Create a Successful Fitness Marketing Strategy

When I have asked most trainers about their fitness marketing strategy, I have noticed that I get somewhat inconsistent answers. Trainers who own their own studio or train privately in a gym do not really have an approach to fitness marketing that is effective and consistent. This always usually surprises me because I truly feel that the key to successful personal training is great marketing. However, most trainers and small gym owners tell me that they market when they have spare time or the budget to do so. It is not a priority to them, because they have so much else that needs to be done in their business. This is a mindset that needs to change. Fitness marketing is key to running a business.

The first step to launching a successful fitness marketing strategy it to create a system in your business. Systems work. Period. They make your life and the lives of those working for you easier. And it is not as hard to do as you may think. Most fitness businesses have some sort of marketing that they currently do. For example, you may advertise in a local magazine or newspaper. Maybe you send out mailers every now and then promoting seasonal deals and savings. These are effective fitness marketing systems, and are not all that unique or hard to do. Once the customer gets the mailer or sees the ad, they come to your studio or gym and you try and sell them a training package. They then either decide to buy from you or they decide to pass on the purchase. This is all as system and part of your fitness marketing strategy. If you happen to get their contact information (which is something you should do before you even begin to talk sales with them) you will contact them at a later date and try to sell to them then.

Now, though this system is effective, it is not automated in the least bit. You need to think bigger. Think of taking your fitness marketing to the next level. Put a system in place that is hands free and requires little maintenance on your part. Automate it. If you cannot fully automate the marketing system, you can at least make part of the process automated.

If you haven’t already, create a website. This is one of the best investments a fitness professional can make. The internet is the driving force of sales these days. Trust me, I know. Once you have a website, invest in marketing software. These systems provide business owners with the tools needed to gain leads in their industry. You can build a list quicker than you ever could manually. The software can put all of the leads contact info in a database for you, without you having to do a thing. These fitness marketing leads will be legitimate because they will be opting-in to your site. Most of the software also sends an email automatically to the potential client with information about your fitness business. Once again, you had to do nothing. Emails are free, hard copy mailers are not. Add videos to the site, making the emails more personal. Potential clients will begin to trust you and feel like they have a relationship with you. This marketing software will follow up with your clients, current and potential, automatically for months after their initial opt-in. If they no longer wish to receive news about your business there is an automatic unsubscribe feature.

Automating a system will take your fitness marketing to a whole new level. Everything is online, automated for you, taking work off of your hands. You have more important things to do on a day-to-day basis. Fitness marketing is an important part to running a successful business, but is not a system that needs a lot of attention, once the systems are put in place.