Strategies from three industry leaders about creating social media content for your community.
As the old saying goes, “The eyes are a window into the soul.” Today, the window into your business is social media. With its unique ability to connect you with your local members or consumers from across the world at any time of day, having an online presence is imperative for the modern age.
In the latest Thought Leaders digital roundtable, Nathalia Ferreira, the senior social media producer for YouFit Gyms; Kaleb McAfee, the senior integrated social media manager for Crowe PR; and Veronica Muñoz the social media and marketing manager at Empire Portfolio Group came together to discuss how fitness clubs can best use social media and connect with members.
Because social media is constantly evolving, it can be easy to get lost in its limitless possibilities. McAfee recommended utilizing content pillars that reflect your ambitions and can guide your staff when thinking about content.
These are the main topics or goals you want to feature on your channels including education, trending topics, sales, etc. Thinking about what your audience wants to see most, being consistent with content develops your authentic brand voice and increases engagement.
“We’re approaching a time where people want to see quality content that’s worth their time,” said McAfee. “Audiences want to be part of the community within brands. Authenticity is the buzzword of the year, and I think that will continue to bud across social media as we continue to move forward.”
Strategies to build community through social media include featuring staff in content, inviting content creators to film in your space and getting everyday members involved. Ferreira explained how having an ambassador program with regular members has worked well for YouFit Gyms. This includes inviting members to social media shoots where content about community members, staff and trends is gathered.
“We realized we were missing out by not tapping into our member’s personalities, so we made a huge shift in our content,” explained Ferreira. “We’re still a business and we show that, but the ambassador program helps us be more personal. We want people who live and breathe our brand. If you pull your customer to sell without selling, you’re going to sell. That’s the best thing a brand can do.”
Muñoz emphasized the need to be authentic in social media content and the efficacy of featuring the people who are a part of your business. This style of content is most effective for growing feelings of community and creating real connections outside of the physical gym space.
“The common denominator is providing realness,” said Muñoz. “It’s hard to grow a brand without having a face behind the business. If you’re an owner who doesn’t want to step in front of the camera or don’t want to be the face of the brand, that’s where your members and content creators really come into play. They’re able to show their real fitness journey.”
For many fitness clubs with a local membership, keeping community and authenticity at the forefront of your content will have the biggest ROI. Seeing a bigger number next to people interacting or better analytics doesn’t necessarily mean a campaign was successful if you’re trying to see engagement from actual members or leads.
“When people don’t really know social media, they judge things based on numbers,” said Ferreira. “One of the things I love about working with YouFit gyms is I don’t feel that pressure. We understand our bottom line is not going viral every single time; it’s about connecting with our audience. Our content may not perform with numbers, but if it’s meeting our conversion bottom line, that’s all that matters to a certain extent.”
Muñoz underlined this because of the fact many gyms are local to one area. High exposure on social media rarely translates to more engagement outside of the digital world.
“It’s not like we’re selling something that can be sold anywhere across the country or even internationally,” explained Muñoz. “We have something that’s very local. You have to focus on your marketing funnel. Are you focusing on the loyalty phase in your customers or awareness in this area? In terms of metrics, the most important are the conversations social media is driving. The most important thing to focus on is if we’re actually getting leads.”
There are many ways to use your brand’s social media to achieve different goals, but when done intentionally, it can increase sales, brand awareness and community. No matter your goal, remembering your audience and figuring out what they want to see will lead to success.
