Running a gym or fitness center means that you depend on new members coming in and generating revenue for your business. However, finding these new leads can be easier said than done. While word of mouth and a great website can do a lot to bring in new business, there’s another great way to get discovered online: digital advertising.
Within the realm of digital ads, there are a few different types to choose from. You can advertise on social media with videos and images, or you can try and target high-performing keywords on Google Search Ads. But another style of advertising that can be great for gyms and fitness centers is a Google Display Ad. But what is Google Display Ads? And how can this advertising channel help your business? Let’s look at the most important Display Ads best practices for gyms and fitness centers to help you grow.
What are Display Ads?
A display ad is a type of advertising that utilizes a photo or graphic element in order to capture the attention of audiences. Display ads are also called banner ads, and they are used on platforms like websites, social media sites, and apps. A display ad will appear in the margins of the screen, usually either the top or the sides, or within the layout of the page itself. If the ad is appealing enough to the audience, they will click and engage with the ad.
A display ad network is the platform you use in order to get your ads displayed on trustworthy websites. Google Ads is the biggest and most popular platform for display ads, and tends to be the one that businesses trust the most for their advertising needs. The major difference between display ads and other types of search ads is that display ads use visual elements.
Benefits of Display Ads
Display ads can deliver a lot of benefits to gyms and fitness centers. They are able to help you gather new leads and get new membership signups and are relatively inexpensive compared to some other forms of advertising. Here are some of the major reasons why businesses like to use display ads in their digital marketing strategies:
- Add a visual nature to your Google advertising strategy
- Capture the attention of your audience
- Convey your message in an eye-catching manner
- Persuade users to visit landing pages
- Cost-effective brand awareness
- Target relevant audiences where they are
- Increase online visibility and build your reputation
Common Types of Display Ads
There are a few different types of display ads that you can use when coming up with your advertising strategy. Knowing the different types of ads can help you decide which style will be best for your gym or fitness center to get the customers you need.
Site Placement
Site placement ads are the most common type of display ads, and usually what we think of when we think about banner ads. These ads will appear on the sides, top, or bottom of a website page, app, or social media site. A banner ad will typically use animation, interesting graphics, or attention-grabbing visual imagery in order to get clicks. Some display ad platforms will allow you to choose the location of where your ads appear, or allow you to select the specific websites that your ad will display on.
Contextual Ads
A contextual display ad is a type of ad that is related to the content on the page where the ad is displayed. For example, your fitness center ad might appear on a website page for sports activewear, since there is a crossover between audiences who shop for activewear and those who go to gyms. The contextual ad targeting allows you to select categories, keywords, or content that is relevant to your business and will hopefully help you target a more specific audience.
Remarketing Ads
Do you ever wish you could ask the people who came to your website or social media page and left to come back and take a second look? With remarketing display ads, you can. Remarketing ads refer to placing ads on the screens of people who have engaged with your brand but haven’t taken the desired action, like a conversion to joining the gym. Remarketing allows you to remind people about your brand through advertisements.
8 Display Ads Best Practices for Gyms and Fitness Centers
Now that you know a little more about what display ads are and some of the different types of display ads you can use, let’s talk about some specific display ads best practices for gyms so you can make sure that your implementation and ad strategy make sense for your business.
Message
The first tip is to make sure that you have a clear and compelling message for your ad. You want to make sure that you are able to get the results you want from your investment, so make your message clear, easy to understand, and persuasive so that people who see your ad are encouraged to click on it. This will help you get the leads you need.
Design
The next step of your ad is the design and the look of the ad itself. Display ads are different from other types of search ads because they utilize imagery and can use visual elements to draw audiences in. Think about what is visually appealing to your intended audience and use relevant images and animation in order to convey your message to readers.
Color
Another important part of the ad you create is the color. You want to make sure your colors stand out from the page that the ad is displayed on, but you also don’t want to be too distracting, which can irritate viewers and make them less interested in engaging with your ad. It’s also important to have a clear, color-contrasting call-to-action button so readers can know what step to take next.
Targeting
As with all ads, it’s important to know who your audience is. You want to make sure your resources are going to target the people who are most likely to become customers. Therefore, you need to know the key demographics that make up your ideal customer so you can use those features in your targeting strategy.
Website
When someone clicks on your ad, you want to funnel them through to a specific landing page. This will allow you to track the number of people who have viewed your ad and clicked on it along with giving you the opportunity to further drive home your value. Optimize the landing page to drive more conversions and get people to take the action you want, including:
- Simplifying your forms so that the fields aren’t overwhelming
- Testing your copy and make improvements
- Having a clear and obvious CTA that matches the offer of the page
- Using a simple design and layout
- Making sure that the page loads quickly
- Updating your page regularly with new information
- Adding a thank-you page after someone fills out a form
- Offering great value on the page to encourage engagement
- Tracking the metrics of your page to make optimizations
- Leveraging testimonials and case studies to appeal to readers
Accessibility
People can come across your display ads on their desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Your ads should be designed so that they are clear and legible on any sized screen. When your ads are mobile-friendly, they are more likely to be seen by people and get engagement.
Authenticity
All of your ads should have a level of authenticity to them. You don’t want to come across as fake, overly-polished, or imitative. Create a personal brand experience and build up your gym’s reputation so that it has a voice of its own, and use that to earn the trust of new customers.
Measure
It’s important to measure and analyze the data from your ads to know whether they are successful. If you don’t, you could be paying money to run an unsuccessful ad campaign and never know it. Take time to monitor your ads and improve them so that you can make sure your campaigns are optimized for growth.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform Demo
At Surefire Local, we understand how important advertising can be for your business. Gyms and fitness centers rely on new incoming members in order to keep growing, so your display ads can do a lot to help you get discovered. With the help of the Surefire Local marketing platform, you can take your ads strategy to the next level.
Surefire Local is a business intelligence marketing software that you can use for a fraction of the cost of other tools or agencies that helps you manage your online marketing activities, including display ads. You can take care of every part of your marketing strategy from one platform. To learn more, get a demo of Surefire Local and see what it can do for your gym or fitness center today.