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“Fit It Forward” Marketing Strategy – Details Riding The Wave Choosing a gym seems like a logical one, but it’s driven by emotion.
When people decide to lose weight, they’re admitting they’re fat. When they decide to get stronger, they’re admitting they’re weak. When they say their back hurts, or their knees ache, or they can’t walk up a flight of stairs anymore, they’re admitting they’re feeble. Even young, healthy studs making the switch from McFitness are in a highly emotional state: they’re excited. And this is never more true than after the holidays. It’s the real reason people join gyms in January. You don’t need to offer discounts after the Open; you just need to embrace their emotional drive. With Fit It Forward, that’s exactly our goal. Creating A Wave of Emotion People like your gym. And they like you. But sometimes, they LOVE the gym. When their emotional state is heightened, they’re far more likely to recruit their friends. So when are they most passionate about you?
* after a “bright spot,” like a first pull-up * after overcoming a social obstacle (finishing their first Open in front of everyone)
* after a longer-term challenge (food challenge, “The Gift,” PR Week.) Chances are, you’re already giving them these emotional high points. When they’re bursting to tell people about you, why not give them a reason? In this strategy guide, we’re going to create that emotional high point, and then use our “Fit It Forward” strategy to ride the wave. The “Help-First” Handoff In Handoffs and Hail-Marys, I wrote about a client’s three points of influence: those they live with, those they work with, and those who attend their “third place.” All of those folks should be doing CrossFit. We’re going to invite them using our “Help First” philosophy. Our message: you feel great about yourself, and rightfully so. If there’s anyone in your life you’d like to share this feeling with, ...

In 2001, CrossFit.com launched. Greg faced a market that many of us believed was already overcrowded. All the new innovation came in the form of gadgets: BOSU balls and tornado balls and DVDs. But CrossFit blew it all apart. Instead of arguing against each little invention, Greg Glassman released an innovation that simply made every toy irrelevant. Each new innovation passes through four stages of market adoption. First, the “early adopters” jump on board because they’re attracted to novelty. They try things because no one else is doing it yet, or they’re simply the first to discover the idea. Amundson and Nicole Carroll adopted the methodology, and others like OPT adopted it when it came online. Second, the “Early Majority” follows the early adopters. Less likely to take social or financial risks, the EM group dresses like the cool kids and listens to their music. They’re quick to jump on a new trend, but only after it’s been “cool-approved” by the real risk takers. With CFFMHI, I’d fall into this group. Many of the gym owners who affiliated between 2007 and 2012 would fall here. The brand hadn’t yet reached the majority of the population, and we liked the “counterculture” element. Today, I believe we’re entering the third phase: the “Late Majority.” Brand awareness is high: anyone interested in exercise has heard of CFFMHI. This is the largest group by FAR, but also the least motivated to self-educate. Hallmarks of the Late Majority include price-shopping, less loyalty and less pre qualification (they haven’t researched what you’re selling, and rely on you to tell them how you’re going to solve their problem.) If I wasn’t speaking one on one to dozens of gym owners every week, I probably would have missed this shift. It’s a huge change–it will affect how you spend your time as a gym owner–but it’s also not cut-and-dried. No obvious switch has been flipped, but gyms who embrace strategies ...