Lose Weight on Social Media? How R3volve Does it…

“Engaging customers through social media is an important tool for R3. Our Facebook live feeds allows us to build TRUST with our clients and enables them to know who we are” – Coach Crystal Mallari – Owner of R3VOLVELIFE fitness studio and online services.

Opening its doors in 2013, R3VOLVELIFE Studio (aka R3) is a Coaching and Weight Loss Studio located in Mississauga.  R3 is not a commercial or “big-box” gym. It is a unique boutique fitness studio with a tight knit community of members.  At R3 you will experience the benefits of one and one personal training in a class environment, hands on instruction, and encouragement from all their coaches.  In the last 2 years, after feedback and comments from its members, Coach Crystal decided to expand its brick and mortar business to an online enterprise by offering a digital library of workout videos and online weight loss challenges.  These online services are facilitated through social media platforms in order to engage its customers.

In the spring of 2015, R3 launched its first online 6 week weight loss fitness challenge. In this challenge participants were given access to a private Facebook group which Coach Crystal facilitates and guides them through the steps of weight loss. Daily Facebook live workouts are available, Facebook tracker is used to send food journals and most importantly it’s an online community where coaches and members encourage each other with small “wins”. Before and after photos of individual weight loss successes are also posted allowing others to view them and be motivated. Life coaching sessions on Facebook are also posted by Coach Crystal to further engage, encourage and motivate not only a healthy lifestyle but also a healthy mindset.  The comments, feedback, participation and engagement from this Facebook group was an extreme success.  R3 has now made these 6 week challenges an integral part of their business plan and have incorporated these challenges multiple times throughout the year.   The challenges have increased repeat and loyal customers.

Given the success of these online challenges Coach Crystal has recently expanded her business to offer an online library of her prerecorded workout videos via a web portal. Workout video categories include Tone and Sculpt, Pilates Fusion, Total Body Tabata and Anything Butt. Members to the online library also have access to the same private Facebook group where they too can be engaged by both members and coaches. The web portal feature also allows for private communication between participants and Coach Crystal.

In addition to the private Facebook group, Coach Crystal also actively manages a public Facebook group which is followed by both members and non-members alike.  Here she engages with members by posting results of her client’s weight loss progress, updates on new classes and challenges, reminders of class schedule changes and cancellations and posts on upcoming events for both in-house promotions and charity runs. To further enhance the engagement with her audience, Coach Crystal posts Vlog style videos with her partner, Coach Nelson by providing motivational and inspirational advice entitled, “The Mallari Movement”. Her engagement with members and non-members are then reinforced with video testimonials where her clients share their personal experiences.

Lessons for Others

For small businesses, customer engagement through social media is crucial to implement on all levels. There are multiple opportunities to expand a “traditional” brick and mortar business by offering online services. Although her online classes may differ from her in-house classes, they essentially offer the same experience but to a broader audience. The online classes coupled with the social media private and public engagements, enhance the customer experience and increase the ability for Coach Crystal to service more clients than she would have with only the physical studio. Furthermore, with the social media platforms, Coach Crystal is able to share her clients testimonials which would engage non-members and encourage them to join.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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