How to Use Digital Signage for Gyms and Fitness Centers

In the fitness industry, engaging gym members, improving retention rates, and building a strong community are all primary goals.

And that's why more gyms and fitness centers are adopting digital signage. Digital displays can help with everything from improving member experiences and generating more revenue to optimizing overall gym operations.

It all starts with understanding how signage is critical for gym operations, and knowing how to use these digital solutions effectively.

Why use digital signage for gyms?

Digital signage screens are highly adaptable and dynamic, which means they kill multiple birds with a single stone once you adopt the right solution. With the right messaging, you can boost membership and reduce turnover with the same screen in the same position.

Here are some key reasons why your gym should consider digital displays.

1. Member retention

Motivation is a major part of keeping members engaged and focused, which in turn prevents churn. Providing content designed to engage members and motivate them to stay on their healthy lifestyle journey can be one of the best ways to keep members coming back.

Some engaging content for gym goers can include:

• Showcase member success stories
• Promote new fitness classes and challenges
• Offer workout tips
• Remind people about free services they can access (for example free classes or trial PT sessions)

By continually engaging members of your fitness center with relevant and inspiring content, you can keep the gym experience fresh and motivating and even build a stronger community. This can make it more likely that members stay with your gym longer, ultimately increasing gym memberships.

Read our guide: How to motivate gym members.

2. Revenue generation

Gyms and fitness centers usually serve a captive audience, with many of these also repeat visitors. This captive audience presents a unique and targeted opportunity to serve advertising, or to upsell specific services. And in this sense, digital signage can be a powerful tool to boost gym revenue.

Well placed digital signage for gyms can be used to serve a mixture of entertainment (for example streaming music videos) as well as exercise and nutrition tips, alongside ads for fitness related products and services.

Whether this is upselling your own in-house personal trainers, or displaying ads for nutritional supplements, digital gym signage can be a bold and visible method of engaging with your audience.

3. Better class attendance with updated class schedules

One common challenge gyms face is ensuring good attendance for gym classes. One 2018 study found that weekly male class attendance is about 21.6%. Digital signage can help here by clearly displaying class schedules, instructor profiles, class benefits, and even availability on the gym floor, prompting more people to remember and attend.

Another opportunity is to highlight classes starting soon and the amount of spaces available. This can lead to last minute attendees improving the chance of well engaged fitness classes.

4.Staff efficiency and reduced costs

Wayfinding and reduced static signs are two more benefits of digital signage in your gym, and these can save you money and time. Think about how many times your static gym signs have become redundant, from last minute class changes to studio swaps. 

Digital signs shine here because they are much easier to update to suit your audience, time of the year and current priorities (for example, higher sales of fitness classes).

Need to push a new promotion? Get it up on the screen! 

5. Storytelling and informative content

Studies have shown that receiving informative content while exercising helps retention of information.

Gyms have a million and one things to educate gym members about, from diet and exercise tips, to how to use specific machines. Here are some ideas on how to educate with effectiveness:

• Stream videos and slides about nutrition and diet
• Feature content about best workout form, or how to target specific body areas
• Play biographies or client success stories either as slides or videos
• Display fun facts about the history of fitness, specific workouts or health trends

There are many ways to feature fun, educational and engaging content on your digital screens. And this can be great for motivational content too.

How much does gym digital signage cost?

Installing digital signage for gyms or fitness centers can be very cost effective. And it doesn't need to be expensive. In fact, you can create a signage network using consumer grade technology such as:

• A normal TV
• A wireless networking device such as Chromecast or Fire Stick
• An internet connection
• Digital signage software such as ScreenCloud

The cost of digital signage for fitness centers will usually be the cost of a TV screen, plus the networking device. You will also need to use digital signage software - with ScreenCloud starting at $20 per screen, per month.

This can mean that for as little as under $300 you can implement digital screens in your fitness center.

Let's look at this in a bit more detail.

Choosing your digital display screens

A typical gym will have two or three screens, with a display in front of the cardio machines, another by the weights area and perhaps another in the foyer or reception area.

It's possible to use a standard TV such as:

• 43" LG smart TV (around $250)
• 40" Samsung HDR Smart TV (around $300)

These are both ideal for simple setups with landscape displays. If you want to create a portrait signage display, you'll need to get a specific digital signage screen such as:

• Iiyama ProLite B1AG (from $500)
• Sharp NEC Multisync P495 (from $1000)

Consider factors such as viewable distance, power consumption and how hard wearing they are.

Check out the full list of digital signage hardware recommendations.

Connection devices

It's simple to connect smart TVs running Android, Fire, Chrome OS, Tizen or Mac OS. Simply connect your devices using your digital signage software and you're ready to go.

Some screens may require connection devices such as Fire sticks or our very own Station P1 pro.

Check out this post for a breakdown of installing digital signage from scratch.

Digital signage software

Multiple screens can be connected easily by digital signage software which can manage the content by specific zones. With ScreenCloud, it's easy to create specific zones, for example your reception area, and then another signage zone for your cafeteria, and another for your cardio area.

This allows you to create specific content for each zone, for example:

• Up and coming classes for specific fitness rooms
• Menu items and pricing for your cafeteria
• Entertainment and information for your main fitness center screens

And if you manage multiple fitness centers in different locations, you can create standard content across all sites, or present unique content easily.

ScreenCloud makes it easy to create content with access to design templates and easy integration with popular software such as Canva, YouTube and widgets for the news, weather and local traffic.

It's also simple to schedule content, for example specific high energy video playlists for peak times. Or more easy going videos and music for a Sunday morning session.

And because ScreenCloud is designed to be user friendly, there's no need to get the IT department involved every time you need to update your screens. Simply add your content to the correct zone and publish - and you're away.

How to choose digital signage for gyms

Selecting the right digital signage software is crucial for the success of your gym’s signage strategy. We have a guide on everything you need to know about choosing a digital signage solution. But here are a few points to keep in mind. 

1. User-friendly interface: The software should have an intuitive interface that lets you create, schedule and manage content easily. This ensures that your staff can efficiently manage the signage without extensive training.
2. Scalability: Choose software that can grow with your gym. Whether you plan to start with a few screens and expand to multiple locations, or launch a national digital signage upgrade, the software should be able to handle an increasing number of screens and content complexity.
3. Content variety and flexibility: Your gym will most likely display different kinds of content, from text and video to even social media walls. Your solution should support all of these, and also allow for easy updates and scheduling to keep your content fresh and relevant.
4. Integration capabilities: Your gym probably uses a lot of other systems like fitness tracking, membership management software, and social media platforms. You need a digital signage solution that can integrate well with these to streamline your operations effectively.
5. Remote management: The ability to manage your digital signage remotely is a massive advantage, especially if you have multiple gym locations. Remote management allows you to update content, troubleshoot issues, and monitor performance from anywhere.

Step-by-step guide to launching digital signage in gyms

Ready to get started with digital signage solutions for your fitness center? Setting up a signage network for your fitness center can be straightforward, but you do need to plan a little in advance.

Step 1: Placement

It goes without saying that digital signage needs to be visible. Work out the areas which will attract the most eyes, which is often the area in front of your cardio machines, walkways and mats and exercise areas.

Decide on what kind of content you're going to display in each section, whether it's specific to a certain area or if it's more general information. This will inform how many screens you decide to install.

Like many things in life, less is more. In a smaller gym, you might expect to see just two or three screens. However larger fitness centers might feature signage for different areas, for example signage specific to your climbing wall, martial arts dojo, swimming pool or dance class area.

Read More: Getting Started with Salon Digital Signage

Step 2: Choose the right hardware

Be sure to select screens that fit your gym’s environment and budget. Factors like screen size, resolution, and placement are a great place to start. In a smaller gym you should be able to install screens from 40" and upwards with no problem.

But for larger spaces with a longer viewing distance, go large. 50 inch screens and upwards are great for distance viewing, and screens bigger than 75 inches can be used as video walls too.

Interactive screens are also a great option, especially for checking in or signing up for classes.

Step 3: Plan your content

Content planning will require some input from you and your team to effectively engage gym goers. You’ll need to develop a strategy that aligns with your goals. We’ve found that a mix of promotional content, recognition walls, fitness tips, class schedules, and motivational messages is great for fitness centers.

Fitness content planning also involves deciding when to play what. Will member content have the greatest impact during off-peak periods? Or is it better to display them in moments of high foot traffic to motivate members with lower attendance rates?

You also need to consider factors like the best colors and graphics that will grab attention and increase dwell time.

Learn more about creating awesome digital signage content here.

Step 4: Train your staff

Once you’ve identified which team member(s) will be responsible for content updates, it’s important to give them proper training.

Luckily, we have a host of resources that can guide you through everything you need to know about managing your content with ScreenCloud.

Additionally, our solution lets you manage content remotely, and even add an unlimited number of users, which makes it that much easier to stay on top of your gym’s content.

Step 6: Monitor and Adjust

Once your digital signs are up and running, monitor its performance and gather feedback from members; what they enjoyed, what they wish they saw more of, and so on. Use this information to make adjustments and improvements. Regularly update your content to keep it fresh and relevant.

Best practices for digital signage in gyms

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when managing digital signage for gyms.

1. Vary your content

There are several content ideas you can explore in your gym with your digital signage content. We've covered a few of them already, but here's a recap with some new ideas:

• Training advice
• Sneak peek of ongoing classes with sign up information
• Fitness content to help members achieve their goals
• Social media feeds to get people engaging online
• Relevant content on gym open times and other administrative information

Fitness focused social media is a powerful marketing tool online, so why not bring it into your gym too. Use your digital signage to stream your messaging from across your online platforms including your website and socials.

2. Remember to keep content relevant and engaging

Regularly update your content to keep it relevant to your members. Think about highlighting current promotions, upcoming events, and seasonal offers. Tie those with high-quality visuals and concise messaging to capture and keep people’s attention.

3. Optimize screen placement

Sometimes we realize that placement is all wrong for various reasons. There is no harm in moving gym digital signage to a better location, for example one where it is more visible or less prone to obstructing people's views of the mirrors.

4. Leverage interactive features where possible

Interactive screens can be great for the member experience in many ways, from allowing members to browse class schedules, sign up for classes, or access workout tips. A social media video wall can also be a fun addition to a busy gym environment.

5. Encourage gym member involvement

An easy win is encouraging members to contribute content like before/after photos and testimonials to the digital signage playlist. This can be done via your social media pages and can be a great way to build a community and share wins and successes.

Running a competition can also be a great way to build a buzz, displaying content such as leaderboards on your signage to get people involved.

Launch your gym digital signage with ScreenCloud

ScreenCloud offers many unique opportunities for fitness businesses to communicate better with their audience. Whether it's sharing timely information, health tips or upcoming events, or simply highlighting class availability or displaying ads.

Find out more about how ScreenCloud is your perfect partner for fitness center digital signage. Sign up for a 14-day free trial.