Lockdown 3.0 sharpened the need even further for the fitness industry to adapt to digital demand. Consumer interest in home fitness was already well underway but the pandemic accelerated its adoption at light speed.
Virtual Studio from Move is the ground-breaking offering from the UK's largest digital fitness platform. From sky-high retention to brilliant engagement rates, some of the UK’s top fitness providers are already seeing the huge benefits of integrating it into their member proposition.
Move's Performance Marketing Manager, Sheyde Bolton explains why operators neglect their virtual fitness strategy at their peril and why Virtual Studio solves operator issues both now and after the pandemic ebbs away.
Tell us all about the Virtual Studio from Move - what is it?
The Virtual Studio is a ready-made virtual offering for your fitness business.
It’s your own branded virtual studio allowing your customers to work out anytime, anywhere, via live stream and on-demand classes!
You can add your own virtual classes, and you can choose to also host a large amount of other on-demand content from world-class brands like Fiit and Les Mills. All your customers’ workout options are covered.
The studio can also seamlessly integrate with your existing membership system, website and app.
So you’re in full control and getting started is super easy.
Aren’t there a few options like this out there for fitness providers?
Nope, not really. At Move we're fortunate in that we've had some of the smartest minds in health and fitness technology developing our products for nearly a decade now. Designing and creating Virtual Studio for operators is a natural progression from the marketplace tech we developed to keep people active.
And this one is proven to be 5 x more effective at driving retention than comparable platforms.
How is that possible?
It's the combination of smart digital product design and complete convenience. Some partners are seeing a retention rate as high as 79% - you can take a look at the Astley Sports Village Case Study here for example.
Why is that mix so effective?
Firstly, as everyone now knows, home workouts are just super convenient. During the pandemic, adoption of home fitness has massively accelerated and new habits have formed. Working out at home has been embraced and so many have successfully adjusted to life without venue access.
Secondly, our technology rivals the very best digital platforms to engage, re-engage and ‘nudge’ members into further activity. This includes ‘book again’ options, push notifications, ‘quick book’ or ‘quick start’ nudges, and 'Netflix-esque' personalised recommendations based on data graphs of 100ks of users.
It makes home fitness more accessible, tailored and engaging. Those venues are the ones surviving these unprecedented times.
Well, it sounds good but new systems are sometimes hard to implement due to compliance and integration!
Yes I hear that! I've experienced it myself. That’s exactly why we designed Virtual Studio to be super simple to set up and integrate with existing membership systems. It’s really seamless. And you are in full control.
You can run your classes in full confidence that the live stream quality will be optimal and you can make use of 'in-class' gamification features if you like too.
The closures enforced by the pandemic have made things tough for operators. This is the ideal response: engage your members in a way that suits them.
Through our own research at Move, we’ve found that members who have live streamed classes are at least 23% more likely to be still paying for a full membership after 3 months. So this is really a way to make sure your members are still there when we get over this pandemic hill!
Blending in-person and virtual fitness offerings is clearly how the fitness industry needs to adapt - if you think a Virtual Studio can help you, book a demo now.
