10 Fitness Marketing Ideas That Act as Steroids For Your Business

One of the fastest growing industries is health and fitness.

In fact, it grew by 20 billion dollars over the span of eight years from 2009 to 2017!

More and more people are beginning to exercise and eat healthy which means they need facilities and resources to better themselves.

That’s where you come into the story.

Whether you’re a gym owner or fitness instructor, you have value that can be offered to these individuals.

But the problem is that they have to find out about your first.

So many entrepreneurs launch health companies only for them to fizzle out faster than they started.

What gives?

Poor marketing.

Don’t be another health and fitness business that bites the dust. Try out these fitness marketing strategies that are practically steroids for your company.

Attend as many fitness expos as possible and network!

Face to face to networking is insanely effective for any industry, let alone one that’s based on physical attributes and physiques.

That’s why you or your company’s representatives need to attend fitness expos on a regular basis.

84% of people still prefer to meet others in person as it creates a more genuine connection so don’t underestimate this approach.

These types of events serve as an awesome opportunity to generate leads, meet industry leaders, and increase brand awareness.

Simply showing up and meeting people by shaking hands and conversating has a great ROI.

However, you can take it to the next level and see further results by investing in a booth. Take The Fit Expo for example. They charge $2,500 for an entire weekend.

While that can seem like a lot, consider the exposure you will receive and the number of people you will get to meet because of it.

But it also depends on your exact product or service.

Local gyms will want to attend events nearby to acquire new clients as going far away won’t yield many benefits unless you plan on opening a location there.

If you’re a fitness coach or offer similar services, the world is your oyster!

You could be traveling around the world to attend fitness events because there’s little to no barrier for offering health services.

YouTube is king for fitness content right now

When you look at all of the top fitness celebrities, entrepreneurs, and influencers, what’s the one channel they’re all active on besides Instagram?

YouTube!

It only makes sense. YouTube can be used for sharing workout videos, diet tips, vlogs, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Check out Bradley Martyn as an example. This beast has millions of subscribers and collaborates with social media kings Logan and Jake Paul.

I don’t even want to know how much money this guy makes!

Seeing as YouTube receives approximately 1.9 billion logins every month, you’d be nuts not to take advantage of their platform like he does.

You don’t have to be an editing wizard, either. Good content is good content.

Sharing knowledge about working out and eating healthy is the real value here.

That’s why I recommend starting a channel ASAP and uploading simple videos on a consistent basis. This is what’s called an MVP or minimal viable product.

They’re not the fanciest videos, but they get the job done.

Over time you can learn how to edit, add cools effects, and things of that nature but start building the foundation today.

Don’t neglect blogging about health topics

Do you have a health website? Then you definitely need to begin blogging about topics your clients would find interesting.

This is what we call inbound marketing.

I would say it’s the future, but that’d mean we’re living the future right now.

Some of the biggest companies in the world from Microsoft to Coco-Cola all use forms of inbound marketing.

Who doesn’t want customers coming to them organically?

Keep in mind that 62% of consumers will consult a search engine first before engaging with a business so this aligns perfectly with their behavior.

Think about it: a customer is obviously going to check out your website, read your content, and research you before purchasing a product.

Offering free high quality blog posts educates them on relevant topics while improving your authority and brand image.

The inbound sales funnel looks something like this:

It begins with attracting users to your website through a blog, social media, and SEO. You can learn about all of these topics via previous posts of mine.

This leads to the conversion stage in which landing pages and forms are used to collect information like emails.

Businesses can then close on these leads before delighting them with more content and value.

Send your products to health influencers

There is no industry booming more with influencers than health.

People with a large following in the industry are bombarded with free clothing, supplements, and sponsorships that rack in serious cash.

On the flip side, businesses can generate insane revenue and exposure by leveraging an influencer’s audience for gym advertising campaigns.

That’s why 92% of marketers agree that this strategy is effective.

But how do you begin working with influencers?

The first step is to find them. I recommend that you search for fitness influencers on Instagram since it has a thriving community.

Look up hashtags like #fitnessmotivation and sift through the top results.

Here you will find highly engaged posts by some of the biggest accounts using the searched hashtag.

Reach out those that you believe align with your brand’s values and send them a proposal like:

Hey {Influencer},

My name is {Your name} and I’m a representative of {Your company}. I recently came across your page and love the content you publish. I believe there’s a great opportunity for us to work together in terms of a sponsorship.

Would you be open to receiving a free product in exchange for shouting out our brand? We can work out the details of the post, caption, and pricing when you have time.

Warm regards,

{Your name}

This will help get your foot in the door where you can then speak about influencer fees and the details of the ad.

Get involved with local health clubs

It doesn’t matter if you live in a small town or booming city, there are always health clubs to attend.

There are clubs for running, hiking, cycling, martial arts, you name it.

Similar to the face-to-face networking I spoke about at the beginning of this article, these clubs allow you to create relationships and network in your local community.

You also get to have a great workout and meet likeminded people. It’s win-win 🙂

I suggest that you search Google for local clubs related to your health interests.

These websites or social media pages will include information about when and where meetups happen.

Attend these on a regular basis if possible and you never know what clients or opportunities may come your way!

Build a relationship with customers

I’ve worked out my whole life so I’ve seen my fair amount of gyms.

Despite the fact that I work out at LA Fitness these days, there has always been a small gym from the past I loved more than the rest.

It was an underground gym. I’m talking about weights, cardio machines, and that’s it.

No sauna. No classes. No pool. It was barebones.

Why did I stay there for years? Because the community was amazing.

Everyone there was friends and the gym owner was constantly on the floor working out and connecting with people.

It gave it a much different feel to the commercial gyms I’ve been at.

If you own a facility and are trying to figure out how to increase gym memberships, I’d highly recommend that you begin hitting the gym floor and engaging with customers. You’d be surprised at how many referrals it can drive.

Offer specials and promotions to acquire new clients

93% of consumers use a discount or coupon code throughout the year.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to save a bit of money on their purchase?

That’s why offering sales and promotions are a great way to increase conversion rates.

It can be as simple as a 5-10% coupon code to a big Black Friday sale.

Creating promotions like these give customers an incentive to purchase from you.

I remember at my old gym that there would always be discounts for students and during the holidays. Tactics like these are easy ways to start generating new business as a fitness brand of any sorts.

Collect an email list

Email marketing is practically as old as the internet itself.

That’s why it may come as a surprise that email is still one of the most effective channels to reach customers.

We’re all glued to our phones and computers all day with email taking up a fair amount of our time.

It isn’t a bad thing. It’s simply how our culture is right now.

However, you can take advantage of this trend as a health business.

It’s been found that email marketing has a 40x better ROI than social media marketing and yields $44 for every dollar spent!

This is why you need to begin building an email list of subscribers.

You can do so by first signing up for an email marketing service Aweber.

This will allow you to create opt-in forms, newsletters, and automated campaigns.

Ensure that you embed a form or use a popup to collect emails on your website if you have one. Additionally, you can share a signup link via social media or other channels.

The key to getting lots of subscribers is by offering a lead magnet. These are free incentives which I recently spoke about in my lead magnet guide you should read first.

Consider getting an app developed

One surefire way to stand out from competitors and increase brand awareness is by having a fitness app developed.

Many health businesses offer apps which help customers work out smarter, improve their diet, and stay on track to achieve their goals.

You can look at having an app developed as another form of inbound and content marketing.

It’s a free tool that draws customers into your business while offering free value and building trust. This is why it’s such an epic gym marketing strategy.

Look at LA Fitness Mobile, for example.

This app allows members of LA Fitness to find nearby clubs, schedule classes, and more.

Final thoughts on marketing a gym

Owning a gym or any health and fitness business for that matter is very exciting.

It’s brutally competitive, though.

If you want to get mountains of customers and peace of mind knowing you have longevity in the industry, apply today’s main takeaways: