Reopening your gym after a hiatus in the middle of a pandemic can be challenging. But you should remember that customers are more than happy to come back. Add to that, you can attract new clients too. Awareness of health and fitness has seen a tremendous increase in the pandemic.

Now, for a client running a gym like you and looking to reopen, marketing and design experts, including Kimp, have a great idea: Video Marketing. 

Why choose video for your Gym Reopening Campaign?

What do you visualize when we say Gym and Workout? People moving, training, and the whole dynamic atmosphere, right? So, it just makes sense that the best medium to convey those emotions and encourage people to come back to the Gym would be video. 

Video content is extremely powerful, and the statistics offer ample proof. Customers would rather watch a video that shows you disinfecting the gym, setting up the treadmill, and other equipment than just read about it in an ad. 

Wherever you find videos  – Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and even Twitter – it outperforms all other content forms across industries. Not only that, fitness video content has been tracking quite well ever since the pandemic confined people to their homes. 

Just in Canada, home workout video views have increased by 130% in the last year alone. 

The versatility of Video Content – A look at platforms that boost video content 

Video content has great ROI numbers, as we saw just now. But, it can be an expensive affair, especially for a business whose industry is struggling due to the pandemic. 

But, the advantage of videos is that you can repurpose them across platforms to reach a wider audience. With professional editors and video designers, you can have your video shine all over social media. 

For example, Planet Fitness repurposes its content across YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to make the most of its efforts. 

The content format varies across social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. But wherever you see it, video content consistently performs well. 

Videos allow you to connect with your audience, speak to them directly and show that you mean business. And besides, we are all visual creatures at our core. So we remember more by seeing than hearing. This makes video content a great way to promote your Gym reopening for spectacular results. 

8 Video Ideas to Supercharge your Gym reopening 

Now that we have established the significance of videos in your Gym Reopening campaigns, it’s Idea time. Video marketing ideas must be creative, innovative, and serve interactive content to your audience. This is the combination that allows you to pull them in even before they click play. 

Videos are a great way to generate excitement and anticipation amongst your customers. So Kimp has curated 8 video ideas that will make this Gym Reopening event the best. 

Let’s get to it. 

#1 Reopening Announcement 

At the risk of starting with the obvious, the first and the most important video idea is an announcement ad for your Gym Reopening. It has been more than a year since the lockdown. So, you need something buzz-worthy to generate excitement and get your audience’s attention back to your social media handles. 

Video content is extremely shareable and will not get lost in the sea of text posts on the internet. You can also trigger nostalgia and connect deeply with your audience with high-quality footage of your Gym, making them relieve the good times. 

Best Practices for your Gym Reopening Announcement:

1. Ensure that the reopening date and your location are prominent.
2. Sound-independent videos provide a better user experience across platforms. This means it should be engaging and easy to understand whether the sound is playing or not.
3. Keep the text to a minimum and let the footage do the talking.
4. Maintain branding consistency in color, imagery, and typography. 

Kimp Tip: Keep the announcement video less than 15 seconds with high-intensity, fast-paced shots and professional editing for best results. 

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A post shared by LA Fitness (@lafitness)

#2 Gym Tour 

It’s been 18 months since your customers last saw your Gym. In fact, it has been 18 months since anyone saw the inside of any Gym. So. capitalize on this nostalgia and FOMO that the world is collectively experiencing. 

Walk your customers through your Gym with its swanky equipment, your updated contactless entry system, the hand sanitizer station, and the sparkling clean changing room. Remember, what your customers see will remain in their memories longer than what they read or hear. 

Best Practices for your Gym Tour:

1. Start the video with a prominent shot of your logo and other branding elements such as a pull-up banner or the reception desk. 
2. Keep the video short, focusing on the place rather than a single person. You can always have a voiceover over the video content if you want to add something extra to it. 
3. If you can, show equipment being used, but don’t spend a lot of time on it. 
4. Ensure that you cover all essential elements that reinforce the updates you’ve made to keep things safe. This includes updates to changing areas and sanitizer stands to name a few. 

Kimp Tip: Shoot the video in daylight for good footage. Ensure that you spruce the place up before the walk-through and wear a mask. You want to send the right signals. And don’t worry about getting the video done in one take.

A service like Kimp Video can help you edit, enhance and splice together your footage in highly engaging ways.

The virtual tour of Planet Fitness above provides a refresher on the new check-in process and the equipment available. Informative and to the point. It has 22k views in 3 months for an impressive proof of concept.

#3 Health and Fitness Tips

In our previous blog on promoting your gym reopening, we spoke about how engaging and interactive social media content generates interest. Blogs are also useful when presented in an FAQ or informational content format. 

If you are looking for video ideas to keep your social media feeds looking fresh, consider repurposing!

You can transform your content into these types of videos:

1. Short attractive Infomercials
2. Fitness Tips 
3. Q&A with a Trainer 
4. Live Demonstration videos to answer FAQs

This will help you establish yourself as a market leader who cares about their customers and shares valuable knowledge. Constantly sharing information, and informative posts also keeps your brand top of mind and improves brand recall.

And this in turn increases the chances that customers think of you when they think of going back to the gym. 

Kimp Tip: Use attractive backgrounds for the video with simple text in line with your brand style. When working with a design service like Kimp Video, be sure to share examples of the types of backgrounds and text you would prefer for your brand.

LA Fitness Trainers have a regular series of YouTube videos with fitness and strength training tips like the one above. 

#4 Goodies Launch

Most fitness studios or gyms have a product line too. Giving away customized goodies can be a great incentive to encourage customers to be the first ones to join or bring a friend along. But, you have to promote the launch of these goodies too, right? 

Creating video content to launch giveaways creates interest, and anticipation for the launch while keeping customers on your profile for a long period. You can also display these goodies in action by having team members wear or display them. Or work with influencers to get the word out and leave a lasting impact. 

Best Practices for your Goodies Launch Videos:

1. Mention the rules clearly in the caption of your post for the goodies giveaway. Keep text in the video to a minimum so the focus is on the products.
2. Ensure you only use the finalized design in the videos to avoid misrepresentation.
3. If possible, demonstrate use of the actual products for authenticity. 

Kimp Tip: Choose a designer that can design the goodies and handle the video editing as well. This will keep your branding intact and save you the time of running interference for files and other technical details.

Kimp handles a wide range of graphic design and video design. We offer subscriptions for graphic design, video design, or both combined for a flat monthly rate will make your gym reopen a lot smoother.

Want to learn more? Book a call to find out how we can help with your gym reopening promo. 

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A post shared by Planet Fitness (@planetfitness)

#5 Flaunt your Equipment 

What do you think your clients missed the most during all these months of working out in their living room? Your state-of-the-art equipment. The treadmill, the weight benches, and the workout bikes have a better chance of bringing them back than anything else.

So, show them what they are missing: 

1. Shoot a series of videos where the workout routine is entirely equipment-based. 
2. Unveil any new equipment that you bought for your gym reopening. 
3. Do a series of informational videos about the benefits of each piece of equipment

These video ideas remind your clients of what they are missing and reinforce the value you create for their fitness journey. 

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A post shared by LA Fitness (@lafitness)

#6 Animated videos on Good Gym Practices 

Interactive videos have a higher engagement rate than traditional montage-type videos. While the other video ideas are essential to promote your Gym reopening, you can also be a little creative. 

Animated videos are the right amount of whimsical, informational, and creative to get you results. As people are coming back to the gym after a long time, an animated video with good practices to follow will interest them.

Also, you can include the sanitization and social distancing messaging in these videos so that it really sinks in without coming across as too preachy.

Kimp Tip: If you don’t want a person featured in the video, you can get a professional to design one with a character or a mascot. Sign up for the Kimp Graphics + Video subscription to get all the custom illustration and video designs you need! 

#7 Throwback videos 

In addition to all the dopamine from workouts, there is one more thing that people love about the gym. It’s the selfies. It’s a vanity metric, but yes, customers love clicking selfies before and after the workout – a trend that has entered their home workout sessions too.

As a gym owner, you must have many photographs of customers on your social media (tagged, uploaded, etc.). Leverage this user-generated content to create a throwback video of sorts. If you have actual footage of any workout session, that is even better. You can secure consent from your customers and turn them into beautiful memorabilia with music and the announcement of the gym reopening.

Being featured on your social media, website, and other advertisements will make customers feel like they are a part of your community. It will make them eager to rejoin soon and bring more of their peers into the same community. 

Best Practices for Throwback Videos:

1. Always secure consent from the customers to avoid any missteps when publishing content featuring them.
2. Ensure that the video focuses more on the community as a whole rather than just one person.
3. Tastefully edit the video. No one wants a bad-quality video, so send it to an editor/designer who can make it insta-worthy. 

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A post shared by Gold's Gym (@goldsgym)

#8 Client Testimonials and Reviews 

Social proof is always the last key in the lock to open the treasure box of conversions. Customers need real person reviews and not just a bunch of text on your website to believe you. All customers read reviews before making any purchase. And they place a lot of trust in them.

Seeing a customer share a testimonial on a great experience can be very influential for new signups and add immense value for your brand. As we mentioned in our previous blog, promoting your gym reopening should also include new customers.

For new customers who haven’t worked with you before, you must create brand awareness and establish yourself as a market leader. Client testimonials or a video with your most recent public reviews can help you do that. 

Best Practices for Client Testimonial & Review Videos:

1. Include a profile shot that clearly shows the reviewer’s face. And add their name, and any relevant details of the customer reviewing you in a text overlay.
2. If you have a video testimonial, ensure that closed captions are available for better accessibility. 
3. Show the product or the space that the customer is reviewing so that the customer can easily relate to it. 

Kimp Tip: Even if it is a customer testimonial, posting the raw video is never a good idea. Get the video branded and styled as per your branding guidelines before posting it anywhere. Branding consistency is essential for the success of any campaign.

LA Fitness has testimonial videos in which customers speak of their inspiring journey with the brand, like the one above.

Use Kimp Videos to Supercharge your Gym Reopening

Kimp Video is at your service to create engaging, attractive, and branded video content for your Gym reopening.

Leave the backend work to us and put 100% of your focus on getting your space ready for your clients. With Kimp as your partner, you don’t need expensive gear to shoot videos. From enhancing footage filmed on your phone, to editing still images and adding animated text, we will take care of the rest.

Sign up for a free trial today and get ready to go big with your reopening promos. And for a limited time get 50% off your first month!