Today, we are sitting down with Ron Lieberman, an accomplished entrepreneur known for seamlessly integrating cutting-edge technologies into traditional business models. With a strong background in fitness, lifestyle industries, and venture capital, Ron has made a name for himself by driving innovation and transforming industries through technology. From launching concept fitness clubs to leading ventures in IT and e-commerce, Ron’s journey showcases his ability to stay ahead of the curve and shape the future of business. We’re excited to delve into his experience and learn more about his unique approach to entrepreneurship.
Before we dive into your entrepreneurial pursuits, what is personalized marketing?
Personalized marketing means adapting marketing messages and offers to meet the specific audience needs, and ideally, tailoring them for each individual. I would not even call it a tool, but more of a philosophy that directs the company’s operations at every level, from providing services to tone of voice and customer retention.
But fitness clubs aren’t typically associated with personalized marketing, yet that’s your whole business. How do different customer groups come into play here?
When we first started implementing a personalized marketing system in fitness clubs, we identified 13 different customer profiles or groups. Here are a few examples:
- Athletes who work out regularly, mostly in the evening, and visit the fitness club three times a week. They like things to be Insta-worthy and often post pictures. They also have an affinity for trendy gym clothing and even sports activities.
- Novices and hobbyists, who often come with someone else or by recommendation. They train with a coach and approach the club and its environment with a bit of caution: on one hand, they’re afraid of doing something that’s not the norm, and on the other, they don’t want to overexert themselves.
- The “I don’t care” group. This group seeks out a local gym close to their home and mainly focuses on the price, equipment amount and services as their deciding factors. They might even travel an extra 15 minutes to a different fitness center if it ends up being more cost-effective.
These examples make it clear that if we take a serious approach to personalized marketing, we can identify even more distinct groups or personality types to work with.
So after identifying these groups, you adapt to their needs?
Yes. You can tailor anything—from the website and social media to the tone of your newsletters. We’ve discovered that fitness-oriented men prefer to be addressed in one way, and fitness-oriented women in another. This isn’t about stereotypes in advertising and marketing; it’s about using a tone style and that’s comfortable and pleasing. This is the only way to make more sales and retain customers more effectively.
Still, initially, figuring out how to personalize marketing can be challenging. It’s a huge and complex process that requires iterative testing and working with big data. We can start by choosing a single approach and letting it run unsupervised for a while, making adjustments as needed. The data and variability will guide us to the eventual goal
What kind of data are you referring to?
At first, it might be gender and age, for example. We can gather even more data about a person online (for example, which of our many landing pages they visited). Or, during the first visit, we always ask how they heard about our fitness centers and why they came to us. This data gets entered into our CRM system. After that, it can be useful to observe their visiting frequency and hours and how much they work out.
Based on this data, we can already know a lot about a person and make sure they stay with us longer.
There’s a common belief that half the gym goers buy a membership and never attend.
You’re absolutely right—buying a membership is only the first step. The real value of a membership comes when people use it regularly. That’s when both the client and the fitness club feel they’re getting their money’s worth. Personalized marketing can play a big role here in keeping members engaged.
By analyzing user data, we can spot specific patterns that give us insight into the member’s behavior. In fact, we can often predict when someone is on the verge of quitting more accurately than their coach—or even the client themselves. The data reveals everything.
For instance, we can detect patterns that signal a potential issue, or a “red flag”. If a member usually comes to the gym three times a week but suddenly drops to just one visit over the past couple of weeks at random times, it’s a sign that something’s changed. They’re likely struggling to fit their workouts into their usual routine. That’s when personalized marketing comes in handy.
Can you elaborate on how personalized marketing helps in situations like this?
For example, we might suggest they try a functional workout session with a trainer or offer them a series of 20-minute home exercises. Or, we could simply reach out with a friendly email to ask what’s going on and offer to temporarily freeze their membership if they’re tied up with a big project.
This approach allows a fitness club to come across as caring and approachable, rather than just a big corporation pushing ads and memberships. It humanizes the brand.
In fact, even if we email a client saying, “Hey, we noticed you haven’t been coming in. Let’s cancel your membership and refund your money,” they’re more likely to stay. That gesture of honesty and care often encourages them to make an effort to return—because we’re showing that we’re genuinely cool and understanding.
And that’s where the upselling part comes in?
Absolutely. While the base price of a membership might stay the same, we can offer different deals based on the client’s habits. For instance, if someone chose us because we’re budget-friendly, we offer promotions tailored to that. If they work out frequently, we can provide something that enhances their experience.
In the end, using data helps us “build a friendship” with the client, which leads to longer engagement and loyalty. And of course, the longer someone stays, the higher the Lifetime Value (LTV) for the business. That’s a win-win for everyone.
