With a new year comes a new round of potential members for your gym. Most gyms have a minimum age for their members, whether it be to adhere to regulations or self-imposed limits. The next generation are about to be hitting the gym in their droves - Generation Z.
Just like any generation, this new wave of gym-goers have their own distinct way of doing things and gym requirements.
Generation Z were born between the mid 1990’s and mid 2000’s. This accounts for 25% of the population of the United States (and 27% of the global population). Gen Z are a sizeable market to prepare for as they flood to gyms and health clubs around the world.
We want to ensure your gym is ready for the members of tomorrow, so we’ve created this short checklist for you to prepare now!
Wearables and IoT friendly Equipment
Generation Z are more connected with their electronics and devices than other generations. With the internet of things (IoT) industry booming, one major feature for this audience is connectable equipment. This means they can use this with their wearables or applications. One popular example of this would be cardio machines automatically sending statistics to tracking apps such as calories burnt.
Wi-Fi for tracking apps
Having Wi-Fi available for your members may seem counter intuitive by encouraging people to play on their phones. However for Generation Z, being connected to the internet is like another limb. Not having WiFi makes their workout experience at your gym less pleasurable. People who are unsure of themselves also get great comfort from checking a youtube video to check their form. It’s a cheap way to keep hold of your new most gym-nervous members!
Classes & Group Fitness
Generation Z are some of the highest social media users of any other age bracket. With the ability to see into others' lives (generally only the good parts which they share online), more young people are feeling isolated and experiencing fear of missing out now than in any other time.
Feeling isolated is leading people to social activities such as sports teams and group fitness classes. These help the individual feel more connected and improves their sense of community. Your gym can become the place where they feel included by offering more of these activities. Group classes such as yoga, spin class or anything else you can think of encouraging social interaction and health improvement.
A clubs loyal customer base is supported when it’s members feel a strong sense of community and belonging.
GymMaster makes it easy to organise these classes with our member management, scheduling and resource management tools. For more information on this click here to schedule a demo.
Influencers
With social proof being a critical success factor for members attending the gym, your club can capitalize on the need for Generation Z to feel connected on social media - using social media influencers.
46% of Generation Z in the US follow more than 10 online influencers (10% follow over 50 influencers) according to the Centre for Generational Kinetics. These people they idolize, and have a great amount of trust for - 38% of Generation Z and Millennials trust digital influencers.
They can also be accessed easily through sites such as www.traackr.com and https://www.tapinfluence.com, which depending on how popular the influencer is, can be a relatively cost effective way to reach your newest audience - just make sure you find one which aligns to your brand the best!
To appeal to new members in Generation Z, your gym or health club should consider utilizing influencers to get their approval for your company. It could be as simple as a post on their Instagram showing them working out at your gym or a review on their YouTube channel.
Flexibility
People are also more interested in living their life their own way and on their terms, and Generation Z are no exception - especially with their different upbringing to previous generations (open plan classrooms, on demand video and entertainment etc).
One easy way for your gym to allow this is to give your members access to the equipment when it suits them - through 24/7 access to your club. Another is by allowing members to book classes from wherever they may be, whether they have had a stressful day on the job and need to book a yoga class for after work - or have been at the beach all day and want to get some personal trainer pointers to look better.
Providing this kind of flexibility is paramount to keeping up with the trends of the fitness industry and your competition.
Learn more about how you can offer your members the flexibility they need here
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