Creating Fitness Videos: Top Five Do’s and Don’ts

With the evolution of social platforms, the need to stay up-to-date to get your brand out has become essential – this includes creating fitness videos.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but the main concept I find myself always discussing is you need to have content and it needs to be consistent. You can’t have one without the other because the idea is to train people to want to view your content every day. Let’s focus on some do’s and don’ts you can use when creating fitness videos, as well as some simple resources to help make posting more effective.

1. Be Organic

DO: I have discussed this in previous articles, but the goal is to make sure about 80% of your content is organic. What does that mean? That means actual people in your posts are owners, members, managers or trainers.  You are trying to connect to people in your community so you need to make sure there are faces that represent your actual fitness brand.

DON’T: Do not get caught up in thinking every video needs to be a model or professionally shot. In fact, most people aren’t models so it is actually harder for people to connect emotionally to those pieces of content. A good rule is 80% of content is organic, 20% is stock.

2. Capture with the Headline

DO: Creating fitness videos will need to answer one fundamental question – “why would someone want to purchase your product or service?” Remember, you are catering to someone who has a problem and might look to you as the solution. That headline needs to capture viewer’s attention.

A great example of this would be a headline that reads: “This is What 20 Pounds of Weight Loss Looks Like.” Imagine you are sitting on a couch as someone who has struggled with weight loss his or her entire life. You then read that tag line and see a before and after picture of a person who lost 20 pounds. Of course that would draw you in and even potentially get you to click on the link.

DON’T: Try not to focus on what you have to offer in that first headline. Too many times we post content that solely focuses on your facility and your staff. Never make it about you. Don’t worry, there will be a time and a place for that.

3. Use a Scheduler Tool

DO: Having an Instagram scheduler solves the problem of consistency. In order to train people to want to watch your fitness videos, you need to have more of them. Two of the most popular apps you can download for free on the app store are Hootsuite and APPHI.

Once you download these apps you can schedule out an entire week of content. This way you at least have one ready to go on each day of the week, which allows you to capture more organic footage on each day as it happens. A good best practice is to theme out your week.

Here is an example:

• Monday Motivation
• Transformation Tuesday
• Whacky Workout Wednesday
• Throwback Thursday
• Feedback Friday

DON’T: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” You can’t create fitness videos with consistency without having an idea of what and when you will be posting.

4. Incorporate Video Captions

DO: One of the best tips I can ever give is to use captions on videos. The reason is because it is 70% more likely to be viewed. Now f you are boosting posts this can be a game changer if the goal is to attract leads. The question is how do you go about doing that.

It could not be any easier. I recommend using a website called rev.com. You can create a free account and upload any video you would want captions attached to. The cost is only $1 per minute and within a few hours of you placing your order, you will receive an email with your file video that now has captions associated with it. 

DON’T: Do not assume your videos will be watched every time you post one. The primary reason being many people are in public or quiet places when they are scrolling through social media and do not want to turn on the volume. You typically have one shot at someone watching your content so make it count.

5. Have a Call to Action

DO: Have a call to action that also has a sense of urgency. That means you need to give people a reason to click on a link now and not later. A great example of this would be “Click link to reserve your spot, only eight spots left.” This allows the reader to realize they need to act in the moment and not to put it off for a later time.

DON’T: Many times I look at posts that do not have any call to action or clear messaging as to what are the next steps. Make the process as simple as possible with clear directions on what to click on next. When you add in the sense of urgency you have a greater chance of someone taking action.