These persuasion techniques to get more CrossFit members are based on the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. If you haven’t already read this book, I highly recommend that you go pick it up right now. I’ll go through a few of the principles in his book and explain how you can use them to make your website more persuasive.
- Reciprocity: The basic idea with the reciprocity principle is that you need to give to get. If you give someone a gift, they are more likely to give you a gift back. People and an innate need to reciprocate. Try giving something away on your website. You’re already giving away free trials. What about giving away a free eBook? Try making a free eBook on something like “90 Days of WOD’s” or “15 Things Everyone Must Know Before Starting CrossFit”. In exchange, they’ll give you their email address. There are million possibilities here and it doesn’t need to be limited to eBooks.
- Social Proof: People like to see social proof because it shows that someone else has already made the decision to work with you and has proven to be successful. The quickest way to do this is by getting testimonials from people. I say you should go a step further and take before and after pictures of your clients. You could also try recording videos of your clients explaining how CrossFit has changed their life and why other people should try it. There are many other ways to provide social proof such as reviews, celebrity endorsements, etc…
- Authority: You might need to show that you’re an authority figure in your field. This is where you can show off. Show off your credentials, your history, the results you’ve got for people and all of your endorsements. This can easily be tied in with social proof. The best way to be perceived as an authority figure is to actually be an authority figure. You should be striving to be the best in your field and get your clients the best results possible. It’s more than just getting people to workout, but getting inside your client’s heads and finding out their hopes fears and dreams and creating movement.
These 3 persuasion principles to get more CrossFit members should be more than enough to get you started. Don’t try to do everything all at once. I highly recommend you read the book and see what other things you can come up with. I chose these 3 principles because I think they’re the most relatable for CrossFit boxes to use on their websites, landing pages and social media. Try them out.
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