Now more than ever, social media is a huge platform for many trainers in the industry. Building a personal brand to gain more clients has become the norm for really great trainers. This, however, sometimes poses a problem for gyms as a whole.
Using social media for a company is sometimes much different than for individuals. Who, why and what message your club is sending is vital to building both credibility and brand awareness.
Before executing on some key strategies you can use when leveraging social media to increase awareness in your fitness market, it is first important to think about your brand as a whole and what message you are trying to convey. The single most important reason someone joins a gym is to reach his or her goal. How many times have you talked with someone at a gym you were thinking about potentially joining and the employee never even asked you what your goal was? Yes, this happens more times than you think. No matter what your actual message is on whatever platforms you choose, it should center on how your club is a solution for someone to reach their fitness goals.
It is also important to think about what platforms you will be sending your message out on. You should always consider the big three: LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. These are among the top social media platforms to market your business so it is important to understand how to do it effectively. There are two key strategies you should execute on when using social media to market your brand:
Content
As they say, “content is king.” There is a big mistake many companies make when it comes to content: I call it the “80/20” rule. This rule has to do with what kind of content you are creating and posting. A gym should be posting about 80% organic content and 20% stock content. Although this sounds easy, time and again I see gyms post too many stock photos. Stock photos do not tell a personal story.
What you should be doing with effective social media marketing is draw a customer in with your particular gym story. This could mean a video testimonial from a member who lost a lot of weight to reach their goal, or a message from one of your trainers about the workout of the day. This is important because your brand is your staff and if you are always posting stock photos of people who do not exist in your gym, it doesn’t become an emotional attachment for a potential member. Think about engaging more of your staff for marketing content.
Consistency
One of the biggest failures in trying to build your brand on social media is the lack of content. Great content works better when you post it consistently — that means every day and sometimes multiple times per day. This might seem daunting but it is necessary. The great influencers draw people in each and every day because they post each and every day. You actually go from the curious stage when you first view their content, to the excitement phase because you enjoy what they post and it speaks to you in some way.
One easy way to make sure you stay consistent is to either have a dedicated social media marketer or use a social scheduler. These apps are free and will allow you to build a schedule for each day of the week, and schedule out the time and day you want it to post. On a personal note, I use the free app “APPHI” and enter my week’s content every Sunday. This way I know there will be at least one post per day throughout the week. This allows me to concentrate on multiple posts per day if I have the time to do so.
Remember these two key concepts when using social platforms. Create more organic content and post it consistently. Don’t be afraid to get in front of the camera and introduce yourself to potential members.
