Marketing plan 2028, Forgewell Strength Studio

Marketing plan template with channels, a $36,000 budget and a calendar

A marketing plan has to turn a growth goal into the leads, channels, money and dates that will deliver it, with numbers that check out. This seven page plan for a boutique strength gym does that, taking 240 members to 340 through 1,210 enquiries across six channels, a $36,000 budget split by line and by quarter, and a measures table checked every month.

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Forgewell Strength Studio
13 December 2027

Marketing plan 2028

From 240 to 340 members in twelve months, on a $36,000 budget.

Prepared by
Owner and marketing lead
Date
13 December 2027
Marketing plan 2028, Forgewell Strength StudioPage 2 of 7
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1. Summary

Forgewell Strength Studio is a 420 square metre strength and conditioning gym with small group classes capped at eight people and four coaches. It has 240 members at an average of $189 a month. This plan sets out how the studio will reach 340 members by 31 December 2028 by winning about 230 new members while cutting the number who leave, using a marketing budget of $36,000 across the year.

240
Members now
340
Members by Dec 2028
$36,000
Marketing budget
$157
Cost per new member
2. Where the studio stands

The studio has grown by word of mouth for three years, and the numbers show both its strength and its leak. People who try a session tend to join, and members who stay past six months rarely leave. The problem is the first few months: too many new members drift away before the habit forms, and there is no steady flow of new trials outside January.

Measure, last 12 months
Value
Read
Enquiries that booked a free trial
50%
Good
Trials that became members
38%
Good
Members leaving each month
4.5%
Too high
Leavers who joined in the past 3 months
61%
The main leak
New members who came by referral
44%
Under used
3. Objectives
1.
Grow from 240 to 340 members by 31 December 2028.
2.
Win 230 new members, from about 1,210 enquiries and 605 trials at the current conversion rates.
3.
Cut monthly leavers from 4.5% to 3.8% of members, so about 130 leave across the year instead of about 157.
4.
Keep the cost of each new member at or below $157, which is $36,000 across 230 new members.
4. Audience personas

Member surveys and trial notes point to four groups. Each needs a different message and is reached in a different place, which is what the channel plan in section 7 is built around.

Persona
Who they are
What they want
Where to reach them
The returner
35 to 50, trained years ago, now busy with work and family
Coaching that is safe for a stiff back, at 6am or 7pm
Social ads, school and sport club newsletters
The plateaued lifter
25 to 40, trains alone at a big gym
A program and a coach who checks their form
Search ads, short technique videos
The referred friend
Any age, a member's partner, friend or colleague
To train with someone they know
Member referrals, bring a friend weeks
The rehab graduate
40 to 65, finishing physiotherapy
Strength work that continues their recovery
Two partner physio clinics
5. Positioning and offer

Forgewell is the place where a qualified coach watches every lift, in a group small enough to be noticed. It is not the cheapest gym in the suburb and does not try to be. Every campaign carries the same three messages and the same entry offer: a free first session, then a 14 day start pack at $49 with three coached sessions and a movement assessment.

1
Coached, not supervised
Eight people per class at most, so the coach corrects every rep.
2
Built for real lives
6am, midday and 7pm classes, with a program that adapts when you miss a week.
3
Strength that lasts
Progress tracked every six weeks, so members see why they stay.
6. Competition

Three other gyms sit within 5 km. None offers coached small groups at every session, which is the gap the studio already fills and the message every campaign leads with.

Competitor type
Monthly price
Strength
Where Forgewell wins
24 hour budget gym
$65
Price and opening hours
Coaching and accountability
Franchise HIIT studio
$220
Brand and energy
Real strength progress, smaller groups
Personal trainer, one to one
$480
Full attention
Coached sessions at under half the price
7. Channel plan

Six channels share the enquiry target of 1,210. Paid channels fill the funnel; referrals and partnerships bring the warmest leads at the lowest cost.

Channel
Persona
Main tactics
Enquiries
Paid social
Returner
Member story videos, 5 km radius targeting
420
Search ads
Plateaued lifter
Strength coaching and small group terms
250
Referral program
Referred friend
A free month for both people when a friend joins
220
Partnerships
Rehab graduate
Physio clinic handover sessions
140
Content and search
All
Weekly technique video and article
120
Email
Former members
Win back offers twice a year
60
Total
1,210
8. Budget

The $36,000 budget is about 5.5% of the roughly $658,000 in membership fees the plan expects across the year. It is weighted to the channels that produce the most enquiries, with 5% held back as contingency for whatever is working best by midyear.

Line
Amount
Share
Paid social advertising
$10,800
30%
Search advertising
$6,480
18%
Referral rewards
$5,400
15%
Video and content production
$4,320
12%
Partnerships and local events
$3,600
10%
Email and booking software
$2,160
6%
Print and signage
$1,440
4%
Contingency
$1,800
5%
Total
$36,000
100%
Budget by quarter, dollars
Q1Q2Q3Q403.0K6.0K9.0K12K

Spending is heaviest in the first quarter, when people make fitness resolutions and search volume peaks, and rises again in the fourth quarter for the spring push. The four quarters add to $36,000: $10,800, $8,640, $7,560 and $9,000.

9. Quarterly calendar
Quarter
Theme
Campaigns
Budget
Q1
Start strong
New year start pack, search push, first member story videos, physio clinic launch
$10,800
Q2
Bring a friend
Two bring a friend weeks, referral reward doubled in May, win back email
$8,640
Q3
Stay the course
Six week strength challenge for members, retention calls, technique video series
$7,560
Q4
Spring into strength
Spring start pack, local fun run stall, second win back email, gift memberships
$9,000
Year
$36,000

Each campaign has a one page brief agreed two weeks before it starts, with its audience, offer, channels, budget and the enquiry target it must hit. The owner approves every brief.

10. Keeping new members

Winning 230 members only works if fewer of them leave. The first 90 days get their own plan: a coach call after the first week, a progress check at week six, a members only social night each quarter, and a call from the owner to anyone who misses two weeks in their first three months. This costs coach time rather than budget, and it is the single biggest lever on the 340 target.

Day 7
Coach call to check how the first week felt
Week 6
First movement reassessment and new targets
Any time in months 1 to 3
Owner call to anyone who has missed two weeks
Day 90
Progress review and the first strength milestone
11. Measures
Measure
Now
Target
Checked
Members at month end
240
340
Monthly
Enquiries
Not tracked
1,210 a year
Weekly, by channel
Enquiry to trial
50%
50%
Monthly
Trial to member
38%
38%
Monthly
Monthly leavers
4.5%
3.8%
Monthly
Cost per new member
Not tracked
$157 or less
Quarterly
12. Risks and review
A new budget gym opening nearby: answer with coaching quality, never with price cuts.
Paid social costs rising: move contingency to referrals and partnerships, which cost less per member.
Coaches at capacity: open a fourth class time slot before running a big campaign.

The owner and marketing lead review the measures on the first Monday of each month and rework the next quarter's campaigns at the end of each quarter. The plan is rewritten for 2029 in December 2028.

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Cover
Executive cover with the studio, plan year and the 240 to 340 goal.
1 to 3. Summary, position and objectives
A stats strip, five baseline measures and four numbered objectives.
4 to 6. Personas, positioning and competition
Four personas, three messages with the entry offer and three competitor types.
7. Channel plan
Six channels with persona, tactics and enquiries adding to 1,210.
8. Budget
Eight lines adding to $36,000 and a bar chart by quarter.
9 and 10. Calendar and keeping members
Four quarterly themes with budgets and a 90 day retention timeline.
11 and 12. Measures, risks and review
Six measures with targets, three risks and the review rhythm.

How to adapt this document

First, start from your own baseline numbers: enquiries, conversion at each step and how many customers leave, because every target in the plan is built on them. Second, write personas from what customers actually told you, then delete any channel that does not reach one of them. Third, set the budget from the cost per customer you can afford, not from a round number, and keep a contingency line so money can follow whatever works.

What makes this document work

The funnel maths is shown

Objective 2 works backwards from 230 new members to 605 trials at a 38% conversion and 1,210 enquiries at 50%, and the channel table splits those 1,210 enquiries as 420, 250, 220, 140, 120 and 60. Anyone can check the plan with a calculator, which is what makes it believable.

Every dollar is placed twice

The budget table splits $36,000 into eight lines from $10,800 for paid social to $1,800 contingency, with shares adding to 100%, and the quarterly calendar splits the same total as $10,800, $8,640, $7,560 and $9,000. The two views agree, so nothing is double counted.

Retention is part of the plan

The plan admits that 61% of leavers joined in the past three months, then cuts monthly leavers from 4.5% to 3.8% with a 90 day timeline of coach calls and reassessments. Net growth of 100 comes from 230 joins less about 130 leavers, not from acquisition alone.

Questions people ask

How much should a small business spend on marketing?

Many small businesses spend somewhere between 2% and 10% of revenue, depending on growth goals and how well known they already are. This gym plans about 5.5% of expected membership fees. The better test is cost per customer: here $157 for a member worth $189 a month, which pays back within the first month.

What is a marketing persona?

A short profile of one group of customers, built from real data such as surveys and sales notes: who they are, what they want and where they can be reached. Personas stop a plan from talking to everyone at once. This plan has four, and each one maps to a channel.

Should a marketing plan include customer retention?

Yes, when losing customers is part of the problem. Winning 230 members would barely move the total if 157 left. This plan gives the first 90 days their own timeline and sets a target for monthly leavers, because keeping a member is cheaper than finding a new one.

Can member testimonials be used in advertising?

Yes, if they are genuine, reflect typical results or say clearly what is typical, and disclose any reward the member received. Consumer protection guidance on endorsements, such as the FTC's in the United States, sets out these rules. A member who earned a free month by referral should not appear as an unpaid fan.

How often should a marketing plan be reviewed?

Measures monthly, campaigns quarterly and the whole plan yearly is a sensible rhythm for a small business. This plan reviews the measures on the first Monday of each month, reworks the next quarter at each quarter end, holds 5% of the budget as contingency, and is rewritten each December.

What is the difference between a marketing plan and a marketing strategy?

The strategy is the choice of who to serve and why they should choose you: here, coached small groups for people who want real strength progress. The plan turns that choice into actions, channels, budget, dates and measures for a set period. This document holds both, with positioning in section 5 and everything after it as the plan.

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