Algeria AgencySector
Fitness & sport
A subscription trade where the real problem is almost never acquisition: it is the member who stops in month three.
A gym does not live on its sign-ups but on its renewals. That is a complete economic difference: winning a member is expensive, and losing them after three months turns that spend into a loss. Most gyms that call us asking for "more sign-ups" actually have a retention problem.
So we start by looking at that number. How many members are still there at three months, at six? While it is low, raising the advertising budget means filling a leaking pool faster — and it costs more every month.
The second particularity is seasonality. The start of the school year and the run-up to summer concentrate the sign-ups, and the window is short. A campaign prepared before the wave produces markedly more than the same campaign launched during it, when competition is at its peak.
The third is visual proof. A gym is chosen on what can be seen in it: the state of the equipment, the cleanliness, the atmosphere, the coaches. Those are things that can be photographed and filmed, and they are precisely what most gyms do not show.
What we usually find
- You recruit every month and your member count does not rise.
- Your sign-ups concentrate into two periods and the rest of the year is empty.
- Your photographs date from the opening and the equipment has changed since.
- You do not know how many members are still there at month three.
What changes
Retention looked at before acquisition
A member kept six months is worth several sign-ups. We start with the number that decides profitability.
The waves prepared
Campaigns ready before the September and pre-summer windows, where most sign-ups concentrate.
A gym you see before arriving
Equipment, spaces and coaches shown honestly, which removes the visit that disappoints.
What you get
Retention measurement
How many members remain at three and six months, which decides whether advertising pays at all.
Seasonal campaigns
Concentrated on the real windows, prepared before rather than launched during.
Regular video content
Sessions, coaches and spaces filmed in batches, because that is what somebody hesitating actually watches.
Honest visual proof
The equipment as it is. A flattered gym produces a disappointed visit and a negative review.
Reactivating former members
Often the cheapest channel: people who already know you and left for a fixable reason.
How we work
Look at retention
The rate at three and six months. If it is low, we will tell you to fix it before raising the budget.
Set the waves
The two sign-up windows in the year, with preparation starting well ahead.
Produce the material
One filming session covering several weeks of posting and serving in advertising too.
Advertise locally
On the area your members actually come from, which is almost always narrower than assumed.
Reactivate what exists
A campaign to former members before looking for new ones, because it costs a great deal less.
Is this the right fit for you?
This is for you if
- You sell subscriptions and know, or want to know, your retention rate.
- You can let your spaces and sessions be filmed.
- You have capacity to absorb sign-ups during peaks.
This is not for you if
- Your three-month retention is very low. Advertising will amplify the loss and we will say so.
- You do not want to show the gym as it is. The gap will be paid for in reviews.
- You are already at capacity. The budget would do more keeping current members.
What we commit to
Retention before budget
We look at how many members stay before proposing to recruit more. It is the least saleable and most useful conversation.
No flattered images
We show the gym as it is. A disappointing visit costs a review, which is worth more than one sign-up.
Former members before new ones
Reactivating costs a fraction of recruiting. We start there when the base exists.
What decides a gym sign-up in Algeria?
Proximity dominates everything. Members come from a narrow radius, often a single neighbourhood, and a campaign run across the city spends most of its budget on people who will never make the journey. Narrowing the area is the first correction and often the most profitable.
Seasonality is pronounced and predictable: the start of the school year and the weeks before summer. Those two windows concentrate a large share of the year’s sign-ups, and preparation matters more than the amount spent during them.
Finally, a gym is judged on what can be seen in it, and disappointment is immediate and public. Showing the real equipment, the busy hours and the spaces as they are converts fewer visits but produces members who stay — which is precisely the number that matters.
Frequently asked questions
How do we increase sign-ups?
Often by stopping the losses. If your three-month retention is low, every new sign-up is expensive and disappears; we look at that number before proposing a budget.
Do we need advertising all year?
No. Concentrate on the two windows, and use the rest of the year to produce content and work on retention.
What radius should we target?
Narrower than you think. Look at where your current members come from: it is almost always a neighbourhood, not a city.
Should we show the coaches?
Yes, it is often what decides. An identifiable person reassures more than a photograph of equipment, and gets recognised in the street.
What about former members?
Contact them again, asking why they left. It is the cheapest and most instructive channel, and almost nobody does it.
Do reviews matter?
A great deal, because they talk about cleanliness, crowding and equipment — exactly what a photograph does not show. Answering them matters as much as getting them.
How to start
Tell us how many members you have, how many join each month, and how many are still there at month three.
We come back with what retention actually costs you, and if it is healthy, with the calendar for the two waves and the area to target.
What we have written on this subject
Gyms: you are not selling a membership, you are selling attendance
A gym does not die from a shortage of sign-ups. It dies from the people still paying who stopped coming, and who will leave.Winning back the absent: spotting whoever stopped at the fourth session
A member who gives up does not cancel. They stop coming, and their subscription keeps counting them as a success.
Let us talk about your project
A free audit, no commitment: we look at your online presence and tell you what is holding it back.
- Retention before budget
- No flattered images
- Former members before new ones