We all know the impact social media has had on the fitness industry the last five years. From creating insta celebrities to providing fitness professionals with a platform to impact lives all over the world.
It has been used to demonstrate some of the most ridiculous exercises ever conceived to providing powerful, inspiring and informative posts.
Beyond the fitness celebrities, the humpday posts, the double tap addictions there lies there a platform that can transform someone’s fitness business, when used correctly.
Of course there are the big success stories like Gymshark and many more companies that have started from next to nothing and went on to take over the fitness world through marketing on social media, but what about the small businesses like individual person trainers.
Before social media if you were a fitness professional looking to have a national or international impact you had to rely heavily on featuring in Magazines, websites or Expos.
But now with social media you have the ability to create your audience right at your finger tips, you no longer have to wait to get featured in a magazine or on a fitness related site. You can create an audience that has opted to follow you based on the value of the content you produce.
Although social media has created a culture where people believe their value and status is defined by the number of likes or followers they have it does not remove how valuable social media can be to a small company or individual fitness professional.
“Just because people abuse it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it”
Social media is saturated with fitness related content, but the vast majority of it is designed to create status for the person posting it rather than provide true value to the viewer.
So how does an fitness individual set themselves apart on social media??
Be Real!! Provide true value!! Have a clear message!!
Your social media content should demonstrate who you are and your values. It should be tailored to the exact clientele you are aiming to work with. It should be easy to tell from your content who you are and what you do!!
“I help middle aged women drop fat and feel more confident in their own skin!”
“I am a strength and conditioning coach who helps athletes perform better at their given pursuit!”
“I am a fitness photographer that helps fitness professionals create content that attracts paying customers and grows their business!”
To avoid time wasting enquiries from clients you do not want to work with it must be clear from your content who your target demographic is. If your preferred demographic is males looking to add lean muscle, post about muscle building topics, exercises that pack on mass, how much protein someone should take to gain lb of muscle a month.
Although it is vital that a fitness professional or coach be visible in their content, as most consumers like to see what they are buying before they hand over any money, your service should always be at the centre of your content not your ego.
“Service before Status!”
Your clients and their results are your service! As coach you will always be judged by your clients results and that rings true on social media. If you all you do it post images of yourself on your social media all you are doing is proving you can get or stay in good shape yourself. You have to be able to prove to potential clients that you can provide them with the results they desire and they will be paying you for.
Social provides an incredible opportunity for fitness individuals to scale their business but it is not as simple as merely posting a tonne of MEMEs or infographics, banging on a hashtags, or a few topless pics of yourself. The will only get lost in the ether.
Decide who your ideal clientele is, figure out what their needs and desires are and then demonstrate how you can help fulfil them through your content.
As important as growing an audience is, if you become too fixated on growing your followers you miss out on providing true value to the audience you already have!!
Martin
P.S. This might interest you… but be quick!
