Many fitness center management plans lack a comprehensive approach to creating a positive member experience that could improve satisfaction, engagement and retention. One blind spot in the fitness industry is the disconnect between the messages we promote and the ones our members receive.

Communication is not a one-way proposition. Human beings receive and interpret messages through a complex and highly personalized process informed by their own experience and self-image. While a fitness center may use “fitspiration” images—aspirational photos of lean and fit people working out—in member communications such as social media, flyers and posters, that may not always create a positive or motivational message. Recent studies indicate that those images may create the opposite effect, contributing to negative body image and discouraging engagement and fitness center utilization. That spells bad news for member retention.

Create a more positive member experience and bolster your retention numbers by crafting member communications that inspire and motivate your clients, and avoid messaging pitfalls with the following tips in mind.

Choose the right images

Women and men respond differently to aspirational photos of body “ideals.” While men can be motivated to work out more frequently to attain more muscle in response to those images, women respond with self-criticism and may develop negative responses to images of lean and muscular women. A 2017 British study of college co-eds revealed that women who viewed “fitspiration” images on Instagram were more likely to have a negative body image than those who viewed positive images of more relatable or “real” women. Taking it a step further, those who viewed Instagram posts without images, but with motivational and positive quotes, felt better about themselves.

Fitness center social media posts are a great way to build community. Build up members with a mixture of inspirational quotes and images that appeal to the more competitive nature of your male members, while honoring the self-image concerns of female members. Taking the focus off body images whenever possible is a good way to bridge the gender gap and build positive messaging that’s relatable and inspirational. When posting pictures of women, happy lifestyle images might better serve to emphasize the importance of health versus the pressure to be fit.

Change the conversation

Trainers and fitness center staff have a unique opportunity to help create positive experiences simply by shifting their focus away from fitness during member interactions. This may seem counter-intuitive, but a recent study shows that self-compassion is the key to members’ motivation to work out. The better person feel about themselves as they currently are, the more capacity they have to make healthy lifestyle changes. Greeting a member with a genuine smile, saying their name, and asking open-ended questions like, “How are you feeling today?” could contribute more to member satisfaction and retention than a hard-hitting focus on tough workouts and fitness gains.

One facet of building positive body-image that can’t be ignored is how fitness professionals talk about themselves in front of members. If trainers engage in negative self-talk in front of clients who see them as an aspirational figure, how much damage could that do to a client’s body image? Encourage your staff members to talk up positive attributes, both their own and those of members, and eliminate criticism and negativity from client interactions.

Health is the new fitness

Instead of sending messages that emphasize fitness 100 percent of the time, it’s a good idea to promote self-compassion through mindfulness. Use social media, newsletters, blog posts, and other means of communication to emphasize activities like mind-body classes, meditation or breathing exercises, and mindful eating. If we focus more on honoring and supporting the bodies our members currently have, chances are greater that they’ll respond with small lifestyle improvements that add up over time. When they attribute those positive feelings, experiences, and healthy improvements with your fitness center, they’re more likely to remain engaged with the community and feel a sense of belonging. That translates into good news for our members, and even better news for our member retention efforts.

If member retention is a challenge for your management team, it may be time to call in the experts. An award-winning health and fitness consultancy, for the last 25 years Aquila has been creating, managing, designing and implementing innovative health and fitness solutions for private and public organizations. Learn more about what Aquila can do for your fitness center by contacting us at info@aquilaltd.com.