What should your gym be doing for black Friday? (and all the other holidays?)

As a Jiu-Jitsu gym or academy owner, I know you don’t want to feel salesy and probably wish you didn’t need to do marketing at all. Both of these things are necessary but they can feel a lot less cheesy if you think about them like this. Marketing simply makes people aware of what you do, and a sale is when someone thinks what you do is equal to or more valuable than the dollar amount that it costs.

Now moving on to the topic of the day, Black Friday sales. I know many of you will balk at the idea and that’s OK, I had the same reaction myself. A Black Friday sale isn’t some desperate cash grab—it’s a strategy for engagement, retention, and growth. 

Every holiday, milestone, or event is an opportunity to connect with leads, re-engage past members, and deepen the commitment of your current students. Making offers more consistently using the season as the reason allows current members to invest more into your business. It allows ex-members a chance to come back because it shows you’ve been thinking about them. And lastly it’s a great chance to contact trials that didn’t join or leads that haven’t tried yet.

I hope you see that holiday offers are the perfect way to reach out to people and keep interest, build engagement, and bring a few sales to boot.

Here are some example offers that could be made during any season including Black Friday.

For new leads that haven’t joined yet: Offers like “First week free” or “Holiday Trial Classes” give people a low-risk way to try Jiu-Jitsu. They’re more likely to take action when there’s a clear incentive tied to a special occasion, funny enough the seasonal aspect of the offer makes it feel more legitimate to people.

For Current Members: Promotions like annual paid in full memberships, free merch with a package of private lessons or seasonal/pre-order gear encourage your students to invest further in their training. Believe it or not you have students that want to spend more money with you, they just don’t know how.

For Former Members: Holidays are the perfect time to invite ex-members back with offers like Welcome Back - Black Friday, come back for 30 days for free, or buy a gi and get 2 weeks free.

A consistent flow of offers tied to holidays keeps your gym top-of-mind and shows that you’re always innovating to meet the needs of your community.

The most successful offers are clear, time-sensitive, and easy to claim. Use email campaigns, SMS, and social media to spread the word and keep communication consistent. You’ll want to create a campaign around each offer meaning you're sending out a combination of email, text, and social posts. People have so much coming at them if you only send one email even one of your own students might miss it. Remember offers aren't you being pushy or “salsey” they are ways to keep your community engaged.

Lastly, don’t overthink it. Some offers will be a hit, and some will be a flop. But keep making them consistently and you’ll figure out what your community likes and you can double down on that.