The industry is eagerly awaiting the reopening of health clubs and leisure centres in another year affected by COVID-19, where the only thing that’s been certain is uncertainty.

Will members come flooding back as soon as the doors open? Will they shy away, perhaps concerned about safety or having found new ways to exercise at home or outdoors? Or will they be looking for a new hybrid solution that offers them the best of both worlds?

Whatever the case, with facilities having lost an estimated 30-40 per cent of members during the past year, and more than 70 per cent of Hussle clients saying they will have the same or even less to spend on marketing versus pre-Covid, making informed marketing decisions and choosing partners who work with you to create additional revenue streams will be crucial to success.

Hussle, the first marketplace for fitness in the world, is a free digital marketing channel with a powerful UK-wide reach that gets you new members, risk-free.

Jamie Owens, director of fitness partnerships at Hussle, explains: “We speak to operators on a daily basis, who all tell us they need to see a vast improvement in the results of their new membership promotions this year, despite only having the same amount or even less to spend on marketing. This is where we can help.

“Embracing a marketing partner, such as Hussle, opens up completely new member generation options, providing access to valuable marketing reach and resources, at no extra cost.

“Hussle has turned more than 30,000 users into direct club members in the last 18 months alone. That’s actual members of your gym, which still belong to you regardless of how future partnerships progress.

“On average, 26 per cent of customers go on to become exclusive members of gyms they visit via Hussle. And, through our new Membership Conversion Service (MCS), we proactively encourage users to join clubs they attend regularly.”

Hussle was formed in 2009 based on two key principles; increasing participation in physical activity and generating revenue for operators.

Owens continues: “We target customers who don’t currently engage with traditional gym memberships by investing in two main marketing channels – direct to consumer through big brand marketing and commercial partnerships with the likes of Premier Inn and Vodafone, as well as via big-name employers providing fitness-as-a-benefit to staff, such as CBRE, Facebook and the NHS.

“Thanks to the national marketing partnerships we attract, plus the corporate members we generate, Hussle can offer operators members they would never normally attract.”

The key Hussle audience is aged 20-35 – the next generation of gym members, who're typically younger than most operators’ core 40-plus audience.

These include:

• Customers requiring multi-venue workouts no single operator can provide, typically using at least two facilities around six times a month
• Occasional users, who may also exercise outdoors or use digital platforms, but still represent a valuable share of a club’s wallet
• 'Try-before-they-buy’ customers – accessing fitness via the Hussle platform enables consumers to try different gyms in their home area, giving operators the chance to impress
• In the last 18 months Hussle has also brought 66,000 disengaged ex-members back and 14,000 brand new customers to gyms.

If you’re interested in taking part in Hussle’s Membership Conversion Service pilot, please contact Jamie Owens.

To find out more about Hussle or to become a partner visit Hussle's official website.