Wellness & fitness
Filling classes is easy. Keeping them full isn’t
January sign-ups are a vanity metric. A membership business makes its money in month seven
What the research says
The arithmetic favours the members you already have
25–95%Profit increase from a 5% improvement in customer retention. In a membership business this is the whole gameFrederick Reichheld, Bain & Company, via Harvard Business Review
RCTThe evidence standard the FTC generally expects behind a health benefit claim. Testimonials and observational data don’t clear that barFTC, Health Products Compliance Guidance, 20 December 2022
1998The year the guidance the FTC replaced was written. If your claims process predates 2023, it’s built on a document that no longer appliesFTC guidance issued 20 December 2022, replacing the 1998 dietary supplements advertising guide
The rules that bind you
“Clients see results in 30 days” is a claim, not a headline
Wellness marketing runs on outcome promises, which is exactly the category the FTC tightened in December 2022
What substantiation actually means now
- Randomized controlled human trials are the general standard. The FTC’s Health Products Compliance Guidance, published 20 December 2022, replaced advice dating from 1998 and set RCTs as what “competent and reliable scientific evidence” normally requires for a health benefit claim.
- There’s no magic number of studies — quality counts for more than quantity, and independent replication strengthens the case. Sample size, duration and outcome measures all get weighed.
- What doesn’t count: animal studies, in vitro work, epidemiological or observational studies, anecdotal evidence, and general public health recommendations. That rules out most of what gets cited in wellness marketing.
- Before-and-after images make an implied typicality claim. If the result shown isn’t typical, you need to say what is. You also need documented permission, disclosure of any compensation under the Endorsement Guides, and — for a med-spa — HIPAA authorization on top.
None of this stops you marketing effectively. It means describing what the programme involves, what it’s designed to do, and what real clients have actually done — rather than promising an outcome you’d have to fund a clinical trial to defend.
Source — FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance, 20 December 2022. General information, not legal advice.
Where the money actually is
The first four weeks decide the year
A membership business doesn’t make money on the joining fee. It makes money on month seven, month twelve, month twenty. By the time someone attends their third class the acquisition cost is already sunk, and everything after that is close to pure margin.
Which makes onboarding the highest-leverage marketing activity you have, even though it doesn’t look like marketing. Members who establish a regular attendance pattern in the first few weeks behave completely differently from those who join and drift — and that pattern is visible in your booking data from day one.
Reichheld’s work at Bain put a number on why this matters: a 5% improvement in retention raised profits by 25–95% depending on industry. In a business built on recurring payments, that’s not a marginal gain.
How we run it
The wellness playbook
01
Audit the claims before the campaignsEvery outcome promise on your site and socials gets checked against what you could actually evidence. This is usually the quickest way to find real legal exposure sitting on a homepage.
02
Instrument the first 30 daysAttendance in weeks one to four is the earliest reliable churn signal you have. Automating a nudge when someone misses their pattern is worth more than most acquisition spend.
03
Own local searchStudio decisions are made within a few miles. Google Business Profile, photos that show the actual room, class times, and reviews that speak to atmosphere rather than equipment.
04
Use paid social for demand, search for intentGoogle catches people already looking. Meta and Instagram reach the much larger group who weren’t — which is where the visual nature of the category actually pays.
05
Build the referral enginePeople join gyms with friends. A structured referral programme is more effective here than in almost any other consumer category, and cheap to run.
06
Win back lapsed members deliberatelySomeone who left in March is warmer than a stranger in September. A reactivation sequence is the cheapest acquisition channel most studios never switch on.
What we run for wellness clients
Where the leverage is
Corunit CRM
Membership lifecycle in one place: onboarding sequences, attendance-triggered nudges, lapsed-member reactivation.
Google Business Profile
Local discovery, real photos of the actual space, class schedules and the reviews people read before walking in.
Social media marketing
Demand creation for a category that is genuinely visual, without drifting into claims you can’t defend.
Referral marketing
People join with friends. A structured programme outperforms most paid acquisition in this category.
Reputation management
Review generation that asks everyone, and fast response to the atmosphere objections that quietly stop people joining.
Website & booking
A site that lets someone book a first class in under a minute on a phone, because that’s where the decision dies.
Good questions
Wellness marketing, answered
Want your outcome claims checked before someone else checks them? That’s part of the free audit.
What can I legally claim about results?
Only what you can substantiate — and the FTC set out what that means in its Health Products Compliance Guidance published 20 December 2022, replacing guidance from 1998. Health benefit claims generally need randomized, controlled human clinical testing to meet the “competent and reliable scientific evidence” standard. There’s no fixed number of trials required, and quality counts for more than quantity. Animal studies, in vitro work, observational or epidemiological studies and anecdotal evidence are not generally accepted for this purpose.
Can I use before-and-after photos?
With care, and the rules stack. A before-and-after makes an implied claim about typical results, so if the outcome shown isn’t typical you need clear disclosure of what is. You need documented permission from the individual, and any compensation is a material connection that must be disclosed under the FTC Endorsement Guides. If you’re a medical practice or med-spa, using patient images also requires HIPAA authorization on top of everything else.
Why does retention matter more than new members?
Because a membership business lives on the second year, not the first month. Reichheld’s research at Bain & Company found a 5% improvement in retention increased profits by 25–95% depending on industry. In a studio or gym the acquisition cost is already paid by the third class, so every subsequent month is close to pure margin. A January push into a business that loses members by March is refilling a bucket with a hole in it.
What is the single biggest predictor of a member staying?
Early attendance frequency — and it’s measurable from day one. Members who establish a regular pattern in the first few weeks behave very differently from those who join and drift. That makes onboarding the highest-leverage marketing activity in the business even though it doesn’t look like marketing: the first four weeks decide most of the lifetime value.
Should a studio advertise on Meta or Google?
Both, for different jobs. Google captures people already searching for a gym or class near them — high intent, limited volume. Meta and Instagram create demand among people who weren’t actively looking, which is how most studios fill classes and where the visual nature of the category helps. If budget is tight, start with local search because it’s cheaper, then add paid social for volume.
Do I need to worry about health claims if I am just a personal trainer?
Yes. The advertising rules attach to the claim, not to your credentials. Promising a specific weight-loss figure, claiming a programme treats a medical condition, or implying results most clients won’t achieve creates the same exposure whether it’s a supplement company or a single coach saying it. Describe what the training involves and what clients have actually done; avoid promising outcomes you can’t evidence.
How do med-spas differ from ordinary wellness businesses?
They usually sit under medical regulation as well as advertising law, which changes several things at once. Patient images and testimonials require HIPAA authorization, state rules may govern who can perform and who can advertise procedures, and referral incentives can trigger the same anti-kickback exposure as a medical practice. A med-spa should be marketed as a healthcare business that happens to feel like a wellness brand, not the other way round.
How important are reviews for a studio or gym?
Very — the decision is local, personal and easily deferred. Prospective members read reviews for signals about atmosphere and whether they’ll feel out of place, which matters more than facilities. Ask everyone rather than only the enthusiastic, since review gating is prohibited under the FTC consumer reviews rule effective October 2024, and answer criticism about intimidation or cleanliness fast — those are the objections that stop people joining.
What marketing works for online coaching rather than a physical location?
Content and audience building rather than local search, because you’re not competing on proximity. The economics change too: without a catchment area your addressable market is far larger, but so is your competition, and the deciding factor becomes whether a stranger believes you specifically can help them. That’s built through consistent, genuinely useful content over months rather than bought through a campaign.
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