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Employee Wellness

Marketing Your Programs to Employees by Gail Fast

The most interesting, innovative fitness program will not achieve high participation rates without the proper marketing strategy and well-designed marketing materials. So, before you start sending global emails throughout the building, or plastering flyers in every break room, make sure your marketing strategy meets the unique needs, limitations and resources of your organization. The key is to adapt to the company culture—find out what the employees like, how to communicate with them and how to meet their needs.

Print or Electronic
aperless communication. It seems the direction more and more companies are taking has eliminated the ability to market through traditional mediums such as flyers, posters, cafeteria tabletents and company newsletters. Office email and company intranets have become the newest avenues for fitness centers to publicize and promote their programs and services. More than likely though, the one-style-fits-all approach is not the most effective. Instead, use a combination of print and electronic communication to market your programs and services. You might start out with a teaser email announcing an upcoming program and follow it with a catchy cafeteria tray liner flyer the week of the event.

Organizational Resources
Wherever possible, try piggybacking your marketing efforts with other departments such as health and safety, employee assistance, the cafeteria and/or medical. By coordinating the marketing of your Great American Smokeout with the health unit’s smoking cessation program, you can benefit from their advertising efforts. Developing a joint nutrition program with the onsite cafeteria and marketing it by offering free samples of healthy snacks is another way to benefit from internal resources.

Stage-Matched Marketing
In 1983, James Prochaska, Ph.D and C.C. DiClemente introduced the Stages-of-Change Model that recognized individuals move through various stages when making a behavior change. Stage-matched marketing targets individuals by designing marketing materials that appeal to wherever they are in the stages of change model.

Precontemplation Stage: For individuals in this stage you will need to raise their consciousness about the benefits of good health and fitness. Emphasizing physician warnings about sedentary lifestyle when promoting membership drives, or highlighting the importance of strength training when promoting an osteoporosis screening will attract precontemplators to your programs.
Contemplation Stage: Here, the individual has the intent to change his/her behavior but they may need some extra attention or encouragement. You should include in your marketing materials the benefits that come from practicing good health.
Preparation Stage: This person is mentally ready to make changes, but their environment must be conducive to the desired behavior change. Free trial memberships are great recruitment programs for individuals in this stage. Once they’ve experienced a clean facility, met the friendly and knowledgeable staff, and participated in programs, they will recognize the benefits of joining the fitness center.
Action Stage: The key in the action stage is to offer encouragement, recognition, and rewards with an emphasis on the benefits of exercise when marketing your programs. Programs such as walking groups and bring-a-friend will attract individuals who are in the action stage.
Maintenance Stage: At this point, the individual is hooked and is enjoying the benefits of their new healthy lifestyle. The key is to keep this person motivated. You can also market programs that focus on preventing relapse by keeping them on a consistent workout schedule. Motivational and incentive programs target individuals in the maintenance stage.

Successfully marketing is based on the principle that an individual must receive a marketing message at least nine different times in a variety of formats before deciding to participate in, or purchase, that program or service. Therefore, think of marketing as a road map, with a variety of routes available to help your employees make it to their final destination –improving their health and well-being!

Published with permission from:
Fitness Onsite Magazine Spring 2004

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