Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on the MINDBODY Online blog, and is republished here with their permission.
The Body Barre is a thriving dance-fitness studio in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 2012, the studio has been a labor of love for co-owners Jen Rehm and Nadia Walker-Arnold: they bonded over Barre, a challenging, slimming and never-plateauing workout.
“It’s such a great space,” Jen said. “People know Pilates, yoga and ballet, and when you explain Barre as a combination of those three, they instantly get it.”
The business at their original studio is so successful that Jen and Nadia opened a second location.
But while Barre is a national trend, much of their new business comes via word of mouth. Jen and Nadia knew they needed to carve out a market niche by incentivizing referrals. And with a nearly all-female audience, they needed to leverage social media.
Jen and Nadia turned to Perkville for help.
Featuring ready-made integrations with Facebook and Twitter, Perkville makes it easy for members of The Body Barre to tell their social networks about the club—and get points for doing so. The Body Barre members can also invite their friends directly from their Perkville accounts and get rewarded if those friends sign up.
Beyond the direct benefits, Jen believes there are indirect ones, too: Denver is a competitive market, and a loyalty platform lets her studio stand out from the crowd.
“People want to be recognized for their loyalty,” she said. “They’ve come to expect it. Perkville allows that, and it’s really easy.”
Perkville also helps The Body Barre with member retention. Several members of the studio redeemed their Perkville points for one-month memberships after their contracts were up.. With a bridge between renewals, members are more likely to rejoin.
But by far the biggest perk, Jen said, was just how easy it was. Perkville has an out-of-the-box integration with MINDBODY and required no additional staff.
“There were no membership cards, kiosks, or special software,” she said. “We just decided what to incentivize, with how many points and what rewards to offer.”
The results speak for themselves. They’ve seen 50 to 60 social interactions a day, members redeeming points to bring in family and friends and a huge bump in referrals. The studio is even hosting Facebook contests with Perkville points as the prize.
And while Perkville helps the business, Jen and Nadia are free to focus on what they love: introducing women to dance, Barre and the fitness that changed their lives.
* Perkville is the leading member loyalty and retention program for gyms, retail, salons and more. Through readymade integrations with membership systems, Perkville automatically rewards customer visits, tracks referrals, drives social media, and more. Perkville is free for users, and offers monthly subscriptions for businesses.
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