Klient:
case study
In the Brno gym, both lay people and UFC mixed martial arts champion Jiří Procházka train together, people from abroad also come to the seminars
14 days
that's how long it took for a campaign with the UFC champion to sell out a gym
40 videos
created as a client retention tool
their story
FROM THE CORPORATE CHAIR TO THE GYM FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS
An IT engineer with a growing feeling that he should do something in life that fulfills him and makes him happy. That’s Zdenek Dohnal. He used to work as a computer specialist in a corporate firm, but came to the conclusion that he wanted to be of service to people in a different way. So he began to educate himself in exercise and fitness and in October 2013 he opened the Girja gym in Brno’s Cejl Street.
His main philosophy was to show that going to work out doesn’t have to be just for sculpted muscle men. On the contrary, he is happy to welcome beginners with minimal experience who would not go to a traditional gym because they are afraid of the mocking reactions of experienced and often scornful musclemen.
This idea eventually proved to be very popular. Girja quickly built a reputation as a friendly place where professional wrestlers and office workers work side by side in so-called group individual sessions. At these, everyone works out together in the same gym, but each has their own individual plan, which the coach checks and adjusts as needed.
In addition to the standard classes, the trainer also offers special one-day courses focusing on a particular type of exercise. Last but not least, Zdenek also works as a strength and conditioning coach for UFC champion Jiri Prochazka.
their goal
EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS, INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS
Girja approached us at Four Bros on the basis of references with a requirement for comprehensive marketing coverage. Zdeněk was mainly interested in advertising special seminars, where people can learn how to exercise properly, for example, with kettlebells, cones or Olympic barbells, improve their existing technique or simply prepare for regular exercise.
Another intention was to show the target group regular classes in the gym as a place where even complete beginners can work out without being laughed at or even judged.
our solution
COMPREHENSIVE MARKETING, FINE-TUNED FACEBOOK CAMPAIGNS, BETTER WEBSITE
We have known Zdeněk for many years, he was one of our first clients and many of us come to him to improve our fitness. This gave us the opportunity to see that what he does really makes sense and we were happy to help him in his business.
1
MORE USER-FRIENDLY AND ATTRACTIVE WEBSITE
Even before we fully dove into Facebook campaigns, we took over the management of the website and improved it. First and foremost, we focused on making them more user-friendly. For example, we added CTA buttons so that people can book a seminar straight from the relevant landing page, rather than having to search for a contact page.
We also optimized the site for display on smartphones, which is now standard.
We also improved the creative component of the site and had a set of photos and videos created. On them, for example, interested parties can learn how to stretch properly so that it is effective and, on the contrary, they do not hurt themselves. In this way, Girja is helping to build its image as an expert in its field.
2
FINE-TUNED FACEBOOK CAMPAIGNS
However, the key component of our cooperation was and is the advertising campaigns on Facebook. They are primarily aimed at offering the audience regular exercise classes and special seminars held on a one-off basis, and additionally serve to raise awareness of the gym among the target group.
One of the most successful and popular ones is definitely the creative campaign aptly named “No one judges you here”. For it, we arranged to work with Jiří Procházka, a UFC mixed martial arts champion who also trains at Girje. It shows ordinary people that they can come to the gym without fear of being patronised or ridiculed.
We decided that the ad would be a set of videos and carousels, for which we then came up with a script. Their production, which was undertaken by the HotCat studio, was adapted to this scenario from the beginning. It was clear from the start what and how it would be shot. This resulted in extremely attractive materials that were perfectly prepared for subsequent incorporation into advertising campaigns and which quickly gained popularity among the public.
We launched the campaign at the beginning of June and in 2 weeks it reached approximately 88,000 people, the number of engagements, i.e. likes, comments and similar reactions, has already exceeded 38,000. Almost 580 people clicked through from the ad to the landing page of the gym and we reached the desired goals of gaining new gym members in the same time.
The other campaigns that we devise and manage for Girja are not lagging behind in terms of success. Our seminars, which can seat between 15 and 20 people, often get half the people signing up directly from our Facebook and Instagram ads. After further offline moderation, we know that more people are signing up by phone or Messenger after seeing the Facebook ad, for example.
We even get calls from Slovakia and the whole Czech Republic. In fact, the advertisement for the one-off seminars targets the entire Czech Republic and the nearby Slovak border region. Since the seminars also recruit classical exercisers for regular gym classes, we also fulfill these goals secondarily and the whole cooperation gets that desired comprehensive approach.
In addition to standard sales campaigns, we also work with Girja on educational projects that are not aimed at directly gaining new clients. Together with the HotCat studio, we created a set of 40 short educational videos showing how to exercise properly. This too proved to be right on target.
After posting the first ten videos, organic reach climbed to approximately 25,600 people, with 89 people clicking through to the gym’s website and dozens of people saving the videos for future viewing. The fact that the videos are extremely popular is clearly confirmed by Zdeněk himself. According to him, people themselves tell him that these materials make them practice at home and they look forward to each new episode. They are also an interesting retention tool, as a significant number of clients who have not exercised for some time have returned to the gym after watching them.
What we interfere with minimally, on the other hand, are standard Facebook posts and content. As Zdenek has his own distinctive way of communicating, we wanted to change very little about them and only consult their content for suitability for use in paid campaigns.
common success
Mutual trust backed by years of camaraderie still yields great results. Courses and seminars tend to sell out, new people come to the gym all the time and often become regular and long-standing clients. After all, the popularity of Girji is evidenced by reviews on Google, for example. Most of them include words like super, great or best. The numerical rating then ranges from 4.9 to 5, which is an absolutely exceptional result, not only among gyms or gyms, but also in general.
Zdeněk and I continue to meet once a month for regular marketing breakfasts at our next client, FAIRHOTEL, where we discuss the results and plan further cooperation. We continue our Facebook campaigns, create new exercise videos with our partners and gradually show Brno and its surroundings that being fit doesn’t mean just mindlessly pumping biceps.
In the future, we definitely want to continue our Facebook campaigns, and sometimes we also help with consultations and advice on business strategy, HR and the direction of the business as a whole. Even though Girja is one of our smaller clients, we give her the same care as we do for the big projects. Every client is equally important to us and we always strive to do a 100% job that leads to mutual satisfaction on both the client’s and our side.
