, where to spend resources and how to market themselves. Big Data can also indicate where current resources are best spent and where the focus of marketing activities should be in order to achieve maximum results; this could include looking at which social media channels work well for certain promotions using analytics, and whether the use of print is of benefit to the business.

What is Thick Data?

Thick Data is qualitative information such as observations, feelings, and reactions that offers insight into users or prospective users daily emotional life. Thick Data can be difficult to quantify since it aims to discover people’s emotions, stories, and is a representation of the environment they live in, and cannot be quantified with numbers.

Thick Data is usually collected in small samples and can come in many different forms, such as a in a quick chat with staff in the gym, Facebook comments or surveys. Although it is usually only collected in small amounts that doesn’t make it inconsequential or insignificant; this data gives clear insight into the opinions and feelings of the customer, which is an exceptionally valuable resource for operators.

Why we need both

While Big Data produces the numbers, figures, and the black-and-white detail of how operators perform, this information can be greatly enhanced by Thick Data to help suggest why certain results were achieved. Thick Data fills in gaps in the numerical data with emotion, stories, comments and unquantifiable data to reveal the reasons behind the purchasing habits of the customer. This is key to making decisions on business, marketing, and operational levels. The provision of qualitative data inspires organizations to gather the insights and produce innovative ideas for the betterment of the users, operators and trusts alike.

How to collect thick data

One stand-out example that is commonly seen within sales is the following question;

“What brings you in today?”

From that simple question, a discussion is started, and Thick Data can start being collected. Asking a question like this is not just a standalone way of getting information; it’s an opportunity to expand further and continue a conversation to gain insight into the deeper opinions and feelings of the customer.

There are many opportunities to ask the customer “What brings you in today?” By adapting to the setting, Thick Data can be collected from all facets of a facility, including fitness classes, swim sessions, gym visits and even online classes. Interactions with people, and not necessarily about fitness, can provide valuable information about their likes and dislikes, their opinions and their feelings.

Social media is a fantastic resource for collecting Thick Data; it is common for customers to be more open about their opinions on social media, so checking comments and discussions about a facility can again provide quality Thick Data in a way that is time efficient and straightforward for the operator to collect. By engaging with the online community, operators can encourage a wider audience to participate in providing Thick Data, particularly through the use of polls and social posts posing questions.

The concept of combining these types of data is to help operators make the right decisions going forward. This mix of both Big Data and Thick Data provides information to help make more informed predictions about the future than Big Data alone.

Suggested Methods for Collecting Thick Data

Get on the gym floor
Offer guidance to instructors, and suggest posing the question “What brings you in today?”
Run surveys on social media
Investigate Facebook comments
Ask reception about the conversations they have with customers
Spend time in and around reception listening to customers and engaging in conversation

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10 Top Tips for Marketing your Next Fitness Launch

When launching a new gym, fitness class, activity, or concept, developing and executing a relevant and effective marketing plan is vital in order to have the best chance of a successful launch.

From establishing a powerful digital campaign to maximising your offline presence, here are our 10 top tips which you may wish to consider when marketing your next fitness launch.

Know your audience and aims – Before you start planning your fitness launch it is important that you firstly decide on your campaign goals and the audience you are aiming to target, as this will help determine which channels and elements of the marketing mix to use. Often there will be a range of demographics which will mean that your campaign requires a multi-channel approach, from TikTok advertising to more traditional print marketing.
Be clear on your branding – Focus on a strong brand identity from the start and integrate all campaigns so that there is consistency of both your creatives and copy across all channels. More often than not, your prospects will see your campaign across multiple channels (in fact, on average most marketing campaigns require an average of 8 touchpoints). Therefore, it is important that the branding is consistent and that your adverts are identifiable in order to resonate with your audience across multiple channels.
Create a website landing page – Showcase your new facilities or fitness concept with a slick landing page that includes images and videos of the offering, useful information, a strong call-to-action and a contact form if you are looking to generate leads.
Optimise for local search – Make sure you have an up-to-date Google MyBusiness page with correct information, recent images and contact information (the great thing is this doesn’t cost you a penny!) MyBusiness listings not only include reviews on your facilities but also provide the opportunity to promote your latest offers and news stories.
Run email marketing and text campaigns – Utilise your databases by keeping prospects informed about the progress and the any introductory offers (just be sure to follow GDPR compliance and not bombard your prospects with too many messages!) With more restrictions on the way when it comes to tracking and cookies, the use of 1^st party data will become essential to any leisure operator looking to communicate with prospective customers.
Don’t rely on organic marketing – Whilst word-of-mouth can be extremely powerful, a common mistake is relying on organic channels and under-spending on digital pay-per-click (PPC) advertising such as social media, search, display and video advertising. If you have a limited budget, choose which channels are going to be the most cost-effective as well as the most relevant to your audience.
Create a content calendar – Plan your organic social media content in advance, focussing on a small selection of key content pillars. Create excitement using countdowns, show sneak peaks of the new offering and prioritise video posts where possible in order to optimise reach and engagement. Click here for 50 free content ideas.
Take it offline – Run an open weekend event for prospects to come along and see your new gym, product or service in person. If you can, offer this either for free or at a discounted one-off rate to help generate leads. Follow-up on these leads with an exclusive offer and use this as an opportunity to gain feedback and testimonials.
Collaborate – Send local micro-influencers invitations to your open weekend event or ask to work with complimentary local businesses in order to raise awareness (just do your research beforehand to make sure that the influencer or business you choose compliments your brand values and ethos with no conflict of interest – both parties should benefit from the relationship).
Don’t forget your current members – It’s important to thank your existing members, especially if they have been inconvenienced by any refurbishment work carried out or have had their services reduced for a period of time. By offering member rewards such as a freeze on their current membership rate, referral gifts or exclusive member events you can maximise retention.

TA6 have supported over 100 new product launches ranging from brand new leisure centres to localised new activities, and if you’d like to discuss how we can help with your next launch please contact us today.

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New Social Media Guide OUT NOW

NEW Social Media Guide

Our latest social media guide for June is now available. Latest trends, insights, tips and more. Download your copy now.

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10 People Joined Yesterday

Over the past few years, there have been significant changes in attitudes towards health and wellbeing, and how people can access and undertake activity. As a result of this, leisure operators have had to evolve and rethink how users are attracted, supported and retained.

Most operators have some form of acquisition, onboarding and retention processes in place but at TA6 we encourage them to ask the question “If 10 people joined yesterday, do you know what happened to them?”. This encourages you to analyse what you really know about your new customers and members and if you are really giving them the best initial experience into your services.

Latest Research

In a TA6 report due to be published in June 2022 we identified that 52% operators reported less than half their new members received a structured onboarding session, over 80% reported less than half of new members have prescribed workout plans and 52% had no digital onboarding journey.

The TA6 philosophy of “Meeting People Where They Are” is built around the idea that every potential or new customer has different experience, expectations and needs from their engagement with activity and your facilities so a one-size fits all approach to member experience cannot support individuals.

The last few years has highlighted more then ever before that facilities aren’t the sole providers of exercise options. People can be active anywhere and access to online fitness, home equipment, advice and technology means there was potential for facilities to become obsolete. However, the leisure industry has shown a strong bounce back after long term closures. Why? Partly because of activities such as swimming that cannot be accessed elsewhere but mainly because people want to be part of a live experience, a community and have personal support, so we need to ensure we deliver this.

Route to Membership

There are multiple ways in which prospects and new customers become aware of your facilities, but do you effectively track this, and more importantly does this affect the next steps?

To continue reading the full article to gain more insight into how you can positively affect your acquisition and onboarding processes, simply leave your details below.

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Our 5 Biggest Takeaways from active-net 2022

March 23^rd – 24^th 2022 saw the welcome return of active-net, a 2-day leisure industry networking event.

It was a great chance to get key leaders, suppliers and operators together to discuss the future of leisure, the challenges of the last two years and what this means for us all moving forwards.

The energy throughout the event felt collaborate and extremely positive but here are our 5 Biggest Take-aways from active-net UK 2022.

Reaching Beyond the 15%

There was a clear message of the need to shift our messaging from a focus on gyms and fitness to wellbeing and increasing levels of activity among our communities. Not only is this the right thing to do in the current climate to reduce the impact of ill health and inactivity on the NHS and public services, but the commercial opportunity to widen our market beyond the same 15% we are all competing over is something we need to react to.

The TA6 philosophy to “Meet people where they are” is driven by this. Understanding where people are on their journey, their previous experience and confidence with activity as well as understanding how, where and when they want to be active and how, where and when they want to receive support is how we should be directing our approach. We need to look at a more inclusive and holistic approach to our messaging, customer experience, processes and programming.

Workplace Wellness

There has been a lot of discussion on the impact of the last 2 years on our customers but less on the impact on our teams. Lindsey Simpson and Katie Lewis from Workplace Mental Wealth presented the findings from the 2022 Workforce State of Mind Report which revealed some stark findings. 73% of responders stated they had experienced mental health concerns at some point while only 11% stated someone regularly checks on their mental health at work, down from 19% last year showing the return to business has had significant impact on how we care for our teams. You can download your copy for free here https://www.workplacementalwealth.com/research

Nudge Marketing

With the above points in mind, it is clear that our campaigns should no longer be sporadic membership offers but instead we should adopt a longer term approach. At TA6 we strongly believe that truly effective campaigns should begin with awareness, messages that highlight the benefits of activity and impacts of non-activity. This may not lead to immediate sales but will target the pre-contemplators and start to nudge them towards contemplating options. At this point content led-marketing is key, assist them towards getting started, what to do and offer ways to take the first step, even if not yet through a membership. Once the initial steps are taken the move to membership becomes a more likely option with awareness of your brand and credibility. We then need the right pathways to guide them into.

At TA6 we work closely with our clients to ensure the right campaigns, reach the right people with the best content and via the most effective platforms, monitoring this to refine and adapt along the way. A brand-led long term campaign plan should always be part of your marketing strategy.

The Power of Data and technology

This isn’t new and the impact of multiple lockdowns forced our industry to quickly adapt to a more digital approach however, now the doors are open, are we truly tracking data effectively? Do you clearly know who is engaging with your content, what messages have impact, what are the appropriate mediums to connect with different personas, what activities are being accessed by whom, what difference this makes to their likelihood to continue and use this business intelligence to inform our strategies? At TA6 we believe in creating strategies and processes with clear objectives, outcomes and measures of success, whether that is your marketing campaigns or your customer experience pathways and delivery. We start with he question “If 10 people joined yesterday, do you know what happened to them?” If not, there is work to do!

Personal Development

Whether it is to support your workplace wellness, promote a confident return to normal operating, ensuring consistency or maintaining your workforce for longer, there has to be a focus on Personal Development within your business. One-off training simply isn’t always sufficient to have an impact and there should be a clear and on-going commitment to develop your teams.

The TA6 approach to personal development is 3 clear areas. Education to understand why skills, processes or systems are needed and how this will impact individuals, roles and the business. Training to ensure confidence in the specific skills required, and Coaching to ensure this is fully embedded and continually supported and improved.

If you would like to explore how TA6 can support your business in any of the areas discussed above please get in touch.

CONTACT THE TEAM HERE

Market Research: Customers actions prior to joining a membership

Market Research:

Exploring customers’ actions and views prior to purchasing a health and fitness membership

In December 2021 we set out on a project to understand the modern consumer and their shopping and buying habits. We asked some of our clients to participate in the research by surveying their existing members. Following feedback from over 1,000 customers we analysed the data and produced the full report which you can download below.

Here are just 6 of the top takeaways from the research:

The main reason for joining is to Improve Physical Health
75% of people exercise on their own
Location, price and facilities are the top influencers on a customer’s decision to join
76% of respondents said they couldn’t remember being prompted to join by any advertising
Only 8% of customers join online without a visit first
56% of customers visit your website or search online before joining

Download the full report

Maximising Your Social Media Presence

Understanding Audience Needs and Maximising Social Media Presence

When working with social media, it’s important to consider the reason you’re using it. Whether your page exists as a notice board for your facility, an interactive community for your customers, or a space for you to promote sales messages, having a solid reason for the use of social media can help you understand the type of content you need to produce, as well as figuring out which platform is best suited for your business.

There are several factors involved when it comes to determining the reason you use social media as a part of your brand. When looking into these factors, it’s important to consider the ways that your audience is engaging with your content. We’re going to look at the different reasons someone might follow your page, and what sort of content will resonate with each audience.

I want information and updates on the business

A significant number of your audience on social media will be following your pages to stay informed of news and updates from your business. Some examples of updates that this audience might be looking for include new activities at your centre, development updates, and opening times.

If most of your audience is made up of those looking for updates on your business, having regular content is important to maintain their engagement. Content such as a weekly update post or a link to a newsletter can be helpful.

I’m researching before making a buying decision

This type of consumer presents a very real sales opportunity for your business. Whether they are new or existing customers, they provide an opportunity for you to showcase your products and facilities, as well as your brand’s personality. Sales messages can work with this type of audience, but it’s important to remember that sales messages should be posted with a degree of caution; too many can push potential customers away. Some places to start with sales content are product advertisements, showcasing your facilities, and promotions of discounts or offers.

A good way to avoid the over-use of sales messages is using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which allows your organic posts to focus on customer retention and service communications. This can help to reduce the number of sales posts on your page – keeping important sales messages current and on the screens of relevant audiences and leaving space for other content. PPC does can also be a very effective tool in awareness campaigns, as well as for use in driving sales.

I’m a current customer and want to show support to the business

Current customers that want to show support for your business are an invaluable part of your social media presence. Not only can they help to boost engagement on your channels, but they offer an opportunity to spread awareness of your business at next to no cost. For this audience, awareness campaigns can be very beneficial. ‘Like and share’ competitions are a great way of spreading awareness, and those that want to show support are likely to get involved.

Polls can be another great way of engaging with this audience. They offer both a way for your customers to get interactive with your page and can also provide valuable feedback about your products and services. For example, you might ask ‘What’s a fitness class you’d love to see added to our timetable?’.

Now that you’ve got your audience members nailed down, what else can you do to suit their needs and keep them engaged?

Keeping content balanced for your audience

It’s important to keep a good balance across your social media content. Ensuring that you have a good mixture of content will keep your social media presence fresh and interesting, and by looking at the behaviour of your audience you can determine which types of content are worth the most attention. For example, if customers are interacting more with posts about updates in what’s happening in the local community, this sort of content should be used regularly. If polls are getting no attention, other methods of engaging content might be worth considering.

Types of content and different social media platforms

Once you have a good understanding of the types of audience your following is made up of and the type of content you want to post, you will be able to maximise your social media presence by using different social media platforms. It’s important to remember that each social media platform serves a different and unique purpose; we’ll look at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, and consider how each platform is appropriate for different types of content.

Facebook

Facebook is used for social networking, connecting with others, sharing information, and forming communities. It has more of a communal feel that other social media platforms and can be a great choice of platform for content focused around updates on your business, as well as awareness content.

Instagram

Instagram is used for sharing image and video content, as well as some ‘disappearing content’ such as polls and stories, which are erased from the platform after a certain period – usually 24 hours. It is a good choice for sharing updates on your business if the content isn’t too text heavy. It can also be a great platform for showcasing your facilities through high quality images to give an impressive introduction.

Twitter

Twitter is used to communicate through short text-based messages, with the option to include images, videos, and links. This isn’t the platform for wordy or complicated content; it’s best suited for content that can be condensed into short text accompanied by images. Once again, it can be a good platform for sharing updates on your business, but it can also be a great choice for sales messages.

YouTube

Whilst not often considered a social media channel, YouTube allows for comments, likes, dislikes, and subscribers – sound familiar? You can build a community on YouTube, using video to bring your brand and services to life. Posting product updates, opening times, meet the team, and sales messages can all be done through video.

Having a solid understanding of the reason you want to use your social media combined with a knowledge of the audience that you’re dealing with is a working formula to maximise the potential of your social media presence. We can help you understand the needs of your audience and can show you how you can use different social media platforms to help your business’s online presence reach its full potential.

Get in touch today to arrange a social media audit or to discuss our social media management services.

Getting Women Back Into Physical Activity

According to the latest Active Lives Adult Survey by Sport England women saw more prolonged drops in activity levels and were slower to recover after lockdown then men.

As part of the TA6 philosophy of “meeting people where they are” this means we should understand the barriers and acknowledge where women are in their confidence and emotional readiness to start, or return to, exercise.

It is important to consider how we encourage women back into exercise and how we support them once they make the first step.

As part of the recognition of the importance of understanding the barriers to exercise for women and creating confidence and opportunities for them, This Girl Can and ukactive have joined forces to create a practical guide for operators. You can download this here.

Here are some recommendations from the team at TA6 for supporting women to increase activity:

Use targeted, content–led marketing focusing on real women and messages of confidence to exercise and benefits to positive mental and physical wellbeing
Consider linking into wider campaigns such as “This Girl Can” to speak directly to women in a way that feels inclusive
Promote how you can support them back into activity in a safe environment with home workouts, online advice and training programmes
Train your teams to understand the drivers and barriers to exercise and how best to support and offer solutions
Build in a focus on weekly activity plans, not just gym programmes, to meet women where they are and allow them to access exercise throughout the week in whatever format they are comfortable with
Once it is identified that someone might need to support to build confidence and exercise habits, create prompts for weekly touchpoints in the first few weeks. These could be a simple tracking diary or ideally utilising your digital systems to automatically flag a contact point as well as sending supportive content via apps, email and SMS