Digital marketing plan for fitness trainers
In this digitally connected world, there are hundreds of ways to market your gym. There are numerous fun and engaging campaigns that you could run when it comes to digital marketing plans for exercise trainers.
Fitness is a huge industry, and there are numerous people who are interested in their health and performance. This makes gyms a relatively competitive industry, and every exercise trainer must have a thorough and detailed digital marketing strategy to succeed in this field. Digital marketing for exercise trainers directly focuses on millennials who are the major audience. So, here we’ve listed a few digital marketing trends every exercise trainer must follow to win their competition.
Leverage on Social Media
Social media is the quickest, cheapest and easiest tool to market yourself as a personal trainer. Since word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool, social media makes it easier to spread that word around.
The first step is to make sure that you have accounts on all the important social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and more. If you want to make profession industry contacts, consider LinkedIn too. Having an account isn’t enough to put yourself in front of this vast range of fitness freaks. You must get posting even if you think you don’t have anything to post. The more you post, the more audience you will reach, and this can even improve your performance in Google too. You can also choose paid options to get your posts promoted.
The best way to spruce up your social media presence is to post posts related to inspiration for other fitness enthusiasts. This makes a great impact on your audience and can even earn you a loyal following. The more followers you get, the more customers will walk in through the door. And, the best thing about this is that you don’t have to pay even a penny to taste all these.
Facebook – The Most Powerful Marketing Tool
With more than 72% of adult internet users on Facebook, you can reach whatever demographic you are targeting, and you can be certain that the majority of these people can see your information. But, remember, building a following on Facebook is not easier. You should be consistent, and actively engaging to make gain more follows and clicks. Once a strong follower base is built, you can go live and have a one on one chat with your entire audience. Recent research reports say that personal trainers have a huge opportunity with Facebook live. This feature can make your posts go viral like never before.
Know When and How to Market
Well, if you are marketing through a digital channel where your likely customers won’t see, then there is no point in continuing it. So, before creating a marketing plan, identify who your target audience and how to market yourself in front of them and when to do it. As a personal trainer, the best time to market yourself is going to be in the New Year as plenty of people will be looking for options to lose weight and get in shape again. This could save you more time and money spent on unnecessary promotions.
Don’t Ignore the Power of Instagram
Instagram has got over 400 million users who are constantly looking for inspirational images to make their day. According to a recent research report, “fitness accounts are some of the most popular on Instagram.” With 35 billion photos shared on instagram, 180 million photos of those use #fitness in their description. What makes instagram so special is that 75% of Instagram users follow the call to action after seeing an ad. Today, most of the personal trainers consider instagram as one of the easiest methods to brand themselves.
Say ‘No’ to Mass Marketing
Building client relationships is the most important thing for a personal trainer, and you must prove to them that you can help them with their goals, and give them an incentive to come back. Some of the marketing tricks you can follow include introducing a special deal for beginners, providing a few sessions at half price, and more.
Create an App
Build your own personal trainer app to help your clientele find you, text you directly, book-specific slots in your schedule, access video and picture content for their training- and more. Create intriguing content that compels your client to download your app and use it to contact you or book your services.
Be Consistent
Consistency is the key for a successful fitness marketing and run year-long fitness marketing campaigns to stay in front of your prospects. Regularly post on social media to keep in touch with your target audience and bring in more leads.
Create Rich Content
Attracting your target audience through your digital marketing strategies can be a trick but creating rich, shareable content can make a huge difference. The content you are creating for the social media channels must grab the attention of your target audience within the first few seconds. Create short and crisp content that tempts your audience to click and share. When combined with the right social media platform, the shareable content you create offers any online trainers the opportunity to self-publish their own work and expose it to an audience.
Cultivate a Community
As a personal trainer, your various social media profiles will help you reach a massive amount of people who are looking for a fitness coach. If you are having a great digital marketing plan, it will help focus your efforts, and you will slowly start to build a community. Once you’ve created a community, encourage the members of your community to write reviews on you, respond to feedback, and stay involved with the social network. This makes your brand more personalized to them and draws more people towards you.
Share Success Stories
For personal trainers, storytelling is the greatest tool for marketing. The success stories from your clients will not only inspiring but also helps you to connect with your audience on a personal level. So, while your online content is popping up with great photos and videos of perfect bodies, make sure to share some stories that narrate the efforts behind the screen. Yes, it is understandable that genuine marketing can be difficult for personal trainers, but it can make your business boom.
Always remember the fact that sharing your own experiences in your content can be highly motivating for the readers and builds a shade of trust in them. Also, sharing valuable fitness tips, success and failures will make your content valuable to your clients.
E-mail Marketing
While social media marketing is the key to reach your target audience, e-mail marketing is still a powerful tool to boost your business traffic. Since everyone in your community has an e-mail address, you can generate an ROI that is well worth the time.
According to the data collected from a recent research report, revenue can be increased by more than 10% using email marketing. E-mail marketing creates an easy way to connect with the audiences who want to hear from a trainer for their motivation, encouragement, and more.
Mobile Friendly Website
A decade ago, a personal trainer who had a website was considered to be at the top of the game. Having a website was a necessity 5 years ago and having a mobile-friendly site is the most important component of a digital marketing plan.
Did you know Google ranks mobile-friendly sites more favorably in searches than those who are still using non-mobile? It’s crucial to optimize your website for mobile friendliness because the majority of internet searches are made through mobile devices.
Podcasts
Podcasts are the perfect media for your clients who are on the go as they can listen to your podcasts when they are working out, driving to work, cooking their dinner, and more. Moreover, podcasts are easier to create and are considered to be an essential tool for brand awareness.
This is how most of the personal trainers use each platform to stay ahead of their competition.
- Social Media Tools: Twitter and Facebook are used to display news and tips and to share media.
- Online Fitness Communities: These are used to showcase websites, blogs, and products for sale.
- E-Book Programs: Physical trainers use e-book programs for sharing digital content and e-books, as one might expect.
- Apps: These are useful for connecting with mobile users as well as for sharing blogs and products. Imagine having a routine for the gym programmed into your phone– it’s like watching fitness tapes on the go.
- Skype: Over Skype, trainers can share routines and fitness tips in real time with their fans.
- YouTube: This video website is helpful for sharing routines too, as well as promoting blogs and personal products.
There are different ways to market your gym digitally. Depending on your business resource, you can choose one or more marketing strategies listed above to make your business success.
If you are an exercise trainer looking for a top position in the search results, get in touch with us now!
About the Author
Auggie
I am Auggie Diaz, Owner, and Senior Internet Marketing Consultant at Ask8.com - a digital marketing firm that helps small businesses to generate traffic through cutting edge marketing tools. As A Consultant & Tech Coordinator To The Largest Real Estate Agency on Long Island NY, As A Consultant to Allstate Insurance Agencies & A Small Businesses Owner/Senior Manager of 25+ Years. I speak to topics based on my experience, not opinion. All the best to your success!