Brief:

• Fitness chain The Bar Method will roll out an Instagram campaign on Sept. 1, according to an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer. Video testimonials will roll out later this fall and live organically on the brand's owned media channels, showcasing clients who have overcome illness, recovered from child birth or met their weight-loss goals with the studio's ballet-inspired workout routines.
• The new videos extend the "A New Strength" spring campaign on YouTube, Google, Facebook and Instagram that boosted first-time studio visits by 12%. Fifty-three percent of new clients scheduled a class and 81% came for the first time after seeing social media videos that drove traffic to its website, per the announcement.
• The Bar Method will share snapshots from the videos on paid media. Ad agency Pitch developed the campaign.

Insight:

The Bar Method's campaign results indicate its social media push has helped to drive visits to its trendy workout classes, which are available at more than 100 locations across the U.S. and Canada, per its website. The brand's YouTube channel, which has 2,100 subscribers, showcases videos that explain its workout techniques, offer similar customer testimonials and explain franchising opportunities.

By extending the successful spring campaign, the fitness studio appears to be leaning into authenticity — a buzzy theme in marketing of late — to appeal to ad-fatigued consumers on their favorite social channels. The Instagram campaign, which relies on user-generated testimonials, comes at a time when the platform's influencers have seen their engagement rates hover near all-time lows as the Facebook-owned app becomes over-crowded with sponsored posts.

Specialized fitness studios like The Bar Method are the fastest-growing category of health clubs because they've simultaneously become a social destination. Barry's Bootcamp, SoulCycle, Orange Theory Fitness, Zengo, Pure Barre and others are among the more recognizable names of specialized fitness studios that aim to boast strong customer communities.

Boutique brands more than doubled their share of the health club market to 40% in 2017 from four years earlier. However, these higher-priced boutiques may be the most vulnerable if the economy shrinks into recession as people cancel health club memberships, CNBC reported. This signals the need for studios to develop deeper connections with fans and strike longer-term loyalty. Because the average health club loses 29% of its members each year, gyms need to build communities and encourage group participation to keep members engaged.