You’re finally at a point where your passion for living a fitness-driven lifestyle has translated into a career. Not only that, you’re an inspiration to many.
Every day your clients look to you for encouragement, motivation, and helpful tips on how, they too, can achieve their fitness goals. Whether this be through social media, your blog posts, or even during your fitness classes – you’ve been able to share lots of recommendations with your customers and social media followers, from the best music to listen to while working out, to what your favourite post-workout protein powder is.
We’re pretty sure that your customers and followers have even asked your opinion on athleisurewear as well. Is custom branded merch something you’ve ever thought of? If not, why not?! Who wouldn’t want to offer their own collection of fitness-ready merch with a custom design or logo? It’s a great way for your customers and followers to promote your brand while crushing their fitness goals, one by one.
We recently caught up with CrossFit Bury, The Hive to discuss all things fitness and how custom branded merch have shaped part of their marketing and sales strategy:
What has been your biggest success over the past 12 months?
It’s been surviving after Covid and being able to celebrate our sixth birthday this month. It’s been a tough couple of years for so many industries, especially fitness, since the pandemic hit. Yet despite the setbacks, we’re proud to have been able to weather the storm and still have members who’ve been with us still since the first month that we opened back in 2016.
How have you increased your brand awareness?
Word of mouth is always key for our brand – we have so many loyal customers who refer us to their friends and this is extremely valuable. We support this with consistent and fun social media activity and of course our apparel range, which so many of our clients wear both in and outside the gym.
How does custom branded clothing support what you do? (in terms of uniform)
Our branded clothing means our coaches always look the part – whether that’s when they’re meeting a new client for the first time or demoing movements in class. And when our coaches look professional, they feel it too and that is something they will subconsciously convey when coaching. And that isn’t really something you can put a price tag on.
Print or embroidery? Which application type do you prefer and why?
Most of our garments use print, however you can’t beat the look and quality of the embroidery we choose for winter garments – such as hoodies and bobble hats. The gold tone in our logo really pops when it’s embroidered, which makes all of these garments look expensive and really high quality.
Specifically, custom branded merchandise – would you say this is a necessity or a ‘nice-to-have’ offering? Discuss the benefits this brings to your business.
The custom-branded merchandise from Clothes2order is absolutely vital to our business. We’ve used printed t-shirts as a way of recognising our member milestones, so each time they complete a year training with us they receive their annual tee. This gives our members something to strive for and be proud to wear/post about on social media. So far we have five different designs… we should probably get planning our sixth!
If you had to pick just one garment type to custom brand for merchandise, what would it be and why?
A class T-shirt, because they’re just so versatile and wearable. Often the ladies at our gym will cut theirs into a tank, while the guys often sport theirs with a pair of jeans when they go for a few pints. They also wash really well – we still regularly wear t-shirts from our first C2O order back in 2017!
How would you describe the ordering and customisation process from Clothes2order?
Relatively straightforward and easy. There’s plenty of garment colours, textile options and cuts to choose from.
What are your 3 final words of inspiration to our readers?
Our motto: Believe. Belong. Be Strong.
If you’re not sure where to start in terms of product selection, we’ve put together a list of our favourite sportswear ready for you to custom brand. Cool, comfy, and completely ready for merchandising!
Custom branded merch can be the extra encouragement your customers and followers need to keep moving forward and sticking to their goals. Start designing your fitness-ready merch with us today!
