1. Introduction

Visions Fitness is a well-established gym in Melbourne that offers a wide range of services, including personal training, group fitness classes, and physiotherapy. It is committed to providing a welcoming environment for the Hawthorn community to stay fit and healthy.

2. Challenges Faced

Despite their strong presence in the community, Visions Fitness faced a few key challenges:

• Declining Membership Growth: The gym struggled to maintain a steady stream of new memberships over the past year, particularly in the highly competitive local market.
• Low Online Engagement: Their social media presence and website traffic were not generating enough leads, impacting membership sales and awareness of new programs.
• Unclear marketing strategy: Visions lacked a dedicated strategy to follow for their marketing, directing where their focus should be.

3. Goals and Objectives

The team at Hedgehog Marketing set out to achieve the following for Visions Fitness:

• Increase Memberships: Drive new sign-ups through a targeted digital and offline marketing strategy.
• Enhance Online Engagement: Improve the gym’s social media, SEO, Google Ads and website presence to attract new customers and keep the existing members engaged.
• Boost Member Retention: Implement a retention strategy and direct debit policy to reduce the churn rate and enhance customer loyalty.

4. Strategy and Approach

Hedgehog Marketing implemented a multi-faceted approach:

• Organic Social Media: Visions created engaging social media content, focusing on client reviews, fitness tips, and class highlights to attract attention.
• Social Ads Funnels: Visions created funnels on Facebook Ads, prospecting to segmented new audiences and funnelling them towards conversion via staged retargeting.
• SEO and Website Optimisation: Visions improved their website for better user experience and optimised it for local search to increase visibility for terms related to their business services.
• Google Ads: Visions set up targeted Google Ads campaigns to capture people looking for local gyms and group training in their area.
• Email Marketing Automation: Automated email sequences were developed to follow up with potential leads and re-engage existing members with personalised offers.
• Local Business Partnerships: Visions launched campaigns to partner with local businesses, offering corporate membership options and collaborative marketing campaigns with nearby local businesses.

5. Results

The results were impressive:

• 31% Increase in Memberships: Visions saw a significant increase in memberships with a steady monthly increase, resulting in an overall 31% growth since the start of our engagement.
• Boosted Online Engagement: Growth in social media followers across Instagram and Facebook.
• A Well-Oiled Marketing Machine: Visions has developed an effective in-house marketing function delivering on all major channels.

6. Client Testimonial

“We were so lucky to find Josh. His ability to absorb himself into the details of our business and offer game-changing analytics and strategy has revolutionised the way we run our digital marketing, social media, website SEO and broader business marketing and strategy. Hedgehog’s focus on offering in-depth DIY digital marketing skills has really worked for us - it means we’re not just seeing immediate results but also upskilling for the future.

But to us, what’s most important has been the vibe we get from Josh – he is approachable, patient, and you can tell he GENUINELY CARES about his work and his clients. Our meetings are always fun, as well as being informative and professional. We receive expert reports, step-by-step personalised guidance and Josh is always on-hand for questions. All of this has culminated in significant business growth for us.

There are so many digital marketing companies out there, but from the outset, Josh stood apart. If you’re a small or medium-sized business looking for bespoke DIY digital marketing guidance, you’d be crazy not to chat to Josh at Hedgehog.” – Pat Amey, Owner.

‍

“Working with Josh at Hedgehog this year has been a game-changer! His ability to upskill our team in DIY Digital Marketing has left us more visible than ever and puts us in a great place to succeed moving forward :)” – Michael Yole, Manager.

‍

“Our team feel so lucky to have found Josh at Hedgehog. Josh's DIY digital marketing coaching has helped us to learn and grow our business considerably this year. We appreciate his genuine effort and unique skillset targeted towards improving all that we can.

We highly recommend Josh to all businesses out there and are very grateful for his ongoing guidance and work!” – Brook Cull, Manager

7. Conclusion

By partnering with Hedgehog Marketing, Visions Fitness successfully overcame its marketing challenges and achieved sustainable growth. Its enhanced digital presence, combined with a robust retention strategy, has positioned it as one of the leading fitness centres in Hawthorn, Melbourne.

It has been a pleasure working with one of Melbourne’s oldest independent fitness centres.