March 29th, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
Experiencing steady expansion in recent years, the gym and fitness industry in Great Britain is expected to show an annual growth rate of 7.92% between 2022 and 2027. Advertising to gym goers has become an increasingly important strategy for companies looking to reach health-conscious consumers.
Data from YouGov Profiles reveals that nearly a fifth of Britons (19%) are likely to purchase a gym membership within the next 12 months. It makes sense, then, to take a deeper look into what channels of advertising are most likely to grab the attention of these prospective gym-goers in Britain.
Online advertising channels, such as apps, social networks, websites, and on-demand TV services, are the most attention-grabbing channels according to this segment, with nearly two-fifths of prospective gym-goers in Britain (36%) stating that they are likely to take notice of such ads.
While slightly more than a third of our respondents (31%) indicate that TV adverts have a chance of grabbing their attention, a quarter (25%) of them say the same about billboards. Printed newspapers and direct mail (flyers, letters, coupon envelopes, etc.) are tied for the fifth spot, with both garnering the attention of 18% of our respondents.
In-store promotions are found to be least effective in capturing the respondents' interest, with only 14% of them indicating that they are likely to take note of such promotions.
Evidently, online advertising has the greatest impact on Britons considering gym memberships over the next year. But towards which online advertising channels should gyms and fitness clubs target their marketing spends?
While advertising on social networks emerges as the clear winner (40%), online videos like video adverts prior to watching any content are not far behind (36%).
A third of respondents say that music streaming services and websites to be attention-grabbing, with 32% of them reporting that they are likely to notice audio and banner adverts on these platforms.
A significantly smaller proportion of respondents (23%) indicate that banner adverts and videos on mobile apps are likely to capture their interest.
For marketers targeting prospective gym-goers in Britain, it may be useful to gain insight into the social networks they are active on and the devices they use to access these platforms, especially given the effectiveness of social network advertising in capturing their attention.
Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social networks amongst Britons intending to purchase gym memberships within the next 12 months (60% and 56% respectively).
Interestingly, four out of five of our respondents aged 55 and above indicate that they are members of Facebook (81%). On the other hand, Instagram is most popular amongst prospective gym goers aged 18-24 (60%).
Though the proportion of our 18-24-year-old respondents who are members of Snapchat (58%) significantly exceeds the national average (37%), this social network finds very few takers amongst those aged 55 and above (1%).
Reddit and Tumblr are also similarly unpopular amongst prospective gym- goers in Britain (1% for both). However, more than a tenth of them (11%) reveal that they are members of TikTok, as are nearly half of 18-24-year-olds (47%), a third of 25-39-year-olds (31%) and a quarter of 40-54-year-olds (25%).
Unsurprisingly, respondents aged above 55 are most likely to not be members of any social networks (12%) compared to less than a tenth of respondents aged 18-24, 25-39 and 40-54 (3%, 2% and 6% respectively).
When asked about the devices they use to access social networks, three-fifths of Britons considering purchasing gym memberships over the next 12 months report using a mobile phone (61%) followed by a third (30%) who use a laptop and a fifth (20%) who use a tablet.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for Great Britain is nationally representative of the online population and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.
Photo by Danielle Cerullo on Unsplash