For every single fitness business owner, there are an overwhelming number of options to consider when trying to get more clients and grow a fitness brand. Each fitness studio owner and personal trainer has their own unique competitive market, client base, and product offering, and each of these factors plays a tremendous role in deciding how to best market their business and boost their new customer acquisition.

There are three first steps that every single business owner must take in order to begin developing a powerful, ‘bang for the buck’ marketing strategy, that matches their brand’s unique needs and inspires their ideal customer to make a purchase.

1. Define your most powerful DIFFERENTIATORS
2. Determine your leading MARKETING METHODS
3. Make the most of your SOCIAL PROOF

We have made this process easy for you. Follow the instructions, videos and exercises below. If you run into roadblocks, feel free to reach out to me directly at any time. You got this!

1: Define your most powerful DIFFERENTIATORS

Defining a powerful set of differentiators for your fitness business is the number one way to position your personal trainer and/or fitness studio brand ahead of the exponential variety of competition within our fitness markets. Watch this video and perform the assigned exercises for well defining your product offering, researching your competitive market, strategically positioning your brand and adjusting your marketing plan to better reach your target audience and improve your new client acquisition.

For further reading, I recommend this article that I wrote for Forbes magazine on creating a definitive set of differentiators for your fitness brand.

EMBEDDED VIDEO LINK: https://vimeo.com/932699464 

EXERCISES

Use this PDF to assist with completing the following exercises:

1. Define the specifics for exactly what your clients need in order to help them with achieving their ideal fitness and health goals.
2. Define the specifics of the products and services that you are offering to help your clients with meeting these needs.
3. Research your competition to determine exactly what they are offering for their products and services, and what they are charging for these services.
4. Compare (a) your client’s needs, (b) your products and services, and (c) your competitor’s products and services, in order to define YOUR unique set of differentiators that set your business apart as:
   • Unique
   • A market leader
   • The best fit for your client’s exact needs
5. For inspiration, check out the powerful differentiators that our Business Movement client Natalie Carey has defined for her Barbell Blondie brand. (Links to Website, YouTube)

2: Determine your leading MARKETING METHODS

Before running in any direction with your marketing, you MUST identify the leading marketing methods that your target client would use to locate your services. Would they use a Google search? Yelp search? NextDoor? Ask friends on Facebook? Once you can determine the leading 2-3 marketing methods for your ideal client, THEN you can develop an intelligent strategy for reaching your niche client using these specific marketing platforms.

EMBEDDED VIDEO LINK:  https://vimeo.com/933497608 

EXERCISES

1. Start by asking your current clients that you enjoy working with, ‘If I moved away, what are the top ways you would go about finding my replacement?’  You are trying to learn more about how they would go about shopping for your products and services. This list will give you an excellent starting point for developing your list of marketing priorities.  Also, ask your clients about the social media platforms where they are currently active, so that you know where to find folks like them.
2. Seek out local publications that publish annual accolade lists (ie. ‘Best Local Personal Trainer’) and be sure that your fitness business is included in these lists. 
3. Just as your clients would, go to each of their top ‘shopping’ methods and perform the same search for your services that your client would perform, in order to see where you stack up in the results and to see who your competitors are, in order to better understand who you are up against.
4. Build a marketing priority list and step-by-step strategy for improving your rankings and results in each of your client’s key marketing methods.

3: Make the most of your SOCIAL PROOF

Social proof is HANDS DOWN your most powerful tool in convincing potential customers to give your new services a try. Your clients’ experiences and results speak FAR LOUDER than any marketing content that you could ever write yourself.  Check out these current statistics about the power of social proof :

• 98% of consumers read online reviews to learn about local businesses
• 72% of consumers consider customer reviews and testimonials more credible than when a brand talks about its own products
  • Reference: Influencer Marketing Hub

Your clients’ reviews, stories, and results should be spread widely throughout your content for your website, social media, and your client’s leading social proof websites. 

EMBEDDED VIDEO LINK:  https://vimeo.com/933481354 

EXERCISES

1. Survey your current clients, asking them where they would seek out reviews about you and your products and services.  This list will inform you where to focus on growing your reviews and testimonials.
2. For every review website and location that your clients recommend to you, claim your business and fully develop your profile (ie. Business details, photos, contact information, etc). You are building a consistent look and feel across all of these platforms, then leading potential clients back to your website for more information. Here is a BLOG to give you some additional information.
3. Schedule a monthly reminder for yourself to reach out to clients and request their help in writing reviews for your business. Here is an EMAIL TEMPLATE for making these requests.
4. Add social proof throughout your website and social media. Take a look at these examples for some inspiration:
   1. Social proof on trainer profile pages
   2. A ‘Client Results’ page
   3. Client testimonial banners spread throughout your website

CONCLUSION

There you have it – the first three steps that personal trainers and fitness studio owners must take in order to successfully get more clients and maximize their client base. 

Good luck with the exercises above. If you feel stuck or would like someone to bounce ideas about your smartest next steps in growing your fitness business, reach out to me directly and schedule a time where we can quickly hop on a virtual call and develop your strategy.
Email: billy@thebusinessmovement.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/businessmovement
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-polson-cscs-92828612/

More than anything, remember… You Got This.

Billy Polson
Billy (CSCS), named ‘America’s Best 100 Trainers’ by Men’s Journal magazine, is a three-time fitness entrepreneur, an international presenter, and a business consultant for pioneering trainers and studio owners worldwide. In 2004, looking to build an unparalleled training facility and a community of San Francisco’s leading fitness specialists, Billy founded DIAKADI Fitness, awarded the Bay Area’s ‘Top Trainers’ and ‘Top Gym’ for 18 years. His fitness entrepreneur consulting company, The Business Movement, has assisted thousands of personal trainers and fitness studio owners with boosting brand visibility, improving productivity and increasing profitability.