Should you use social media for your fitness business?
Blog #10
Learn how to best use Facebook, Instagram and other platforms to promote your services as a personal trainer or other fitness professional.
Do you use social media for your fitness business?
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are often met with the same uncertainty by a lot of individuals as to how and why they should be used to promote their fitness business.
For me, social media is very much a love/hate thing!! There are some amazing benefits to using the platforms to showcase and promote your services, though the caveat is that it can come with some negatives.
If you are a Personal Trainer, a Sports Massage Therapist, a Nutritionist, a Pilates/Yoga Instructor, or other professional in general, I am sure you already use social media (or at the very least are considering using it).
To begin with, let us look at the reasons ‘Why’ social media could benefit your fitness business.
The true fact of the matter is that a very large percentage of your target market will be using social media at some point in their day. And with the algorithms on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram being so finely tuned these days, the content that you could be putting out on a regular basis could very easily make its way onto the feeds of your next potential client.
The best way to think of social media is a platform to be able to promote your services and to give your target market an insight into what it is that you can do for them – it is your ‘shop window’ so to speak.
Not only can you advertise on social media (both free and paid advertising for a more targeted reach), you can also link people to your website (increasing website traffic), and you can give the all important ‘value’ to those who may end up investing in your services further down the line.
Benefits:
- By consistently (weekly at the very least) posting content you will create more awareness and followers of what it is that you do as a professional.
- This increased awareness will put more eyes on your business that will in turn lead to more potential clients that you can sell your services to.
- It doesn’t cost you anything to advertise what it is that you do.
- You can reach a wider and more targeted audience by utilising paid advertising that will put your content in front of those who have a keen interest in what you sell – this is still not that expensive when you consider what your return on investment can be.
- You will be able to put more traffic to your website which in turn will increase the chances of potential new clients contacting you. This will also be beneficial in your Google rankings.
- By posting lots of ‘free value content’ such as blogs, videos and images with a great bit of copy, you will increase your chances of engagement with your followers which will not only grow your brand on social media and increase your following, but it will again increase your chances of picking up new clients.
There are some great benefits to using social media, and we strongly advise all of our students to start utilising their own social media platforms from day one of their studies (encouraging them to share their learning journey which in turn can often result in with clients lined up and ready to pay for their services as soon as they are qualified).
But just so we can give you the full picture, let us look at some of the potential negatives to using social media.
Negatives:
- Unfortunately social media can create a toxic environment in an individual’s headspace which in turn can lead to feelings of ‘imposter syndrome’.
- This negativity can make some feel that they will not be able to achieve the same success as others or that they feel like they aren’t as good as other professionals in their field – leading them to not post content at all.
- Social media can become very procrastinating – sitting down to do some work can sometimes lead to falling down a wormhole on facebook as you aimlessly scroll and read articles instead of actually doing the work that you have set out to do.
With these negatives aside, it is so important that when using social media that you use it to best suit you – to promote and grow your services and brand.
Don’t get caught up in the negativity and toxic engagement that can occur. If someone constantly makes you feel in a negative way on social media – simply ‘unfollow’ them so that you don’t see their content.
Even though there are a few negatives when using social media, and the irony that you may be seeing this blog post on our own social media platforms is definitely not lost on me, when used correctly social media is one of the excellent foundations for your business.
Of course social media can be used in many ways for many individuals. Some like to use it to promote their own personal goals and training accomplishments, this is perfectly fine although this next statement is of high importance when it comes to promoting your business on social media:
Your potential customers need to see from you how you deliver your services to others, therefore they may not be interested in ‘just’ your own fitness achievements and how well you are doing.
Most of your potential clients will not be at a level where you may be, they will have their own apprehensions, anxieties and uncertainties about starting their ‘own’ fitness journey. Therefore the content that you regularly put out should have your potential clients mindset at the forefront of your planning.
It is so important that your social media content promotes how you can help others, rather than be all about your own fitness journey (some is fine, just not all).
So what should your content include?
Simply put, your content should showcase your services, and give free value that will steadily help educate your target audience into how they can start to help themselves.
This does not mean that you give them all the information they need to train themselves or eat the correct foods to solve their own nutritional intake, but it should give them the right ideas about what your ethos is all about.
Consider the following:
- Blogs – Explaining the benefits of exercise, eating the correct foods, what those food choices should be, exercise ideas, healthy lifestyle approaches and positive mindset techniques.
- Images and videos – Advertising how you work with your clients. Give your potential clients an inside look into how you work with your clients within their sessions – giving them the confidence and motivation to contact you and take you up on your service.
*note – instead of taking pictures of your clients training within their paid sessions, consider getting some of your clients in for a photography and filming session so another individual can take pictures and film you actually training your client (this is what your potential market wants to see).
- Advertisements and offers – Around the value and content that you put out on your social media platforms, you will still need to make it easy for people to contact you, and give them the full knowledge of what your services are so that they know they can start working with you. Special offers, with a timed deadline, is also a good way to promote and make your potential new clients commit.
*Don’t be afraid to advertise – if you have a service that can really offer value and be of a benefit to an individual then they should be made aware of this and buying this service should be made easy for them.
All of the above can link to your website, and vice versa, giving your potential clients a really good insight and thorough knowledge of your services, your ethos and how they can get in touch with you.
Where to start?
Create a plan.
Having a social media plan works wonders and makes your time that you put into social media posting so much more efficient.
“Proper planning and preparation
Prevents poor performance”
This plan should include:
- A ‘Content inspiration’ spreadsheet – ideas for blogs, videos, images.
- A schedule – what you will post and when
If you can get ahead of yourself and get really organised, something we would recommend all of our students to do as they are building their business, you can build up an image, video and blog library that you can pull from and schedule for your social media posting on a Monday morning – meaning that your weekly posts will post on the days and times that you schedule, a lot less work for you. All you need to do then is check in and engage with any comments and answer any questions.
We hope this post has some benefit for you. If you are new to social media platforms, or even if you have a solid platform already, make sure that your Facebook and Instagram (and others) promote your brand and you in the best possible light that is a clear reflection of who you are, how your product can really help others and gives a clear insight into how you deliver your services.
Social media is a great way to build trust and awareness of how you really do provide a product that can massively impact people’s lives in a very positive way.
When used correctly, it is a massively effective addition to your fitness business.
If you would like to learn how to exactly build your social media platforms, content and following… as well as learn all about YouTube Channels and further foundations of your fitness business – check out our course:
Business and marketing for the fitness professional
For more information about our courses, you can download our prospectus using the link below:
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