There is no shortage of fitness marketing ideas out there. The difficulty lies in determining which channels are most effective and yield the biggest returns. On one hand, you want to be focused on strategies that lead to long-term exponential growth – rather than “Deal of the Day” websites, Facebook ads, or direct mail offers. We find that most of our best ideas have cost us little to nothing! You’ll need to invest in tools for CRM, email marketing, copywriting, web design, search engine optimization and mobile marketing to stay competitive. However, you want to always keep your focus on building an irresistible program and strong relationships with your clients. That being said, here is a list of great marketing strategies you can put to use immediately.
1. Content Marketing – Once you build trust and credibility by sharing your expertise with the world, you will be one step closer to earning a person’s business. Delivering informative, interesting content also becomes a way to stay at the forefront of your clients’ minds and remain relevant in their lives.
2. Pay Per Click Ads – All your competitors are using “paid search” to drive business to their websites. You will create landing pages with targeted keywords (such as “Chino Hills fitness trainer”) to lead internet users from a Google search engine listing to the content they desire (like an article about different methods of fitness training in Chino Hills) and a place where they can take action (an online signup form).
3. YouTube – Video marketing is one of the best tools because it’s brief, engaging and showcases your personality. Let’s face it: anyone in the fitness industry is in the business of personality marketing! The end goal is to make viewers so comfortable with you that they can’t wait to hand over their business. You can post videos on your blog, your homepage, or your social networking site. You can post exercise tutorials, fitness and nutrition tips, promotional ads, clips from your classes, or exercise tutorials.
4. Email Marketing – You can combine multiple ideas into one with a solid email marketing program. You can write up a newsletter full of healthy recipes, exercise suggestions, motivational quotes and articles. You can send out periodic offers for free downloads or money off a new program. We recommend partnering with other complementary businesses to extend your reach. Do not be discouraged if a person doesn’t jump on your very first offer. If he or she remains on your subscriber list, then there is some interest. Tweak the offer to make it more targeted or more irresistible and re-send. Often, people hop onboard the second offer. Ultimately, you want to build interest, desire and relationship.
5. Search Engine Optimization – It pays to spend a few dollars on a professional SEO consultant. You will learn which keywords are most competitive for you to focus on and get a valuable second opinion on your websites to see if you can boost your traffic literally overnight. Often, it’s a very small tweak – like adding title tags or switching the layout – that can make a dramatic difference.
6. Squeeze Pages – A squeeze page (or “mini site”) is a page designed to solicit people’s email addresses. They give out their contact information in exchange for a free video, e-book, industry report, newsletter, recipe, or coupon. You’ll use PPC ads to get people to these pages. Once you have a good subscriber list, you can begin converting these people into paying customers and loyal fans.
7. Linking – Links allow you to establish buzz, credibility and reputation. You want to be the #1 authority on fitness and nutrition in your area. The more places people see your name and link, the bigger impression you’ll make. Chances are, you probably ended up on Super-Trainer.com after seeing our name online for the hundredth time.
8. Auto-responders – Of the time-saving tools I have to offer, the auto-responder system is the very best. You don’t want to run your business by the seat of your pants. Instead, have a system that puts some aspects of your marketing on auto-pilot. Set up your auto-responder to deliver a free report, deliver 3 quality blog posts every few days, and pitch a low-end program a few days after that. Continue automatically sending more blog posts, articles and recipes. Offer another affordable program. This is one of the most successful fitness marketing ideas we’ve ever pursued.
9. Client Referral Programs – A client referral program or contest is one of the easiest ways to grow your business. A total stranger may find it easy to decline your offer, but people find it extraordinarily difficult to resist offers from their friends who desperately want work-out buddies to join them. You’ll have instant credibility when your happy clients become spokespeople, vouching for the value of your program. To make a juicy offer, you can give existing clients a free month when they sign up a friend, you can enter every referrer to win a big grand prize, or you can do both. Incentivizing your program is the way to gain participation. You will also want to send out cards asking clients for their help. Often, they are willing, but do not think of asking a friend until you mention it.
10. Speaking Engagements – Get out into your community. There are many different establishments that would welcome your expertise. Speak with community centers, social clubs, senior centers, schools, country clubs, or even workplaces that have employee wellness programs. You can give a lecture on a buzzworthy nutrition or fitness topic and collect people’s contact info when they sign up for the seminar. That way, you can send out relevant information and special offers to convert interested individuals into paying clients.
Here at Super-Trainer.com, we are always posting new fitness marketing ideas to help grow your business, whether you just started a training studio, you are thinking about getting into the boot camp business, or you have a martial arts center you’d like to promote better. Keep in mind, it’s not just about finding unique or commonly-used techniques, but about developing a solid program that possesses loads of value and incentive for new people to join. You want to have a high retention. Otherwise, it’s time to revisit the core elements of your business and look at ways to hang onto the clients you now have. A revolving door of prospects is NOT the path to six and seven-figure income. If you want to have a livable income and free time to spare, then you need a program that will, in part, promote itself once you have all the key elements in place.