Build Online Communities | For Fun & Profit

The Ongoing Challenge of User Engagement for Fitness Tech

Following the initial launch of a fitness technology product, such as that offered by Tonal, a significant hurdle emerges: sustaining user engagement. Simply securing a purchase is insufficient; consistent utilization of the device is crucial for maintaining long-term subscription revenue.

For companies like Tonal, these recurring revenues from monthly subscriptions are substantial. The startup currently levies a $49 monthly fee, requiring a minimum 12-month commitment from each user.

Building and Leveraging Online Communities

To foster continued engagement, at-home fitness companies actively cultivate online communities. This is achieved through platforms like Facebook Groups and substantial presences on Instagram and Twitter.

Peloton, since its initial bike release in 2014, has prioritized its large audience with a thriving Facebook group, boasting a membership comparable to the population of San Francisco.

More recent competitors, including Mirror and Tempo, have also established a Facebook presence, accumulating approximately 86,900 and 11,200 followers, respectively.

Tonal’s Community Growth and Current Status

Tonal mirrors this approach. The company has amassed over 155,000 followers across various social media channels.

Furthermore, Tonal operates its own private Facebook Group, the “Official Tonal Community,” which currently comprises around 12,900 members.

Currently, the community experience offered by Tonal is considered adequate, though it resembles Peloton’s engagement levels from three to four years prior.

Adapting Engagement Strategies for Strength Training

While employing established community engagement methods, Tonal has also been compelled to refine its tactics. This adaptation stems from understanding the specific preferences of its strength-training demographic and how they diverge from other fitness enthusiasts.

This analysis, the third in a series focusing on the Tonal EC-1, will examine the company’s community development, its evolving user engagement strategy, the utilization of community feedback for product improvement, and the anticipated future trajectory of Tonal’s community as the company expands.

The team actively uses community insights to hone its product and ensure it meets the needs of its users.

Building a Community Around a Connected Fitness System

Tonal adopted a deliberate, phased strategy for building its online community, mirroring the rollout it employed following its initial launch in August 2018. The company began in the San Francisco Bay Area, subsequently expanded throughout California, and then became available nationally in March 2019.

The first dedicated community manager, Sarah Johnson, was brought on board in October 2017 – almost a year prior to the public launch. Her primary responsibility involved monitoring user activity during the alpha and beta testing phases, and she proactively contacted users to gather feedback regarding their experiences with the device.

Johnson’s initial findings revealed a key difference between Tonal users and traditional gym-goers. While gyms naturally foster a physical social environment, Tonal users, often with families or partners, prioritized maximizing workout efficiency within a limited timeframe.

Crucially, Johnson also served as a central point for reporting software issues. One notable bug caused the on-screen coach to demonstrate a higher number of repetitions than instructed. Users would exhaust themselves by mirroring the coach’s movements rather than adhering to the displayed rep count.

In December 2018, approximately five months after Tonal’s launch, a Facebook group was established. This platform allowed members to share their weightlifting achievements, exchange advice on fitness and nutrition, and showcase their new product arrivals.

Initially, the group functioned as a basic online forum, but Tonal lacked a defined strategy for user engagement. However, CEO Aly Orady actively participated, posting updates and responding to comments during the community’s first year.

While this direct CEO involvement proved valuable, its scalability was limited. Orady explains that responding to posts quickly evolved into a full-time commitment, which conflicted with his existing responsibilities. He and other Tonal executives still regularly review community comments, capturing relevant posts for internal discussion on Slack.

As the company expanded, its community strategy centered around Facebook, where the majority of online interaction takes place. Several tactics are employed to encourage engagement, including live Q&A sessions with coaches, posts from the community manager, and a dedicated book club.

However, the current level of engagement within Tonal’s community doesn’t yet match that of Peloton. Peloton benefited from being an early innovator in the at-home fitness market, combining appealing design with a diverse library of classes led by popular instructors.

The initial excitement surrounding Peloton fostered a strong sense of community, with users providing exceptional support to one another. For example, Peloton users have organized fundraising efforts to assist fellow members struggling to afford the $39 monthly subscription fee during financial hardship.

Tonal’s community has not yet reached this level of support, but it is plausible that, over time, it will mature into a more robust and engaging experience.

The Desire for Focused Connections Within User Bases

In March of 2019, Johnson transitioned to a program manager position at Amazon. Subsequently, in July, Tonal appointed Kate Telge, previously a marketing assistant at tonlé, to succeed her. Telge then developed a competitive analysis during the subsequent month, focusing on the Tonal online community and those of competing at-home fitness brands, identifying successful and unsuccessful strategies.

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Telge explained that users consistently expressed a strong desire for connections with coaches. They valued a more personal, behind-the-scenes experience. The primary objective became finding ways to utilize the coaches effectively and increase their visibility.

A number of initiatives were subsequently launched by Telge, including Facebook Live sessions, beginning in 2020, where users could submit questions directly to coaches. Additionally, “Tonal Talks” were introduced – a YouTube series featuring interviews with company executives, fitness professionals, and health experts offering training guidance. Notably, the “Balancing Strength and Cardio with Coach Nicolette” session has garnered close to 2,000 views.

However, the company encountered difficulties in fostering deeper connections between individual Tonal users, beyond interactions with the popular coaches. To address this, Telge initiated “Member Spotlights” in early 2020, allowing users to share their stories and achievements with the community. After a trial period, it became apparent that user engagement with this feature was remarkably low. Furthermore, the process of collecting user information and photos proved time-consuming and ultimately inefficient, leading to its discontinuation, as Telge noted.

This outcome sharply contrasts with Peloton’s success in showcasing its users through “Peloton Diary,” a published account of a user’s weekly workout routine on their blog and Facebook. This serves as a crucial reminder that each community possesses unique norms, a distinct personality, and specific engagement preferences. While established strategies can offer inspiration, community managers must carefully evaluate how each activity aligns with the existing community’s dynamics.

Despite the challenges with directly connecting users, more than a dozen unofficial Tonal groups have organically formed since the product’s launch. These groups cater to various user segments, including “Tonal Moms,” “Tonal Dads,” “Tonal — Strength Training over Fifty and Beyond,” “Tonal Female Physicians,” “Tonal LGBTQ+ & Allies,” and “The PeloTonal Group,” which unites enthusiasts of both Tonal and Peloton. These groups commonly feature posts related to order anticipation, installation advice, and discussions of personal weightlifting progress. Telge and Tonal leadership generally observe these groups without actively participating.

The Power of Community Engagement in Product Development

Connecting users with coaches has demonstrably increased engagement, but for Tonal, a particularly valuable asset has emerged: “FeedbackFriday.” This initiative, launched within Tonal’s official Facebook group each Friday, actively encourages users to share their desired features.

A dedicated human virtual assistant aggregates and quantifies the feedback received – tallying comments and likes – and compiles a spreadsheet. This data, ranking the top 25 feature requests, is then disseminated to the product development team weekly via Slack.

A Rich Source of Innovation

“FeedbackFriday has proven to be an invaluable resource for our innovation process,” states Christopher Stadler, Tonal’s CMO, who, like many Tonal employees, regularly reviews comments within the Facebook group.

Several user-suggested features have already been implemented, including warm-up classes, a search function, and integration with Apple Music. Furthermore, adjustments to the user interface were made based directly on user input.

For example, a user with colorblindness reported difficulty discerning numbers displayed on the screen during a FeedbackFriday session. In response, Tonal’s product team swiftly developed and deployed a more accessible color scheme within a two-week timeframe.

Ongoing Requests and Future Development

Currently, users are consistently requesting several additional features. These include the addition of live classes, an onscreen clock during workouts, and voice command functionality for controlling the Tonal device.

While these features haven’t been integrated yet, the reasons for the delay remain unspecified. It is currently unknown why Tonal has not yet prioritized these highly requested additions to its software.

Elevating Instructor Profiles at Tonal

As Tonal’s platform expands, its content library has grown significantly. Currently, the company’s production facilities utilize approximately 18 instructors – a rise from the initial team of six – and generate between 15 and 20 independent class recordings each week. This includes comprehensive program series containing six to sixteen workouts, alongside a selection of yoga and pilates sessions.

The range of classes available on Tonal now extends beyond conventional strength training. Offerings now encompass dance cardio, exercises tailored for pre- and post-natal fitness, and barre, which integrates ballet, yoga, and pilates postures for a low-impact, yet intense, workout experience. However, Orady notes that traditional strength workouts still constitute over 50% of the classes completed by Tonal users.

This increased volume and diversity of content maintains user engagement across a broad spectrum of fitness levels. A key focus for Tonal moving forward is enhancing the promotion of its instructors as distinct personalities. Currently, the company tends to prioritize showcasing the “intelligence” of its technology, while comparatively downplaying the personality-driven approach utilized by competitors like Peloton.

Peloton’s instructors actively foster engagement by blending workout guidance with personal anecdotes and lighthearted commentary. Telge has observed consistent user requests for increased opportunities to connect with Tonal’s instructors. Exploring ways for instructors to engage with users through more conversational elements, even in pre-recorded classes, is a potential avenue for exploration.

However, the effectiveness of this approach remains uncertain. The dynamic of spinning, as seen in studios like SoulCycle and with at-home bikes like Peloton, differs substantially from strength training. Spinning may be inherently more social or naturally facilitate greater interaction. The repetitive nature of spinning allows instructors to fill downtime with engaging banter.

Many spinning enthusiasts attribute their connection, motivation, and performance to the instructors’ style and personality, rather than the exercise itself. Strength training, conversely, demands greater concentration on proper form and adherence to instructions. Nevertheless, Tonal recognizes this gap and intends to expand its content by featuring prominent guest instructors.

In November 2020, Tonal collaborated with Tony Horton, the creator of the P90X workout program, to produce a series of five workouts. The company also plans to leverage its investor network – which includes Serena Williams, Paul George, Steph Curry, and Maria Sharapova – by inviting them to lead strength-training classes. Imagine a strength-training session focused on upper body with Serena Williams, or a full-body workout led by Steph Curry.

Such additions would likely resonate with existing Tonal users and attract potential buyers. This would also establish a significant competitive advantage over other at-home fitness companies, which typically feature skilled fitness professionals but lack the draw of widely recognized celebrities. These plans, however, are focused on the future.

Currently, Tonal is focused on building its community. Last year saw an eight-fold increase in sales, making user onboarding a top priority. The company has established a foundational digital community and effective channels for gathering product feedback. Further community development is crucial for demonstrating strong subscription retention to investors and achieving dominance in the at-home fitness market.