Social media is an invaluable tool for any business, especially for those within the fitness industry. Just look at Gymshark. Their approach to influencers and social media marketing for fitness brands has proven incredibly effective. In fact, a huge part of their success can be attributed to their online presence and strategy. With more and more businesses realising how effective this technique can be, however, you don’t want to be left behind. That being said, the team here at VerriBerri have put together this post to help you avoid just that!
What is social media marketing for fitness brands?
As the name suggests, social media marketing is relatively straightforward. It’s the idea of using social media platforms to market your brand, engage with existing customers, and reach new ones. When preparing your strategy, the most popular platforms to consider include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Which platforms work best for you, however, is an entirely different story.
How do I choose the right platform?
At VerriBerri, this is a question we’re asked constantly. Our honest answer – it varies from brand to brand. Vague, I know, but unfortunately, that’s the truth. It depends on what area of the fitness industry your company operates in. It depends on whether you’re a B2B or B2C business. Most importantly, however, it depends on the demographics of your target audience and which platforms they are already using. When putting together your social media marketing strategy, that should always be your first concern.
How can I make my strategy more effective?
If there’s any area of marketing which people assume they can do themselves seamlessly, it’s social media. Occasionally, this is the case. But just because you run your own personal account doesn’t necessarily mean you can run your businesses one, especially if time limited.
Social media marketing is extremely different to using the platforms for your own entertainment. Also, your business’s social media is an extension of your brand image. It’s extremely fragile, and even liking a controversial post can have a significant impact on your company’s financial performance. Considering this, we’ll always recommend consulting an agency specialising in marketing for fitness brands. If you’re set on giving it a go by yourself, however, here are a few tips to get you started.
Before all else, sit down and make a plan
Not planning your social media strategy is a recipe for disaster. There’s no two ways about it. You need to have a clear idea of your goals and how you plan on achieving them. What’s the best way of doing this, you ask? At VerriBerri, we recommend setting attainable SMART targets. This is one of the most popular goal-setting frameworks for businesses, but what does the acronym mean? Let’s take a closer look…
- Specific: What is your goal with social media marketing? This could include growing your followers, engagement rate, or boosting website traffic.
- Measurable: How can you measure how successful your social media marketing is? Fortunately, most platforms offer free analytics tools to help you with just that.
- Attainable: Is it a realistic goal? You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment if you want to gain 1 million followers in 3 months.
- Relevant: Does it support your business’s objectives?
- Time Specific: Put a deadline on your target. How long do you think it will take to achieve these objectives?
By revisiting these goals on a regular basis, you can see whether or not you’re on the right track. If you are, great! Keep pushing forward. If you’re not, take a look at what areas need to be adjusted. Do this and you can greatly improve your chance of success.
Prepare a content calendar
Your approach should also include preparing a regular schedule or calendar for your posts. This should include the content (tailored to each platform, of course), as well as where and when it will be posted. Especially if you’re sharing across multiple platforms, this can help ensure each is regularly updated. With social media algorithms prioritising newer content over older, this is important to maximise visibility and engagement.
Regularly engage with your followers
One aspect of social media marketing for fitness brands that’s often put on the back burner is engagement. Sure you might find it challenging to engage with everyone, especially if you’ve already got a large audience. That doesn’t mean, however, that you shouldn’t try! Your customers made you who you are today. It’s crucial that you’re showing them that you care. If not, there’s a much greater chance they switch over to your competitors.
Don’t just try to sell to them
The last thing people want is to be sold to. If the opposite was true, running your business would be far easier but unfortunately, this isn’t the case. This means it’s vital that you don’t fill your content to the brim with salesy messages and links to your online store. People don’t care for it. Instead, be informative, friendly, helpful, and have a sense of humour (respectfully, of course). Show another, more personal side to your business. People will respond and value it far more.
(Almost) always integrate CTAs in your posts
When used correctly, call to actions (CTAs) can be a great way of boosting your engagement. Essentially, these are phrases such as ‘like and follow,’ or ‘visit our website’ as a few examples. A post that doesn’t contain one of these CTAs also doesn’t instruct the user with what to do next. It might seem trivial, but sometimes people need a little reminder in order to engage with your post. It’s important to note, however, that there’s a fine line between incentivising engagement and being pushy. Keep this in mind when preparing your content calendars.
Contact us
If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of social media marketing for fitness brands, get in touch! To reach our specialist team, call us today on 01376 386 850, or click here. We look forward to hearing from you!