Layla Zulfa
For independent gyms, boutique yoga studios, and local wellness spas, the modern marketing landscape is a daunting obstacle course. To compete for the attention of the modern consumer, these businesses are often forced to navigate the volatile world of Google Ads, the hyper-competitive auction environment of Instagram, and the high-production demands of TikTok. For many small business owners, the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) required to break through the digital noise is not just daunting—it is often prohibitively expensive.
Enter ClassPass, the booking juggernaut that has positioned itself as the bridge between fragmented local fitness providers and a global audience of wellness seekers. In a move that underscores its commitment to expanding the "sweat economy," the company revealed that it invested over $50 million in marketing throughout 2025. This massive capital injection—which operates entirely independently of the out-of-pocket marketing spend of its partner venues—marks a strategic pivot toward aggressive, data-driven growth.
The Strategy: An Evergreen Engine for Growth
The $50 million investment is not a one-off campaign or a temporary promotional push. According to Zach Apter, CMO at ClassPass parent company Playlist, this expenditure represents the new "run-the-business" standard.
"This isn’t a one-time investment," Apter noted. "This is an evergreen, run-the-business capability. The marketing function for ClassPass and the level of investment dollars has scaled with the size of the business as we’ve grown the partner base and we’ve grown the member base over time."
By internalizing the marketing burden, ClassPass is effectively acting as an outsourced growth engine for its partners. Instead of a small pilates studio in a secondary market having to master complex algorithm-based ad buys, they can rely on the sheer scale of the ClassPass ecosystem to fill their empty spots. This model allows the platform to act as a discovery layer, introducing thousands of consumers to brands they might never have encountered through traditional, local-only marketing channels.
Chronology: From Niche Disruptor to Global Powerhouse
To understand the scale of ClassPass’s current ambition, one must look at the timeline of its evolution:
- 2012: ClassPass is founded, introducing a novel model that allows users to access a rotating roster of fitness classes rather than committing to a single gym membership.
- 2015–2019: The brand experiences hyper-growth, expanding into international markets and diversifying into wellness services like cryotherapy, massage, and meditation.
- 2020–2021: The fitness industry hits a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ClassPass pivots to live-streamed classes and hybrid models, proving its resilience.
- 2022–2024: The industry begins a robust recovery. Global wellness spending surges as consumers prioritize health and experiential fitness.
- 2025: ClassPass formalizes its massive $50 million annual marketing investment, leveraging a sophisticated, data-driven performance model to capture the post-pandemic boom.
- 2029 (Forecast): Industry analysts project the global wellness economy will hit $9.8 trillion, with ClassPass aiming to be the primary aggregator for this multi-trillion-dollar market.
Supporting Data: The Power of the Platform
The numbers behind ClassPass’s strategy reveal a highly engaged, captive audience. As of June 2025, the company reported an average of 9.7 million sessions on its website and 3.3 million Apple App Store impressions per month. Perhaps most impressively, the average user opens the app 31 times per month—a level of stickiness that most consumer apps can only dream of.
The impact of this traffic on partner businesses is profound. Data shared by the company indicates that 94% of ClassPass users are new to the fitness venues they visit. This effectively validates the platform’s core value proposition: it is not cannibalizing the studios’ existing memberships; it is providing a top-of-funnel discovery engine that converts "fitness curious" consumers into loyal studio patrons.
The performance-driven model, which spans TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, influencer marketing, and post-transaction advertising, has yielded significant results. In 2025, the platform saw fitness bookings increase by 36% and wellness bookings rise by 37%, proving that the demand for in-person experiences is not just surviving but thriving in a digital-first world.
Official Responses and Partner Perspectives
The sentiment among partners reflects a sense of relief regarding the high costs of digital customer acquisition. Nat Straub, Chief Strategy Officer at Jetset Pilates, highlighted how the partnership has been instrumental in the brand’s rapid scaling.
"ClassPass has helped introduce Jetset to thousands of new clients as we continue expanding nationally and internationally, currently with 400+ studios in development," Straub said. "It’s been a valuable awareness and discovery channel as we grow the brand in both new and existing markets."
ClassPass’s leadership is quick to clarify that they are not looking to disrupt the studio’s internal operations. Instead, they are focusing on "price discrimination"—a economic strategy that allows businesses to sell excess capacity to price-sensitive consumers without devaluing their primary, high-tier membership offerings.
"We are not trying to replace, substitute or compete with our partners’ direct client marketing efforts," Apter explained. "What we’re focusing on is finding a new audience for those partners that unlocks price discrimination. There’s a massive audience of people in the category who are interested in ClassPass that would have never tried studio fitness without us."
Implications for the Future of Wellness
The implications of this $50 million investment are two-fold:
1. The Death of the "Build It and They Will Come" Mentality
For small studios, the era of relying solely on foot traffic or word-of-mouth is over. The competitive landscape is now dominated by platforms that can leverage sophisticated attribution modeling. ClassPass’s commitment to measuring "incrementality"—or the actual value gained from a specific marketing channel—sets a new bar for how wellness brands should approach growth. By testing, measuring, and then doubling down on what works, the company is professionalizing the boutique fitness sector.
2. A "Green-Field" Opportunity
Despite being available in more than 2,500 locations across 31 countries, Apter suggests that the company has barely scratched the surface. The fitness industry, while massive, remains fragmented. Even in major metropolitan areas, there are thousands of studios that do not yet participate in the ClassPass ecosystem.
The company expects its marketing spend to continue rising in the coming years. This is not just a defensive play to keep current users; it is an offensive strategy to capture the next wave of wellness consumers. As economic anxiety persists, consumers are increasingly looking for flexibility. They want the ability to choose their workout based on their schedule and budget, rather than being locked into a rigid, singular gym contract. ClassPass is betting that this shift in consumer behavior is permanent.
Conclusion: A Rising Tide
As the global wellness economy marches toward a $9.8 trillion valuation by 2029, the relationship between platforms and providers is evolving. ClassPass’s $50 million marketing investment serves as a lighthouse for the industry, demonstrating that when a platform successfully bridges the gap between massive digital reach and local, personalized experiences, the entire ecosystem benefits.
By focusing on the "fitness curious" and the "excess capacity" of studios, ClassPass has created a symbiotic relationship that shields small business owners from the most brutal aspects of modern digital advertising. As the company continues to refine its media mix and expand its footprint, one thing is clear: the future of fitness is not just about the quality of the workout, but the efficiency of the discovery. And in that regard, ClassPass is playing a very long, very expensive, and potentially very rewarding game.
Suro Senen
