Squires 1

Date: October 12th, 2019

To: Dean Oelze, Owner
From: Liam Squires
RE: A proposal to revamp our marketing and social media presence

Purpose:
I propose that our marketing and social media campaign launched in 2016 must be repurposed to
acquire more members. According to Emma Urbanek, there are around 400 million daily active
users on Instagram and over 180 million uses of #fitness on Instagram daily. As you can see
there is a vast market of influencers that can boost our memberships. Along with social media
also comes of presence in the local area with advertisements and marketing opportunities readily
available. According to our most recent census O’Fallon, Illinois has an estimated population of
29, 584. Our current membership total is estimated around 2,000 overall from the surrounding
areas. This goes to show how we have barely tapped into the O’Fallon and Belleville area. With
minimal local marketing and small social media presence we have not been able to show the
community what we have to offer. I have included an outline of ways to increase our social
media and marketing presence and clarify some concerns you might have.

Ways to restructure our Instagram

By repurposing our social media presence to target a larger crowd of individuals it will allow for
more page visits. This can be instituted with live videos, influencers in the local area, athletes,
and even members that have major following can become brand ambassadors. It should be used
as more of an announcement resource for our members as well. Monthly specials can be
announced by an employee or member. It can also be used for scores or times during our hockey
games or swim meets for club, high school, or college teams. Emma Urbanek had very similar
ideas to my beliefs in her article detailing ways social media is used in the fitness industry listed
below.
 Live Video
o Announcing monthly membership sign up specials
o Introducing followers to employee’s
o Membership competitions and giveaways

 Online Conversations
o 62 percent of millennials are more loyal to brands that engage them via social
messaging.
o Everyone’s questions can be answered with instant replies being set up.
 Squires 2

 Influencers
o 59% of consumers said that the authenticity of a brand’s content influences them
to follow the brand
o Members with a large following can share pictures and videos at the Metro Rec
Plex
o Ambassador program giving individuals incentives for sharing information and
promoting the facility to followers

Ways to restructure our local marketing:

Our facility is centrally located between O’Fallon Township High School and McKendree
University in Lebanon Illinois. These schools are a major source of potential memberships and
sports opportunities as well. According to US News, O’Fallon Township High School has a
student body of 2,407 and McKendree University has a student body of 2,500. That total comes
to 4,907 potential memberships. McKendree’s swimming teams, hockey teams, and diving team
all use the facility for practices and events. However, many of the other students at Mckendree
do not know about our facility. The local high school is sponsored by St. Elizabeths hospital
which also has a sponsorship through our facility as well. Our marketing campaign has to target
both the local high school and university to attract more memberships and interest within the
community. The American College of Sports Medicine has some very interesting statistics and
marketing tips to reach out to students.
 Fall semester
o August is when a majority of students come back in the area and need another
gym membership
o Student and teacher specials should be introduced during the months of August
and September, etc enrollment fee waived, student discount
o

 Off Campus gym’s

o “While most campuses have onsite fitness centers … 38% of students reported
spending money every month off campus at gyms and fitness studios”
o If we take that 38% and apply it to our student bodies at both schools that equals a
potential 1,864 memberships in students alone.

 How to Market
o Student discount
o Pop up event on campus with free give-a-ways like clothes, gear, free day passes
o Advertisements on campus TV’s, flyers, daily tours to students interested in the
facility
 Squires 3

o Put two business signs at both entrances that can display messages such as
membership rates, monthly specials, and member of the month
o Allow local schools to have fundraisers at the Metro Rec Plex bringing the
students to the facility and others that come to the fundraiser.
These ideas below are just some things that would help draw in more students to the facility.
McKendree University also has the naming rights to the facility which would allow for the
university to show undergraduates what the university has to offer. These same ideas can also be
applied to the local high school by having tables at local job fairs and lunches throughout the
semester where information can be given out to students. At both places we can always inform
students on the benefits of physical activity. North Carolina State University even found this to
be true. The University found that for every hour increase in weekly activity, students saw GPA
increases of 0.06. The Metro Rec Plex could even have a competition for the most check ins
during a month for students and the member who has the most can receive a Fitbit or a
membership discount similar to what we have done in the past, but this time targeted at students.

Timetable:
To reorganize our social media and marketing campaigns it would only take two months before
memberships will increase. A video about our monthly special can be put out on Instagram
within one week. While we did miss the beginning of our fall semester window, we can still take
advantage of both schools. Throughout the year the schools have job fairs and other events like
basketball games that are perfect for us to set up a table/booth at. It would take no more than a
month to find Instagram brand ambassadors for the Metro Rec Plex with simple advertisements
at the desks on both the ice and pool sides. From there those ambassadors can be rewarded with
incentives such as membership discounts and free apparel over the coming months. The
Instagram and Facebook auto reply message system could be set up within a couple of hours. All
of these tasks can be done very rapidly since they are just reaching out to people can
communicating with them about potential opportunities.

Costs:
The costs for these goals are very cheap! When it comes to advertisements like flyers and other
information, we have plenty already printed and prepared in stacks of 50 in the storage room. All
it would take is for one person and the marketing director to work a table/booth during a job fair
or other event. The director is salary and the other person makes minimum wage which would
only cost you $8.25 per hour of work including set up and tear down. Now when it comes to the
handouts at the booth, we have plenty of boxes full of Rec Plex koozies, foam fingers, extra t-
shirts, and water bottles that could be handed out instead of sitting on a shelf taking up space or
other things. It is benefitting our company to give away this merchandise as well since it is not
being used in the first place. By handing it out it allows for our company name to spread across
to more individuals in different areas. A double-faced illuminated monument sign can cost
 Squires 4

anywhere from $5,500 - $16,000 depending on the size you want. We currently have a Froyo and
Skittles vending machine that rarely get used which could be sold and put toward these two
business signs. The signs alone would draw more memberships due to the amount of traffic
through the intersection outside our business. As for the social media side of things Scott the
marketing director and I could set up the automatic replies for Instagram and Facebook to have
our contact information such as work email and phone if questions are asked during closed
hours. Payment for our brand ambassadors can come from a membership discount or
merchandise of their choosing. Throughout the week Scott and I can have a weekly meeting to
answer all questions that have been asked on Facebook and Instagram.

Conclusion:
All of the following reasons I have listed above show proof that our social media and local
marketing campaign must be restructured to reach out to students. The reconstruction of this
marketing campaign would not only benefit local students with a gym membership but also boost
our own total amount of memberships. With an increase in memberships we can introduce more
classes and even start up basketball leagues. Going to local sporting events or job fairs and
handing out our information and gear could spread our name more easily. Lastly, our social
media could be used more effectively as a communication tool or our members about monthly
specials and events through live videos from staff or members. Look at all our available
marketing opportunities we are missing out on, help us change this campaign to benefit
everyone.
 Squires 5

Works Cited

Braddick, Craig. “How Much Do Monument Signs Cost?” Western Signs and Lighting, 6 Mar.
2019, www.westernsignsaz.com/monument-signs-cost/.

“How Does McKendree University Rank Among America's Best Colleges?” U.S. News & World
Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/best-colleges/mckendree-
university-1722.

Industry Presented Blog: Marketing Your Fitness Business to College Students 101,
www.acsm.org/blog-detail/acsm-certified-blog/2018/10/23/industry-presented-blog-
marketing-your-fitness-business-to-college-students-101.

“O'Fallon, Illinois Population 2019.” O'Fallon, Illinois Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps,
Graphs), worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/o'fallon-il-population/.

Rankings, National. “How Does O'Fallon Township High School Rank Among America's Best
High Schools?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report,
www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/illinois/districts/o-fallon-twp-hsd-203/o-
fallon-township-high-school-6908.

Urbanek, Emma. “Social Media and the Fitness Industry: Statistics You Need to Know.” Social
Media and the Fitness Industry: Statistics You Need to Know, blog.simplestrat.com/social-
media-and-the-fitness-industry-statistics.