Treadmill … Stairmaster … Twitter?

On almost a daily basis, I get a common question from friends, family and potential clients:  what is the use of “social media”?

Some really want to know the answer.

Others phrase the question more as a dig at what they think is a fad or a waste of time.

That’s why, from time to time, I like to include basic real-world examples here on this site.

We’ve posted about the hotel marketer who uses Twitter.  And the non-profit that engages social media.

We’ve even posted about what we can learn from the online efforts of Major League Baseball.

And now, I’d like to share the example of my health club (not what they’re doing — but what they should be doing) …

Yesterday, after a half-hour slog on the treadmill at my health club, I headed to the water fountain, where I noticed about a half-dozen hand-made fliers and signs announcing everything from a new yoga class, to T-shirts for sale, to upcoming holiday closings, to a blood drive announcement.

The same signs were attached to the front glass door of the club.

They also were posted near the keychain rack.

In addition, the blood drive notification was posted to all the cardio machines.

Despite all the signs, I don’t recall any of the dates or information on any of the fliers.  Because, you see, I was there to workout and didn’t have my iphone, or a pen or paper with me.

And, due to the overwhelming mess of fliers and signs – all the announcements blended together into one big mass of information.

Isn’t there a better way?  Sure, there is.

For example, gathering the email addresses of all the club members wouldn’t be too hard.  In fact, I wonder if they even captured that information from me when I signed up.

Regular announcements to my email inbox would save the club the time of handwriting all these signs, improve the aesthetics by negating the need for the flier/sign “wallpaper” above the water fountain and on the front door, and simply be more effective.  If I wanted to recall the date of an upcoming event or activity, I could simply search my inbox.

Not to mention the fact that the health club doesn’t even have a Web site.  Posting all of these announcements on the Web site would not only be helpful to members – it would serve as valuable marketing to bring in new members (obviously).

If they don’t want to spend the minimal investment on a Web site, how about a simple Facebook page or Twitter account – both of which are free.  Both online tools would allow the club to search out and demographically target people from the surrounding areas.

With Facebook, run some inexpensive pay-per-click ads targeted on our zip code.  Keep the page updated with all of the announcements.

With Twitter, there are numerous Twitter clients that allow you to find and follow everybody in the surrounding area – a valuable, free marketing exercise that will get you a following of new and existing members.

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Rainforest Café, utilizing online tools is an effective and inexpensive way to build customer loyalty.

You’re already putting in the effort – why not add the online component and make your efforts pay off?