As the days start to grow shorter and the nights darker, six in ten Brits would rather curl up in front of the TV than hit the gym, with one in five cutting down on exercise altogether.
Autumn may bring to mind connotations of warm, cosy evenings spent at home, but for gym and fitness operators, this ‘hibernation’ attitude can lead to a significant drop in attendance and membership rates.
Are your members going into hibernation?
It’s expected that one in four will go into a state of ‘hibernation’ over the next few weeks, spending less than thirty minutes outside each day until the warmer weather returns next year.
In their report, Cyclescheme suggest that this change in attitude takes its toll on our work as well as our personal lives, as 39% will adjust their commute and 28% will skip their lunch break to avoid being outside – despite knowing the negative impact it may have on their health.
From this lack of activity and natural daylight, seven in ten UK employees will experience worse moods and higher stress levels, with 53% finding it difficult to concentrate.
What can you do to turn things around?
There are significant health and wellness benefits from regular exercise and a balanced lifestyle, you simply need to remind your customers of them. For instance, whilst adults are expected to suffer 2-5 colds per year, keeping active reduces those odds by 50%.
It’s also suggested from this research that the “severity of symptoms” fell by 41% for the fittest respondents, and by 31% for the most active.
Connect with your members all year round
To reduce your membership churn rate, you need to adopt a consistent stay-in-touch policy with your customers.
With automated marketing, this would mean sending emails and print campaigns based on their recent activity or behaviour, such as: last log in, attendance and overall brand engagement.
As we get closer to the new season, you’ll find that more and more of your members will start doing the following:
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Will comfort eat in autumn
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Feel less energetic
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Are more likely to call in sick
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