With remote working and sedentary days becoming the norm, as well as public health being top of the agenda, many people will be looking to make positive changes to their lives.
In fact, 80% of people in the UK have made the decision to change their lifestyle in 2021. 70% want to be fitter and healthier, with 41% wanting to exercise more.
In the first lockdown, 218% more pairs of running trainers were sold online than in the same period the previous year. Brits also bought 243% more running clothes and splashed out 268% more on running accessories. Golf has seen tremendous growth in the amount of rounds being played in 2020. The US increased rounds played by 34.9% in July compared to the same month over a three year period, the UK saw 39.7% and Europe 29.9% growth.
There’s no doubt that lockdown has made us a nation of outdoor sports persons through forced circumstances. Once lockdown restrictions are eased however, this desire to exercise more is likely to translate to a key opportunity for gyms, leisure centres and golf courses to capitalise. Digital advertising is essential to make the most of the opportunity. Here’s how.
Retargeting engaged users
Visitors already looking at your products onsite? Users checking out your membership deals already? When people land on your website, you know they’re already engaged. They have a higher chance of converting, but it’s not guaranteed. They may be in the research phase, just checking on prices, or evaluating your offering against your competitors so the next action you take is key.
Retargeting ads enable you to re-engage these users with a message that is tailored to their specific needs. Whether the precise product they viewed or left in their basket, or the membership deal they were considering, by defining their intent onsite and serving them with a personalised ad you immediately increase their chance of converting. In some cases by up to 10x.
Tailoring your ad creative
Retargeting existing users will always be a valuable tactic, but it’s also important to increase awareness around key products and brand messaging. If you have priority product lines from a merchandising perspective, how can you get these out there in your ad creative? First and foremost, by building display ads that entice your users and best showcase your products. Secondly, you want the option of using multiple creatives and products – Dynamic ads are essential to do this.
As your inventory changes, items sell out and certain lines fluctuate, it’s key to ensure that the products you serve in your ads are in stock and correctly priced. By connecting your product inventory to your ads through Feed ads, you’ll ensure this happens every time.
Thinking local (and getting a leg up on the competition)
This is key for membership sales, but also should be considered by retailers with brick-and-mortar stores. Whether golf course memberships or gym memberships for example, you need to engage with people in your local area, but you’ll also likely have to compete with other local operators. Our Geofencing ads platform feature is a great tool to have in your digital advertising arsenal.
It enables you to place a digital fence around your physical location and digitally engage with anyone that enters it. Once they step into your fence, they will have a digital maker placed on them, with digital display ads served to them on their mobile devices in real-time on the go. This means if someone comes to check out your premises for example you can re-engage with them and serve them ads once they leave – much like real-world retargeting. The real advantage is that you can do this around competing locations too, whether other local golf courses or gyms, or competitor stores for brick-and-mortar retailers. Then it’s purely up to the offer you provide to tempt them to switch to you.
Digital advertising in action
If you get your digital advertising strategy right, the possibilities are huge. This is something experienced by one of the most prestigious and popular UK golfing locations, offering one of the best facilities in Europe as well as a key retail outlet. It was key to drive sales and memberships in the run up to the festive period. Through a combination of geo-fencing, retargeting, keyword search targeting and dynamic creative, 1180% ROI was achieved in just 14 days. Learn more about our latest case study.
Ready to make the most of the fitness boom in 2021?
Contact us today to learn how Fluid Ads can help you enhance your digital advertising strategy to stay ahead of the competition.