Generating Leads with Social Media: Two Must-Use Platforms for Fitness Brands

Learn how to use the two platforms most fitness professionals do not consider when it comes to generating leads with social media.

Social media plays a huge role in the fitness industry both for gyms and individual trainers. The elusive brand everyone strives to build has been an ongoing battle for the past few years. Yes, we all love Instagram and Facebook, as that is where we usually see most money spent when advertising fitness, but I would argue there are two other platforms most fitness professionals do not consider when it comes to generating leads with social media.

Creating content for your existing followers is very different than boosting or advertising content to generate leads. When generating leads for fitness brands, try addressing a problem as your forward-facing piece of content. For example, “Have your clothes shrunk in 2020?”

This clearly addresses a problem of weight loss, which many people struggle with.  The interesting aspect of this is most companies plaster their own logo and pictures as the initial piece of content. In other words, they want you to look at them as the solution. 

The problem, however, is some prospects scrolling through their social media might not be drawn to your brand if they do not know anything about you. Remember, when marketing on social media, the goal is to just get someone to stop and read the rest of your post. The result is you want them to then click on a call to action.

Most people think the goal is to click on the call to action, but unless your initial piece of content is interesting enough, the consumer will not stop to read the rest.

I believe that there are two social platforms that will grow in popularity when it comes to fitness marketing.

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and yet rarely does a fitness brand or gym have their own channel. This platform provides a great way to put out long-form content. By long-form, I mean roughly five-minute videos, as opposed to 60-second Instagram posts on your feed. 

It is also important to consider roughly 50% of fitness professionals use YouTube to advertise their brand. Remember, fitness professionals, not necessarily fitness businesses. It also gives your brand another platform for followers to go and look at other educational content. The best part about having a YouTube channel to market your brand is that it is free to create.

Here are my recommendations when it comes to YouTube content creation:

• Create your channel with logo
• Start with two videos per month
• Keep under five minutes per video
• Create a short commercial for your brand as one video
• “How to” or “versus” videos work well (i.e. squat vs. deadlift)

LinkedIn

I have been presenting on LinkedIn for the past year and I will say people are astonished at what you can do on the platform. Other than promoting your brand, it’s another great example of generating leads with social media.

First, start thinking about LinkedIn as a great way for lead generation and not just a search engine for jobs. That’s right, you can actually identify and text potential members within your community for free. First, you need to have a profile. Fortunately, like YouTube, it’s free to create.

Now that you have a platform, let’s look at some recommendations you can do to reach out to potential members using this platform:

• In the search engine, plug in some surrounding businesses that are located in your community and near your facility.
• You will then be able to click on employees who work at that particular business.
• Click “connect” and then “add note.” This is a great way to message those individuals for free to introduce your self.
• Your note should include an introduction of who you are and, most importantly, why you are connecting. Often times this is where you try and sell them on your brand but you should convey the message you are reaching out to build relationships within the community.
• For example: “Hi, Jon, I am the owner at XYZ Gym. Just wanted to build some relationships within the community. Let me know if you ever want to stop in and use a seven-day free trial.”
• Try and connect with 25-50 people a day on LinkedIn using that message.

Social media marketing in fitness isn’t going away anytime soon. These two platforms let you and your brand stand out from the normal channels of content creation.