Whether you’re a personal trainer, a gym owner, or a lifestyle and wellness coach, you need a plan to grow your clientele. Developing a marketing strategy and executing it well can make or break the success of your small business. If you’re looking for marketing tips for fitness professionals, read on. We will cover everything from determining your ideal clients to getting your name and expertise out into the community.

Determine Your Ideal Client

We’re not saying anything you don’t know, but fitness centers and gyms typically have a lot of competition in their area. So how you market yourself as a fitness professional will have its own unique challenges and opportunities compared to local businesses in other industries. Lots of gyms and fitness businesses spread their funnel wide and market to the general population in their area. But a generic message without a specific kind of person in mind won’t catch anyone’s eye. Determine who your target audience is – perhaps you can narrow your ideal clientelel down to three personas of people you’d like to train. Write down who they are, what their fitness goals would be, and write all of your marketing messages as if you’re talking just to them.

Are you also certified in other wellness areas? Does the gym where you train offer childcare? Think about what is important to your ideal clients and sweeten the deal with a discount or free first session. Whoever you’re trying to reach, determine what’s important to them, think creatively, and stand out from the competition.

Develop a Content Strategy

One strategy that is not unique to the fitness industry is the importance of sharing strong content. Think of content as how you tell your story and sell your services and goods. Content marketing is the technique used to draw in leads through the free, valuable content you share – converting them into returning customers. Write topical blogs on your website, create video tutorials, stay top of mind with email campaigns centered around helping your audience meet their goals. We can’t stress the importance of continually adding to what you provide in order to build loyalty and authority in your fitness sphere. Once you’ve developed trust, you can ask for a financial investment from them later.

Create a Conversation on Social Media

We hope you’re already on social media! It’s still one of the best digital marketing techniques you can use to grow your clientele. Your social media profiles allow for a personal connection with potential gym members and clients in a way that no other marketing platform can do. Where else can you live chat or share a tutorial in real time while interacting with multiple people (in your pajamas!)? Check out what your competition is doing on social as well. What is the overall look and tone of their brand? What do they post about? If it’s working and they have a similar clientele, take some tips from them.

Social media is also a great place to share success stories from your clients, testimonials of what it’s like to have you as a trainer or gym, and celebrating small victories your fitness community achieves together. With permission from your current clients, post before and after photos that prove how effective your training can be! You can ask your audience what questions they have in polls and give your advice subsequently. Social media is a great way to invite your audience into a more personal version of your fitness business. Keep testing what works – you might find that what works one year doesn’t work the next. As long as you’re connecting with your ideal audience, you’re hitting your goal.

Target Specific Neighborhoods with Social Advertising

Putting money behind social posts is another great digital marketing strategy. Facebook and Instagram ads will help you specifically reach the people who are similar to your personas. You can use geofencing and targeting to find the exact neighborhoods you want to see your ad. For gyms, you can target within a few miles of your building, since most gym-goers don’t want a long commute.

Create a Loyal Gym Community

Word-of-mouth is one of the best marketing strategies on-hand for a local business. And for fitness professionals, it can be even more important. People crave a community, especially when it comes to their health and wellness journey. By creating an inclusive, fun, and engaging gym or fitness community, you’re inviting people into a place where they can belong. And if you’re creating an environment where everyone is welcomed, encouraged, and they feel like they’re changing their health, they’ll tell others. You can also offer referral incentives when a loyal client brings a friend.

There can be a false level of intimidation for many people when it comes to trying a new gym or trainer. So if you can remove any barriers to entry, make this your goal. By showing a welcoming environment, you can push against those stereotypes. Ask around (or poll your audience on social) to see what makes them hesitate when it comes to jumping into a new fitness regimen.

Advertise to New Movers in Your Area

When a new person moves to town, there’s a list of places to locate, doctors to trust, and “regular” spots to discover. Sometimes it can take a long time for them to go down that long list of things to do to make a new town feel like home… and finding a home gym may get lost in the shuffle. Not to mention fitness goals may have flown out the window of the rental car down the interstate. If you could reach them and help them prioritize their health, would you? We all know what it’s like to be the new person in town, and that’s why we create BeLocal magazines: Comprehensive guides mailed free to new homeowners in an area. Advertising in a guide like this can get you ahead of the competition and set apart what you do from the rest.

We hope you’re able to take some of these marketing tips for fitness professionals and use them today. Your market is unique, but in the end, it all comes down to speaking to your ideal client. You exist to improve their lives and solve a specific problem. Why should they come to you to solve this problem? We’ll let you take it from here.