5 ways to use an App to keep students engaged

In this day and age, it’s essential for educational facilities to embrace technology. Not only does this help you stay connected with students, but it also provides a way for you to better manage your facility’s resources. That’s where mobile apps come in!

Apps have quickly become a popular way to connect with students. They allow you to share information with everyone at once on their phones. Did you know, the average person in the UK uses their phone for four hours and 14 minutes per day? Why miss out on that opportunity!

1. Use app push messages to communicate

When it comes to communicating with students, push notifications are a great way to get the word out. You can use them to announce events, classes and workshops; send out offers and discounts; or simply share information about your University.

• In-app notifications have an open rate that’s three times higher than push notifications
• They also increase app retention rates by up to 10x.

2. Use the app for facility access

There are several ways to use an app to keep students engaged, but one of the most effective is by using it for facility access. Why not get students or members to use the app to check in and out of facilities, activities, and events that they have signed up for.

This also helps with fraud prevention and security.

3. Use content marketing to share offers and events

You could also use your app to promote events, offers and other things that will be of interest to your students. Why not use in-App marketing to give out discount codes (e.g. for the sports shop), or invite them to events – from fitness clubs to monthly health and wellness seminars.

4. Offer app only content

Another way to use an app is to offer content that is not available anywhere else. This specifically drives traffic and usage.

Content can be anything from short how to videos to support your students in the gym, teaching them how to use each piece of equipment to cooking tutorials and nutritional advice. Students will be more likely to keep coming back if there are things stored in your app, that they can’t get anywhere else!

5. Use your app for bookings

Whether it’s a yoga class or a football pitch, you can use your app to make reservations for any type of activity that requires registration. If you’re using an online booking system, consider adding some additional functionality so students can see if there are still spots available before they sign up (and also so they can cancel without hassle).

We hope you now have some ideas on how you can use an app to engage students and make them feel more connected with your facility. If done right, your app can be an amazing tool that brings value to both students and staff alike!

We can support you with all the items covered in this blog. Find out more about our branded member App.

Save costs with an App

How can you save money and generate new income?

With rising costs, inflation and increasing demands of members, we’ve looked at some ways you can save your centre money.

Save your staff time

With a Branded Member App, you can save a lot of time and staff hours at your reception. When it comes to class bookings or cancellations, your members can do this independently via the App with an Event Calendar.

You can make everything bookable in your App. From classes to activities and even outdoor pitches – the possibilities are endless. 

Do you get calls asking for opening hours? Or maybe querying changes to the usual schedule due to bank holidays? These will be a thing of the past, as you can send all information and news directly as a push message to your members’ smartphones via Marketing Automation. 

Reduce fraudulent entries

If your reception team spend time checking members in for classes or activities, or even letting people in when they’ve left their membership card at home – you can combat this with Access Control. With tap or scan gym entry, your members can register attendance with just one click from their App! Not only does this save money in time, but also minimises fraudulent entries.  

Member retention

Retention is so important for keeping costs down! After all, sometimes it costs more to get new members than it does to keep current members! Why not use our @home platform to give additional content to members. These could be gym tours, how-to videos, workouts or even nutritional advice. 

Your trainers can use this space to promote their services and increase their own client base. Having additional offerings in your App increases the value of your membership enormously, makes your trainers even more approachable and helps your members to train more effectively, making them more likely to remain loyal.

Create new revenue streams

Attract new members through our Lead Generation tool. Create a campaign and then advertise it via your App. You can also save on printed materials whilst using your members as your very own sales team – they share your joining offer with a friend, colleague or family member and membership sign-ups will, in turn, increase.  

With In-App Purchase, you can monetise content from your @home solution. Make videos (workouts, recipes, how-to’s etc) available to interested parties or non-premium members behind a paywall.

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myFitApp expands into US

With TITLE Boxing

We’re delighted to announce our first customers in USA. With ClubReady, we have launched our eight clubs – TITLE Boxing, Pulse Performance, Vital Stretch, Box Union Studio, Power 4 Pilates, Twisted Cycle, VP Fitness and XGT Fitness. They have all launched their new Branded Member Apps powered by myFitApp and ClubReady, the leading provider of full-suite studio fitness and wellness club management software.

The combined power of software enables clubs to retain members, acquire new ones, and upsell existing members with a wide range of additional features. These include a digital fitness offering, myFitApp@home, where clubs can stream live and on-demand videos to their members at home, and Access Control where members can use their smartphone to enter their club.

“We’re delighted to have our brand new App up and running with myFitApp / ClubReady. After a successful launch with our franchisees, members can now book a bag, access a whole host of workouts with TITLE On-Demand, refer their friends, know the class programming to expect in class through our focus of the week, access our challenges and so much more. The member dashboard, showing how many classes a user has attended increases motivation and will lead to rewards. The App is branded, customisable and flexible making it super easy for us to manage.”

  

Todd Wadler, CEO, TITLE Boxing Club

The new App launches not only mark the first in the ClubReady partnership but also the first US customers for myFitApp, expanding on the 2,400+ sites using the platform across the world.

“It’s great to see eight successful customers launch their new Apps and we are delighted to extend our customer base and provide the US fitness industry with a powerful solution that delivers an outstanding user experience & marketing platform. It’s great to be working with world-renowned clubs like TITLE Boxing. The combination of myFitApp and ClubReady is game changing, and we look forward to transforming more clubs across the US.”

  

Jonathan Cooke, Chief Commercial Officer, myFitApp

Easy access to physical activity for students

University of Bristol case study

The University of Bristol is home to around 25,000 students and 8,500 staff, with 370 buildings in and around the city of Bristol. The Sport, Exercise & Health department operates three of these buildings, which are home to many facilities including a gym, studios, a swimming pool, sports halls, tennis, badminton and basketball courts, a sports medicine clinic and more.

The department serves approximately 6,000 paying members – made up of 90% students, 5% university staff, and 5% members of the public.

Around 69% of the student population engage with the department’s offerings that include free fitness classes, volunteering opportunities, its Bristol Moves rewards app, performance sport and more.

The challenge

The University of Bristol have used Legend’s leisure management software across its Sport, Exercise and Health department since April 2017. 

When new students and staff join the University, an API integration with the student and staff database automatically creates accounts in Legend. That means no manual data entry and no need to sign up. With single sign on (SSO), students and staff use their university login credentials (authenticated via their identity provider, Microsoft Azure AD) to access the University’s sports and fitness services via Legend’s digital member services portal. Easy and secure!

Knowing how seamless and easy this makes it for students and staff to access this portal, and with many using the App, the University wanted to make the App accessible via SSO too.

The App lets students, staff and other members book, access on-demand classes, manage their membership and more. A separate account and password was needed to login to the App – creating friction and presenting a security risk.

The solution

In 2022, the University of Bristol, Legend and myFitApp teams partnered on a project to roll out SSO App too, for the University’s students and staff.

The project was a huge success, students and staff can now log into the App seamlessly and securely using the same university login credentials they use for the Legend digital member services portal and other university systems.

The results

• Improved data security
• Removed a barrier to make accessing activity easier
• Increased engagement with as many as 40,000 App uses through SSO each fortnight (up from 14,000 each fortnight)

“Thanks to the close work we’ve done with the development teams at Legend and myFitApp, students and staff can now login to the app seamlessly and safely. That’s one less password to remember, and one less barrier to engaging in physical activity – a win all round! We now see as many as 40,000 app uses through SSO a fortnight. That’s significant as we have 25,000 students and 3 sports sites.”

 

Arron Godfrey, Deputy Business Development Manager, University of Bristol

Why digital fitness is more relevant now than ever before

From a fitness perspective, there’s no doubt that we live in a digital age. From apps that track your progress to plans for healthy eating and lifestyle tips, digital solutions are everywhere. 

Mobile applications are making it easier for us all to stay active by providing support wherever we go; whether you’re going on holiday or working from home today doesn’t matter!

If you don’t yet have a digital fitness offering, here’s why you should incorporate one into your gym app…

1. Costs are rising

The first reason is the cost. With the cost of energy rising and hitting the fitness industry hard, it can be difficult to justify spending money on additional classes and instructors when you already have so many expenses.

However, there are ways around this issue:

• Use prerecorded classes or third-party content when possible. While this won’t work for every type of fitness class (for example if specific equipment is required), it’s worth looking into if your business caters to different demographics at different times during the week. For example, if one group prefers morning workouts while another prefers evening ones, then recording or live streaming your fitness classes / some extra sessions, could help fill up those gaps in between. You’ll also save money by not having to pay someone else’s salary!

2. Working patterns are more flexible

The second factor that makes digital fitness more relevant now than ever before is the fact that people’s working patterns are much more flexible.

In the past, people would go to the gym before or after work and on weekends. Today, however, many people work from home or from different places every day of the week. They can’t commit to one gym membership so a gym app, digital solution is perfect for them.

In addition to this flexibility in location there’s also been an increase in what we call ‘digital nomads’. These are people who travel around the world while working remotely – they need a way of keeping fit wherever they go!

3. Digital is a way of life

Digital fitness is more relevant now than ever before because people are used to digital solutions in all aspects of their life. They’re used to ordering food and getting it delivered, they use apps on their phones for everything from banking to dating, and they even buy things online or through an app instead of going into stores. So why not apply this same mindset towards fitness?

Digital fitness can make your membership experience more accessible and enjoyable by providing members with valuable content that helps keep them motivated throughout the week – whether it’s by offering classes through your gym app or helping members create healthy meal plans with an in-App knowledge centre.

4. People expect more

People are continually demanding more and more from the fitness industry. They want more flexibility and convenience, choice and variety. And they’re getting it by turning to digital fitness services.

The question is: are you keeping up and making sure your memberships are meeting these new demands?

5. People want digital support, in the gym

You may be thinking that digital fitness is only relevant to people who work out at home. But, there’s still a way you can use technology to help your members training in-centre get more out of their workouts, and stay motivated.

One way to do this is by providing members with access to a variety of how-to videos on different exercises so they can learn how each move should be performed properly. This will make them feel confident about trying new moves (and hopefully stick with them long enough for them actually become part of their fitness routine).

6. Nutrition and wellness is more important than ever

People are more aware of the importance of nutrition and wellness than ever before. And as a result, they’re more likely to seek support from a professional – let that be you!

Why not provide access to healthy recipes or mindfulness techniques within your digital fitness platform – this all contributes to adding value to memberships.

We’re living in a world where people expect more from their memberships, and it’s your job to make sure that they get it. The rise of digital fitness has been huge in recent years, and this will only keep growing. Make sure you stay ahead of the curve and give your members what they want.