Take a minute to review your app design against this checklist -- if your app is missing any of these, you may not taking full advantage of the solution:
| What | Description | Check |
| News | All apps should have a News tile to publish News with Push | |
| Push notifications | So you've got a News module, but don't just use it to tell your users about closures and cancellations. Use it to promote your facility and services -- upcoming events, new classes, achievements, what's new, sign-ups, half-term and holiday activities... get IMMEDIATE response from your members, News with Push is a direct channel to their pocket 24/7 | |
| Booking | Use a web module and insert the URL of your mobile-responsive web booking | |
| Info | All apps should have at least one Info module with interesting content about your centre and facilities with pictures, videos and links. | |
| Schedules | Great for showing timetables of classes, swim sessions, etc. Users love being able to quickly check timetables in the app. If you use web timetables from Active-in-Time we have a special module for that, ask your reseller support team | |
| Lead Generation | Every app should have Lead Generation -- while this is an extra-cost option it only needs to attract one or two new members per month to pay for itself. Active Newham recruited 163 new members in 3 months at just 1 site which paid for the app and Lead Generation 20x over ! Lead Generation should be in every app. | |
| Web modules | Don't be tempted to use web modules for news and info -- the content can be slow to load, it's not shareable in the app and they don't work offline. Use News and Info modules instead. | |
| Personal tracking |
If your centre promotes the use of any of the following personal tracking solutions, we have specific modules to link to their apps:
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| Multisite searching | If you have multiple sites in your organisation, once your app is built, go to the Search Club page and check they all appear there. If not, you need to adjust your Club Search settings in the cockpit to include the site search keyword. | |
| You can choose between the Facebook feed module or using a Web module to show Facebook -- click to see below for the relative merits... |
Use a web module and insert the URL of your mobile-responsive web booking page here.
Every app should have at least one News tile. This allows you to publish news and send a Push Notification to all users who have selected that club. This is a great way of getting news to your users:
- Marketing messages -- events, promotions, new classes, half-term, holiday activities...
- Service messages -- pool's closed, trainer sick, room changes, Bank Holiday times...
News is shown with the most recent articles at the top and you can schedule multiple Push Notifications to remind users as an event approaches. Users love timely, relevant news -- you only need to save a family one wasted trip to the centre and they'll be hooked for life. Many apps use a second News module for Offers. Click here to find out how to add a News module.
You should add Info tiles to your app to show off your
- Facilities, about us
- Services
- Memberships
- Personal trainers
- Swim programs
- Kids Parties
- Sports Hall
- Training tips
- Summer activities
- Spa, sauna, etc.
You may think that your app is just for members and they know all this stuff, but there are big benefits to doing this:
- Some users may just do one activity (take the kids swimming) and not know about your squash courts
- If you write interesting articles, users will post them on social media using the app's built-in social sharing
So it's really worth taking the time to add Info tiles with interesting content and the cockpit makes it easy to add images, videos and links to make these engaging for users. And with the new Content Syndication APIs in the cockpit, all the News, Info and Schedule info you add to the cockpit can be shown on your website (and kiosks and in-gym displays) automatically and updated in real-time.
Don't be tempted to use web modules to show info from your website in the app, because:
- Web module content typically takes some time to load, particularly on mobile networks
- Most websites are designed for desktop and while they may be mobile-responsive, it can take 2 pages of scrolling just to get past the header, and then another 10 pages of scrolling to get to that timetable you were looking for. Not a great user experience and users will complain vociferously on app store feedback about this (trust us, we've seen this many times !).
- Using Info modules the info shows very quickly and is cached so it can even show when the phone is offline, which can be a big help to users.
In summary
- Use Info modules, write attractive content, use images and links, encourage users to share it
- Set up Content Syndication API links back to your website
Click here to find out how to add an Info module.
Many app customers use the Schedule module for Pool Times. You can categorise these, include session descriptions and an image to show off your pool(s) and sessions. You can also put class times into the Schedule module -- it's very quick an convenient in the app and users love this. More here.
A number of leisure centres use the swimming timetable widget from Active in Time. If you do and you'd like these timetables to appear nicely formatted in the app, you need the AiT module. This is an optional item, contact your Reseller representative and they can get this set up for you.
Web modules are great for adding forms, 3rd party content or integrations to your app. Don't be tempted to use these to pull in info from your website, much better to use Info modules for the reasons above.
MYZONE, mywellness, eGYM, SWIMTAG
If your centre(s) use any of the above there are modules that make it easy for your members to access their data and monitor their progress. We have modules for each of the above that take the user to the appropriate app and let them easily return to your app. Click here to see this in action for mywellness -- the others work in a similar fashion.
If you have multiple sites, when your users go to the app Search Club page they should all appear automatically. If they don't there is a problem with your Club Search settings. Click here to see how to sort this out or contact your Reseller's support team.
You have a choice on how to show Facebook content in the app:
- Use the Facebook Page feed module
-- avoids being bugged to sign up, brings in just page feed articles - Use a web module
-- brings ALL your Facebook content but a ton of screen furniture bugging users to sign up etc. which can be really annoying...
You can also add a tile for your Facebook album feed which has all your photos 