In a detailed discussion, Alex from Gym Launch breaks down the misconceptions surrounding the saturation of the six-week challenge in the fitness marketing space. He compares the evolution of fitness marketing from the days of direct mail campaigns to the current digital age where smaller players can afford to test and optimize their strategies. Alex emphasizes the importance of conversion mechanisms over the actual offers, explaining how his company helps gyms acquire customers more effectively. He also touches on the adaptability of marketing strategies across various platforms and the need for continual adaptation to remain competitive. Throughout the conversation, Alex reassures that despite perceived saturation, the six-week challenge remains a highly effective promotional tool due to the consistent demand for weight loss solutions, driven by deep-rooted societal norms and human psychology.
"La Fitness was running a free month for 35 years, right? And they were using direct mail campaigns primarily and radio, because that's where the media was, that's where attention was."
This quote explains how traditional fitness marketing strategies, like those of LA Fitness, relied on direct mail and radio due to the prevalent media consumption habits at the time.
"With the advent of digital marketing, we can split test things at a much faster rate. And so my argument would be that the actual offers that we have now and the creative that we have now is far more compelling than what was created 20 years ago."
This quote highlights the impact of digital marketing on fitness advertising, suggesting that current marketing strategies are more effective due to the ability to rapidly test and refine campaigns.
"If you go on the street and say, hey, do you know what a six week challenge is? Most people are like, what are you talking about?"
This quote reflects the disconnect between the fitness industry's perception of consumer awareness and the actual knowledge of the general public regarding specific fitness challenges.
"You've got your traffic source, and then you have your offer, and then you have your conversion mechanism. Okay? The conversion mechanism is arguably the most important, okay?"
This quote outlines the three main components of a marketing strategy, emphasizing the importance of the conversion mechanism in the overall success of the strategy.
"And so we know how much we can spend to acquire a customer from a scheduling standpoint. And then all we need to do is reverse out. Okay, what percentage of people who hit our scheduling page are going to schedule and show, and then what percentage of people are going to opt in for that initial widget, right."
This quote explains the process of calculating customer acquisition costs and the importance of understanding conversion rates at each step of the conversion mechanism.
"Now, I have successfully tested that on YouTube. I've successfully tested that on adwords. I've successfully tested on Instagram. I've successfully tested that on Facebook."
This quote showcases the speaker's commitment to testing their marketing strategies across various digital platforms to ensure effectiveness.
"I ran the six week challenge at my gym for six straight years uninterrupted, six straight years rolling week after week after week after week. Why and how could I do that? Because I could outspend everyone."
This quote highlights the speaker's strategic advantage in sustaining a marketing campaign through financial resources, allowing them to dominate the market space for an extended period.
"And so the guys who will knock us will say whatever they say, and it doesn't really affect me that much because I can spend $4,000 an email. It just doesn't matter to me."
Dylan expresses indifference to critics because his business model allows for high spending on customer acquisition, indicating financial robustness.
"Because you let your model do the talking, and if your model is designed properly and you provide exceptional value and service, which hopefully, if you're watching this, you do, then people will bring their friends and bring more friends, et cetera."
He suggests that a well-designed business model that delivers value will naturally lead to customer referrals and growth.
"The offer of the six week challenge fundamentally is something that most people like. As of right now, it's the offer that converts best."
The six-week challenge is highlighted as an attractive offer that consistently converts customers.
"Ryan Keras at one point was spending like $35 a lead and still getting 15 to one back."
Dylan provides an example of successful lead conversion rates and return on investment, showcasing the effectiveness of the six-week challenge offer.
"Business landscapes evolve like better players and better ways of doing business come up. This is a better way of doing business."
Dylan explains that business methods evolve and improve over time, and the current customer acquisition model is an example of such progress.
"This is a better model of acquiring customers. The fact that it's a six week challenge is irrelevant. It's just the widget."
He asserts that the strength of the model lies in its ability to acquire customers effectively, and the specific offer is interchangeable.
"Why it's arguably the most important number for me that I look at. If I'm looking at the health of a gym and their selling system right now."
Dylan considers conversion rates a crucial metric for evaluating a business's sales system and overall health.
"So does that person need a new offer, or do they need to get better at converting leads? They need to get better at converting leads."
He advises that businesses with poor lead conversion should focus on improving their conversion mechanisms rather than changing their offers.
"How good you are at converting your leads will dictate how profitable and how long you can run a campaign on a given ad platform."
The quote emphasizes the importance of efficient lead conversion for the sustainability of marketing campaigns across different platforms.
"How long will the six week challenge work on that platform? It will work as long as. Until the CPM. So the cost per eyeball gets to a point where you're spending $250 per lead for Ryan, right?"
Dylan explains that the duration of the offer's effectiveness on a platform is tied to the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and the resulting cost per lead.
"It's like the wild, wild west, right? I was getting penny clicks. It was the best. And there was no rules." "And so from then until now, the cost of ads is literally five x."
These quotes illustrate the dramatic change in the advertising landscape, highlighting the initial lack of regulation and low cost, which have both increased over time.
"Now, did that affect my promotions at all? No, because my budget, my ceiling was $200." "Because I have so much room to go."
These quotes explain that despite the quintupling of ad costs, the speaker's promotions remain unaffected due to a sufficiently high budget, allowing for flexibility in the face of rising costs.
"So if in the next five years, Facebook does again, and five x's to up to $125 a CPM, which that's like television cost, then still." "But the thing is, at that point, there will be another traffic platform."
These quotes predict further increases in advertising costs and the emergence of new platforms, suggesting that marketers need to be prepared to move to new opportunities as they arise.
"And the thing is that in the very beginning of a new platform, people usually will push traffic to static sales pages." "But then very quickly, real players start entering and then you can't buy traffic for that cheap anymore."
These quotes detail the early stages of marketing on new platforms, where initial low costs allow for high returns on simple promotions, and how this changes as the platform grows and attracts larger businesses.
"Does a six week challenge the actual promotion matter at all? No, it's the conversion mechanism." "Because traffic is just a store. It's a commodity."
These quotes stress that the type of promotion is less important than the underlying conversion mechanism, and that traffic should be viewed as something that can be bought and utilized effectively.
"The marketplace is much, much bigger than you think it is." "But you all are smarter and you know how to play a better game."
These quotes suggest that the perceived competition is less of an issue than some believe and that knowledge and strategic thinking are key to outperforming competitors.
"We probably have, and this is from a Gary Vee private, private session that he gave. He said that Facebook has about four to five more years of golden days." "The point of business is not to win. The point of business is to keep playing, right."
These quotes convey the idea that the effectiveness of current marketing channels will change over time and that businesses must be prepared to adapt continuously to stay in the game.
And so traffic platforms will come and go, offers will take much longer to cycle it out because that's like human psychology.
This quote emphasizes the longevity of marketing strategies that tap into human psychology compared to the fleeting nature of traffic platforms.
The only reason that you see all those ads is because they're working.
This quote suggests that the prevalence of certain ads is indicative of their success in the market.
You can market whatever you want to market. It's just going to have to have a superior conversion mechanism or be able to afford you a higher level of traffic than the people and the players who are using this one.
This quote implies that to compete with successful marketing campaigns, one must either have a better conversion strategy or the ability to invest in more traffic.
Until men stop looking at women for how good they look, women are going to continue to want to lose weight, period.
This quote highlights the societal pressure on women to maintain a certain appearance, driving the weight loss industry.
Societally, status is still given to men, for the most part, for how much they can provide, not for how in shape they are.
This quote reflects the societal bias that values men for their wealth over their physical appearance, affecting market dynamics.
And so if you're like, well, I'm too prideful to try this because someone else is doing it, well, then it's like, okay, I'm too prideful to adjust to the fact that consumers don't go to stores anymore and start using Netflix.
This quote compares the reluctance to adopt successful strategies to the failure to adapt to changing consumer behaviors, such as the shift to online streaming services.
As long as you have a client financed acquisition mechanism that allows you to afford traffic, you'll be good to go.
This quote suggests that a sustainable customer acquisition strategy is key to affording traffic and staying competitive.
The only way that this will actually change is that we figure out a new hook on the back end that cops us from a $600 sale in the first visit to a one $200 sale in the first visit.
This quote implies that significant changes in business promotions are likely to come from innovations that increase the value of initial sales.