Sam Bakhtiar, Personal Trainer Marketing Expert
Personal trainer marketing is a confusing job, but with the high energy levels of a personal trainer it can be taken care of relatively easily with the proper application of that energy. Chances are a personal trainer will have little experience in advertising and will in effect have to learn as they go. This isn’t as bad as it might seem. If the personal trainer can make advertising into something fun they will be more likely to be able to perform it adequately without letting other aspects of their business suffer. The same kind of determination to be a personal trainer is the kind of push and determination needed for personal trainer marketing.
A formal degree isn’t necessary to utilize the tips and tricks most bloggers online use to gain attention for a particular product or site. There are sites online which offer specifics regarding ideas and techniques to draw attention to the services rendered. There is no doubt a marketing person would be a huge help if it can be afforded, but chances are in most upstart fitness professionals the expenditure isn’t something that can be made. Even if a personal trainer doesn’t have a marketing degree they should keep a marketing plan. A marketing plan is the road to success the personal trainer can follow.
The three main parts of this marketing plan should be established early on: the direction; the vision; and the focus. The direction represents the short term goals. The trainer should where the business will go in the next year or so. The business should consider some of the minor things that the personal trainer wants to accomplish to build the business further. The vision is a combination of the original intention of the personal training career track and the long term goals. The personal trainer should remember why they got into the business itself. They need to consider what kinds of things they want to accomplish as a personal trainer. The focus is how the personal trainer intends to head in their direction and achieve something similar to their vision. The focus is the starting point. The focus is the initial piece of the puzzle. A personal trainer starts with the sessions taught at a public gym or in a park. Once a clientele is built up, they can move their focus from public gyms to more private sessions at the homes of clients. Once some capital is built, the personal trainer marketing machine can really move into full force and the trainer can purchase their own gym. After this they can purchase multiple buildings for gyms. The sky is the limit.
The Small Business Administration has a lot of great ideas for marketing. They can be found all over the country and can offer consulting, workshops and other resources for up and coming businesses. Something the SBA will tell you is that small businesses should start out with an outline of what they want to achieve and a couple methods in which to achieve it. The trainer should outline what kinds of marketing techniques that have proven effective for other businesses and apply the techniques. Something a business should keep in mind however is to survive in the business world a personal trainer has to be fluid and able to change with the times. A big fault of most personal training marketing is that a business or individual will only stick to one form of marketing without considering others and expanding. The adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t work anymore with so many people vying for the same job that a personal trainer is doing. One has to continually learn and progress or they will lose to the “new thing” every time.
As previously mentioned, there are many online strategies for marketing. There is still a big market for physical marketing tactics and the ever popular “word of mouth” marketing will always be affective. Some in person “traditional” marketing strategies are referrals, networking, flyers and brochures, and media advertising. These all have a cost attached to them in some way or another, whether it is smaller (paying for paper and printing) or larger (paying for media advertising time). The online strategies include, search engine optimization, directory listing, social media, reviews, email marketing and pay-per-click advertising. Some of these require a fee like pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization (when paying freelancers to do it). The others you can do yourself for free but personal trainers may find these more effective if you find someone who is experienced in the practices of networking and social media.
After doing some research, there should be two or three different kinds of marketing chosen and then swiftly enacted. It should be recorded what strategies seem to be the most effective and how to best utilize these strategies. Writing down the strategies is a great way to gain a better perspective on what you want to do and how best to do it. Making an abstract idea physical makes it more tangible and as something to achieve or something that cannot be achieved. Either the way it helps. Reading and rereading the plan occasionally helps to keep a proper perspective on the plan and any changes that may need to be made or any clarifications that will be necessary as the plan develops.
Once the plan has started,marketing cannot stop. A trainer has to continually market themselves no matter where they are. Whenever there is a chance to talk about personal training, it should be seized. It isn’t a good idea to bring it up out of the blue, but if a conversation with someone naturally makes it way in that direction, it is a good idea to let that opportunity turn into a potential lead for the business. It takes a lot of work to get clients, especially when a business is just starting. Utilizing personal trainer marketing can make this awkward start up face a little less awkward.
Super-Trainer
14682 central ave
Chino, Ca 91710