Text Messaging for
Gyms & Fitness Centers 

Yes, in fact SMS marketing is a great way for a gym or wellness studio to follow up after a personal training session. It’s a low-pressure way of communication that clients will love because it’s both convenient and accessible. Many lead nurture programs are beginning to incorporate SMS — for fitness it can be used to convert a prospect from a free trial session to a paying customer. However, like email marketing, texting is a permission-based activity, so the recipient needs to opt in before the gym sends a promotional SMS.

No matter the size of the gym, text message marketing has many uses. A gym can utilize an SMS service provider like EZ Texting to generate new leads by using a Keyword campaign coupled with an incentive. However, a fitness center text message strategy could also incorporate reminders and alerts to decrease no-shows, and many gyms send promotional SMS to encourage referrals and re-enrollments. Additionally, fitness centers are enhancing their client communications with SMS services, sending payment reminders, booking links, and even urgent notifications.

Whether it’s a coach’s motivating weight-loss text reminder or a gym’s promotional SMS, text message marketing services are improving the bottomline for businesses across the health and wellness industry. For example, a chain of weight-loss centers needs to cut down on the administrative work around billing, and they are already collecting client mobile numbers during the sign-up process. The accounting team for the weight-loss center can send a text alert that includes a link to the invoice and/or online bill payment system. And with EZ Texting’s API or custom integrations, these tasks can be easily added to existing workflow.

Yes, gym SMS messages can be used to remind a client of an upcoming appointment. With text messaging’s 98% open rate, it’s a highly effective method of communication. Yet it is important to consider that SMS marketing for gyms, like email marketing, is an opt-in-only activity, and senders must seek permission from the recipient. Fortunately, a texting platform like EZ Texting offers multiple ways to acquire new subscribers, from shareable sign-up links and embeddable sign-up forms to Keyword campaigns. Or fitness centers can also include an opportunity to subscribe to reminder texts in the registration or POS process.