The concept of fitness branding involves defining and communicating what makes a personal trainer or coach’s approach to health and movement distinctive and unique. A fitness brand combines the professional’s methodology, experience, and expertise into a comprehensive identity/plan that resonates with a specific target audience, tapping into their deepest motivations and emotions. In this article, we will delve into the process of deciding upon a brand, fleshing the idea out into a potential business proposal, and then setting about establishing oneself within a targeted community.
Defining a Brand Strategy
A multitude of buzzwords come to mind when a fitness professional sets about the task of building a personal training business. Clientele, location, transparency, equipment, and experience all have their place, but deciding upon a specific brand strategy often takes top priority.
A brand strategy forms the foundation of how one outlines their business and defines themselves as a professional. It delineates the overall direction as well as the message they wish to deliver to the public. This often includes elements such as target audience, mission, and values. The brand strategy helps a personal trainer communicate these unique aspects of their personality.
Setting Oneself Apart from the Competition
Developing a brand strategy can provide the clarity needed to understand how to make the brand stand out; it facilitates the process of bringing attention to the new business as well as attracting new opportunities.
A brand strategy helps eliminate the question of “to whom do I wish to speak/target/work with/help?”. By clearly defining one’s ideal clients and getting attuned to their wants, needs, and desires, a fitness professional can more easily attract the desired type of clients rather than trying to speak to the general public.
A brand strategy can allow one to highlight themselves and their experience/belief system/work philosophy, helping their audience determine what makes them special, capable, and trustworthy. Through this process, the trainer can determine who might make ideal clients that align with their mission.
The Power of a Brand Strategy
A strategic, well-thought-out brand strategy holds a tremendous amount of potential. The following important business aspects can arise from a strong brand strategy ~
- Charge competitive rates: Clients willingly pay more for services when they understand and value a personalized approach
- Stand out in saturated markets: A unique brand can carve out a niche above and beyond general fitness marketing
- Attract the desired audience: Save time by eliminating the need to chase down general clients and then having to weed out your target clientele
- Expand beyond personal training: A clear brand identity allows for the potential growth of a fitness business
- Simplify marketing: Knowing one’s stance makes it easier to target marketing materials that communicate the brand’s voice
Getting Personal
As a fitness professional, the ability to create a lasting impression and cultivate a loyal client base greatly depends on one’s unique combination of values, expertise, and exceptional experience. To that end, the concept of personal branding bears exploring.
Personal branding encompasses the total process of establishing a solid presence in one’s field and resonating with the appropriate audience.
To quote Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” A personal brand reflects and represents the perception that others have after either reading promotional material, visiting the gym, or engaging face-to-face, the total takeaway of their experiences, interactions, and impressions.
Closely related to personal branding, a strategic marketing plan must include one’s unique selling proposition(USP). By pinpointing this, a personal trainer can begin to distinguish themself from the crowd. Ask the following questions:
- What expertise/skills do I bring?
- Do I excel in specific training methods?
- Do I offer a unique perspective on nutrition/wellness?
- Am I qualified to work with my target demographic?
One’s USP transcends what they can offer—it encompasses one’s belief in their ability to uniquely solve clients’ problems and resonate with them individually. A USP can answer the question: “How do your business services benefit your clients better than anyone else?”
Building Trust, Community Relationships, and Connections
A successful client-trainer relationship lives and thrives at the corner of trust and connection. Every potential new client seeks a trainer who understands their needs, supports their fitness journey, and genuinely cares about their success and well-being. If a client resonates with a trainer on a personal and individual level, they do not hesitate to commit.
Similarly, in a highly competitive market such a fitness/wellness/personal training, establishing oneself as an authority goes a long way toward building credibility and attracting new clients. Social media platforms come in handy for this. By regularly posting/sharing valuable content and participating in industry events, a personal trainer manages to establish authority, build trust, and strengthen their personal brand.
Participating in speaking engagements and local fitness/wellness seminars, and fairs can further showcase one’s expertise and increase exposure to connect with potential clients. Organizing events, challenges, or online communities where clients engage and support one another helps to strengthen one’s brand while also highlighting a commitment to clients’ well-being that goes beyond one-on-one training sessions.
The 4 A’s of Marketing
After identifying a personal fitness brand, the next step involves working through what experts refer to as “The 4 A’s of Marketing”: Acceptability, Affordability, Accessibility, and Awareness. When these crucial concepts come together, they can greatly contribute to the success of any business.
Acceptability measures customer satisfaction, approval, and preference, assessing whether the service in question meets, surpasses, or falls short of customer expectations. 2 subcategories of acceptability bear equal importance ~
- Functional Acceptability (objective): addresses the various aspects of the personal training service ~ performance, features, and unique selling points
- Psychological Acceptability (subjective): takes into account how every client will perceive attributes of the personal training differently; defines the societal perception of one’s personal brand
Affordability refers to a client’s willingness and financial ability to pay for personal training. This encompasses the delicate balance of the following aspects ~
- Economical Affordability, which addresses a client’s financial ability to purchase training services
- Psychological Affordability, which gauges the client’s inclination to buy personal training based on their perceived value
Accessibility pertains to the ease of attaining a particular service. This often means one’s proximity to a gym or fitness facility. Accessibility focuses on client convenience and availability. Given the power of social media and the rise in online personal training, accessibility also implies online presence and reach, ensuring that one’s services work anywhere and across many time options.
Awareness involves educating clients about a product or service, persuading potential clients to make purchases, and maintaining relationships with existing clients. A personal trainer can achieve product brand awareness through a variety of different channels, including advertising, public relations initiatives, and social media platforms.
Influencers
Influencer identification, a strategic move in fitness marketing, involves partnering with individuals who possess a significant following and influence/authority within the fitness community. Influencers can offer high engagement and foster trust in a trainer’s personal brand, often for a reasonably affordable price tag, which naturally will depend on their level of fame.
Below, we list several keys to leveraging influencer collaborations as a means of advancing a personal training/fitness business ~
- Identify influencers whose values and audience align with the fitness brand to ensure authentic and effective partnerships. Look for influencers who share the brand’s philosophy and cater to a demographic that matches the desired target audience.
- Engage influencers to promote the fitness business through sponsored content, product reviews, or event appearances. Trainers can make use of influencers’ platforms to advertise/highlight their services in a way that resonates with their audience.
- Leverage the reach and credibility of influencers; they can introduce a fitness business to their followers in ways that feel genuine and trustworthy, helping to expand the reach and build credibility within the fitness community.
How to “Gamify” Your Business
Regardless of how educated, popular, and/or talented the personal trainer, not every potential client — or even existing ones – possesses an innate drive to work out. However, most individuals cannot resist a good challenge if presented as a game. By integrating gamified challenges into one’s fitness advertising strategy, workouts cease feeling like “work” and instead take on all the positive aspects of an adventure. One study revealed that 89% of people surveyed stated that a gamified environment made them feel more productive and engaged.
Here we suggest some ways in which a personal trainer might elevate their fitness marketing campaigns with gamification:
- Step Challenges: Use social media platforms to host step challenges. Offer rewards such as free classes/personal training sessions, or branded merchandise.
- Daily Goals: Create innovative daily workout challenges that members can participate in and share on social media.
- Leaderboard Competitions: Implement a leaderboard system to encourage friendly competition.
- Seasonal and/or Holiday Challenges: Keep interest in your brand constantly flowing by offering online (or in the gym) themed challenges designed around holidays or seasons.
As a prime example, we can consider how Fitbit successfully worked its brand. Making use of games in their approach led to a community of over 27 million users, many of whom stay engaged simply because of the platform’s innovative challenges and rewards system.
To quote Jane McGonigal, a world-renowned game designer, “Games can make us more resilient, more motivated, and more capable of achieving our goals.” Capitalize on this power to generate excitement about the personal fitness brand and its services.
Tapping Into the Feelings of Wellness
When we talk about selling personal training, we must understand what lies beneath the surface of basic consumer desire. We actually market a promise, an attitude…a feeling. That feeling may take the shape of a longer life, a better start to one’s workday, a way to meet like-minded individuals, or simply the goal of one’s clothes fitting better.
Marketing experts may refer to the fitness industry as self-improvement, a way to achieve a better version of oneself. Fitness professionals inherently know that exercise benefits the body and the mind; however, the average client does not want to hear that what a trainer advertises will provide them with a better life…they need to feel it, understand, and want to embody it. They need to see how it can change their life. By altering the delivery message, trainers can go about selling an identity as opposed to a service.
A personal fitness brand does not merely sell personal training; it must inspire engagement, trust, and eventually, loyalty. Consider the following positive attributes ~
- Relatable: “My friend tried it and it worked for them; maybe it can work for me as well.” Attainable: “I do not have to rob a bank to try personal training; this program seems affordable and realistic for my budget.”
- Credible: “I admire the research behind this trainer’s platform.”
A prudent personal trainer will focus on marketing the potential transformation, not their services. In this manner, they can convey their ability to create a lifestyle for their clients. The goal becomes building a relationship, not merely cashing in on a sale.
Final Thoughts
So far this year, marketing has shown a heavy digital influence. We can expect advancements such as Artificial Intelligence, virtual reality experiences, and improved developments in social media to provide entrepreneurs with new and effective tools to engage audiences. Whereas traditional marketing strategies relied on television, radio, and print ads, modern marketing makes use of social media and search engines to achieve a more direct and targeted approach to advertising.
Over the next five years, experts predict that marketing may evolve into something more personalized. As more data becomes available on consumer preferences, businesses will start to customize their marketing efforts to more effectively appeal to individual consumers.
By the year 2030, the focus of marketing and personal branding- especially in the fitness industry – will most likely shift towards enhancing life’s daily quality rather than promoting services. Will your personal fitness brand grow into the next few years and decades?
References
https://instituteofpersonaltrainers.com/create-your-usp
https://bethanyworks.com/brand-strategy/
https://www.shopify.com/blog/fitness-marketing
https://wod.guru/blog/fitness-branding/
https://www.glofox.com/blog/how-to-build-an-online-brand-for-your-fitness-business/
https://www.fitbudd.com/post/10-steps-to-creating-a-fitness-marketing-strategy-for-the-digital-age
https://gleantap.com/10-out-of-the-box-fitness-marketing-strategies-that-actually-work/
https://gleantap.com/exploring-the-dark-side-of-fitness-marketing-manipulation-or-motivation/
https://moontide.agency/marketing/psychology-of-wellness-marketing/
