Social Media — Keep up the conversation!

A few weeks ago I blogged about a company I think has excellent presence on social media: DSW.  Both their Twitter and Facebook pages communicate effectively with their fans and promote interaction along with a love of shoes.

This week, I’d like to focus on another company with an interesting social media strategy: Club Fitness.

Club Fitness is a St. Louis-based business that aims to “create an affordable, friendly, fun and welcoming fitness environment.” With television and radio ads already in the media, it seems like a natural fit that social media would reinforce the already-existing advertising tactics.

Here’s my take on Club Fitness’s existing social media:

1. Fan Interaction

As I noted in my blog on DSW, many aspire to create an interactive experience with “fans,” but few actually achieve it.  Club Fitness currently has a Facebook Page, but it performs differently from other company pages I’ve seen.  Rather than lead the discussion, Club Fitness fans create the page content themselves.  While Club Fitness moderates and answers questions, most of the content comes from individual fans.  For example, users post comments asking for work-out partners at the gym they just joined, and others post questions about specific exercise classes.

It’s interesting to me that much of the content comes from the fans.  In a way, Club Fitness’s Facebook page has become a forum for users, a common ground for all Club Fitness members to communicate with each other.

2. Personality

Yes, Club Fitness’s page has about 2500 fans, but I think Club Fitness could further capitalize on its connections with its Facebook Fans and create a digital “personality” for the brand.   Members have shown that they will interact online, and Club Fitness should continue and strengthen this interaction.   The better the online connection, the stronger attachment members have to the brand.  This leads to member loyalty, customer referrals, and an overall positive word-of-mouth campaign.

As social media becomes a larger part of the marketing sphere, it’s important that it gets as much attention as other tactics.  I think it’s fantastic that Club Fitness has such an active audience, but I think their reach could be improved.  It seems as though they are missing out on a fantastic opportunity due to the limited role they play in the ongoing social media conversation.