Case Study
69% more trial requests at 64% lower cost
Building a measurable membership acquisition program for two gyms.
Four15 rebuilt paid acquisition for an established boutique gym business with two locations.
Between March and June 2022, Google trial-pass submissions increased from 61 to 103 while media spend fell 39%. Cost per trial submission dropped from $128 to $46, a 64% reduction during the first months of the engagement.
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Google across both locations
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March 2022
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June 2022
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|---|---|---|
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Trial-pass submissions
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61
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103
|
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Media spend
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$7,828
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$4,774
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Media cost per trial submission
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$128
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$46
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Source: historical 2022 tables in the July 12, 2023 agenda. March was the first full calendar month after the February 22 kickoff. Trial submissions are inquiries, not attended trials or paid memberships.
The longer engagement moved measurement beyond inquiries. The 2024 QBR’s July-December CRM tables linked 249 membership sales to Google across the two locations, on $79,549 in spend, approximately $319 per recorded sale. That provided a concrete basis for deciding where to invest.
In January 2022, before Four15 took over, the later historical report records 33 Google trial submissions on $1,799 in spend. By June, submissions were more than three times that level, with cost per submission about 15% lower. The March-to-June comparison shows the subsequent efficiency improvement after the initial expansion.
The audit identified several practical obstacles. Google counted multiple conversion actions from a single click, ads were limited by policy flags, and each ad group had only one ad. The trial-pass form was not working when audited, and its layout made completion difficult. Facebook had been paused since September 2021, with earlier campaigns often focused on clicks, views or engagement.
Four15 began on February 22, 2022. The first priorities were clearer tracking, location-specific campaigns, relevant search terms and a dependable route from an ad to a trial request, and eventually to a membership sale.
We corrected location mismatches, expanded keyword and ad-group coverage, and added negatives for services that a location did not offer. Geographic targeting was reviewed, new search ads were built and bidding was tested. The work made campaigns more specific to the gym, service and intent behind each search.
Creative testing gave prospective members more reasons to choose the business: facilities, classes, personal training, childcare and a broader premium fitness experience. Offers and deadlines changed through the month, with seasonal campaigns and updated ad assets supporting the core search program.
The early rebuild focused Google measurement on meaningful forms and calls. Facebook was relaunched with new campaigns, and trial-pass conversion campaigns were tested against traffic objectives. Later work added call tracking, lead-source mapping and offline sales imports so campaign reviews could include what happened after the inquiry.
The team connected ActiveCampaign follow-up with GymSales data and worked on removing new members from prospecting follow-up. Lead reactivation and email campaigns extended the work beyond the initial form fill. By late 2024, offline-import data was being used to identify areas that spent money without producing sales.
The second-half 2024 Google tables recorded 145 sales at one location and 104 at the other, at roughly $320 and $319 per sale respectively. Facebook’s corresponding tables recorded 17 sales on $17,859 in spend, or about $1,051 per sale. Those results favored Google for directly recorded acquisition during that period.
The notes document budget shifts toward Google when Facebook lead costs deteriorated and later a pause in Facebook acquisition activity. This was an ongoing allocation decision: evaluate channels against leads and sales, retain useful tests, and reduce spending where the economics were weaker.
The supplied notes continue through October 2026. Business-level reporting for the first half of 2026 shows 601 membership sales at one location versus 482 a year earlier, a 25% increase. The second location was slightly down, at 689 versus 704. Combined, the two locations reported 1,290 sales versus 1,186, approximately 9% growth. These are whole-gym outcomes, not sales attributable only to paid media.
The strongest documented agency results are the early trial-acquisition improvement and the later ability to connect Google investment with recorded membership sales. Revenue and lifetime-value reporting remained an active project, so the case focuses on acquisition costs and sales rather than claiming an unverified profit increase.