Advantages of WhatsApp for companies in the fitness industry

As was shown during the Corona pandemic, dwindling members can pose a serious problem for the financial situation of many fitness studios. At that time, 2.4 million Germans cancelled their membership, which almost abruptly reduced the number of paying customers for fitness studios by over 20% (source: Statista). In this article, we will show you how companies in the fitness industry use WhatsApp to ensure that existing customers remain loyal to them and at the same time offer high-quality customer service.

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Why WhatsApp at all and not email for customer communication?

WhatsApp is the world's most popular messenger service, with over 2 billion users. In Germany alone, over 60 million people use WhatsApp regularly. In contrast to e-mail, the user atmosphere of WhatsApp is very informal, as most users communicate with friends and family via WhatsApp. When companies can be reached via WhatsApp, this creates a closeness to the customer that is simply not possible with e-mails. This can increase customer loyalty.

This factor plays an important role not only in customer service, but also in existing customer marketing. Emails are too distant and too impersonal and therefore not the right way to go as a marketing channel that is intended to influence consumers' primarily emotional buying behavior. WhatsApp can be used to send newsletters in a similar way to e-mails. Another advantage is that WhatsApp newsletters are guaranteed to reach the recipients and are not sorted into the spam folder by the mail provider like many email newsletters. Your newsletter will get the attention it deserves between personal messages from friends and family members.

Traditional marketing channels like email are increasingly saturated. Many consumers receive dozens of email newsletters every week and delete most of them unread. In technical jargon, this phenomenon is called channel fatigue. As a marketer, there are only two options left in such a case: Either emails can be further optimized in the hope that open rates will increase by 1 or 2%. Or it can switch to a channel such as WhatsApp, where there is still hardly any competition. That the latter option is likely to be associated with greater success is suggested by statistics on newsletter open rates. While e-mail newsletters are only opened in 22% of cases for the reasons mentioned above, the figure for WhatsApp is a full 98% (source: Gartner).‍

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The excellent open rate, combined with customer proximity on WhatsApp and the resulting significantly higher conversion rate, leads to significantly increased sales revenues. Various experience reports show that the switch from e-mail to WhatsApp newsletters can contribute significantly to the success of a company. How exactly your fitness company can also set up and use WhatsApp newsletters, we have described in our article"How to WhatsApp Newsletter". By the way: Mateo provides you with reliable evaluations and statistics on the behavior of newsletter recipients, which can be used to evaluate the success of your WhatsApp campaign.

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Reading tip: You can find more information in our articles on the WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp privacy and WhatsApp newsletter marketing.

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High quality customer service in the fitness industry with WhatsApp

Operators of fitness studios and other companies in the fitness industry can offer high-quality customer service through WhatsApp. This is because customers can use the instant messaging service to ask questions or have problems solved quickly and easily. WhatsApp offers the advantage that inquiries can be forwarded directly to a contact person, who can then respond quickly and individually. This increases customer satisfaction and strengthens customer loyalty. In addition, operators can obtain feedback from their customers via WhatsApp and use it as a basis for improving their offer or service. They can also regularly solicit surveys or ratings via WhatsApp to get direct feedback from their customers. Overall, WhatsApp offers gym operators and other companies in the fitness industry a modern and effective way to provide high-quality customer service and strengthen customer loyalty.

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WhatsApp newsletter for successful existing customer marketing and sending important information

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Reduce churn rate and increase customer satisfaction

Gym operators and companies in the fitness industry are often faced with the challenge of reducing the churn rate of their members. One promising way to counter this problem is newsletter marketing via WhatsApp. This is because direct and fast communication allows operators to regularly inform their members about current offers, training tips or new course offerings, thus strengthening customer loyalty. In addition, you can inform your customers very practically via WhatsApp about deviating opening hours of their fitness studio, possible renovation measures, new equipment and about all other important changes. The technical possibilities are versatile: If you even want to send the current occupancy rate of your gym automatically upon customer request, this can also be implemented. In addition, WhatsApp offers the advantage that personalized offers and individual recommendations can be sent to increase member interest and engagement. Targeted newsletter marketing can reduce the cancellation rate and ensure the long-term existence of the studio. It is therefore essential for operators to rely on this modern form of marketing to existing customers.

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Upselling and cross-selling

Operators of fitness studios and other companies in the fitness industry can use WhatsApp newsletter marketing not only to reduce the cancellation rate of members, but also to actively pursue upselling and cross-selling strategies. Personalized offers and recommendations can be used to specifically promote additional services or products to increase sales. For example, members who regularly sign up for yoga classes can be specifically recommended additional classes such as Pilates or Zumba. Or you can draw your customers' attention to additional offers such as a sauna, flat drinks or protein bars. By addressing members directly and personally via WhatsApp, operators can arouse their interest and generate additional revenue. In addition, WhatsApp offers the possibility to provide exclusive offers and discounts only for newsletter subscribers to further strengthen customer loyalty. WhatsApp newsletter marketing thus provides operators with an effective and modern way to implement upselling and cross-selling strategies and increase sales.

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Implement customer communication and existing customer marketing via WhatsApp with Mateo

‍At Mateo, we are your messaging experts when it comes to customer communication. Dozens of companies in the fitness industry already use Mateo and are enthusiastic about it. Our customers particularly appreciate the following advantages of Mateo:

Central user interface

In addition to WhatsApp Business API, Mateo bundles many other communication channels such as email, Instagram, SMS or Facebook Messenger in a central inbox. On the intuitive and clear user interface, you will find various helpful tools for particularly efficient customer communication. A web widget with the messaging channels you support is available for your customers for particularly easy contact.

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Custom Message Templates

Thanks to various message templates that can be created individually, the amount of paperwork is minimized and the efficiency of customer communication is increased. This means that personnel resources in the service area can be deployed elsewhere.

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With Mateo's WhatsApp API solution, newsletters can be sent in a GDPR-compliant manner. Due to the first-class open rate of 98% for WhatsApp messages, marketing can thus be carried out significantly better than via email or other channels.

‍Morepositive Google reviews

With Mateo, you create an outstanding customer experience. Mateo can automatically request online reviews from your customers. The more reviews you have, the better you will be found on Google, for example. Reviews also create trust in your company.

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Privacy

Mateo's messaging tool is compatible with all German and European legally binding data protection requirements. If the law changes, the software will be revised accordingly. For absolutely secure customer communication, all messages are encrypted end-to-end. You can read all the info on the GDPR when using WhatsApp in our article"WhatsApp Business and GDPR".

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Scalability for all company sizes

The scalability of the messaging tool has been confirmed by the large number of companies already using Mateo with a high level of satisfaction. Whether customers have just a few employees or many hundreds, the software works smoothly and, depending on the package, with an unlimited number of end devices, users and phone numbers. The fact that Mateo significantly reduces the workload in the customer service area opens up new growth opportunities for many companies.

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Low cost provider for WhatsApp Business API

With an entry-level price of just 79 euros per month, Mateo is a cost-effective provider for WhatsApp Business API solutions on the German market. In combination with the integration of further communication channels and various helpful tools, Mateo offers good value for money. Mateo's personal customer support assists companies with every step of the integration, ensuring very low barriers to entry.

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