8 Personal Training Marketing Ideas | How to Get Clients Online
- Amanda Becker
- Dec 2, 2016
- 4 min read
Ever wonder how successful personal trainers market their businesses?
Today I'm going to show you some of my best tips for how to market you business as a personal or fitness trainer. I used to be a trainer and a health coach. I remember struggling in the beginning because I didn't know all of that much about marketing. Now, I'm a health and fitness writer, who helps trainers and other health professionals to market their business through content and copywriting.
I'm bringing the best of my best tips here. Ready?
1. Write for industry related blogs
The best way to establish yourself as an expert is to write about what you know. There is something about seeing someone's expertise displayed in a blog or magazine that instantly makes someone more likely to trust you. If you don't have time to write, hire a ghostwriter.
2. Create a Website
You need a website. Let me repeat that. YOU NEED A WEBSITE. This is not optional if you are going solo as a fitness entrepreneur. You need a place to send people to when you market. You also need to be able to capture leads and a website is a great way to do that. Create a free website through Wix if you are on a limited budget. If you have a little more, I highly recommend hiring someone to create a WordPress website for you or setting one up yourself. Also, hire a pro copywriter who knows the industry and who knows how to make your website SEO friendly.
3. Write an eBook
For someone who is an advanced writer, an eBook is a excellent way to show your expertise. It is also an excellent way to capture leads by offering your eBook for free in exchange for an email. Don't know how to put an eBook together? Partner with a freelance writer or ghostwriter who can help you get your ideas onto paper.
4. Get Social
Social media is one of the best ways to engage with current or potential clients and show your personality. It isn't necessarily a great platform to sell your training, but it is a great place to build credibility, share content, and communicate with people. Social media experts state that most people will search for you on social media before hiring you, even if they didn't find you there. Keep those social profiles alive and engage with your clients. Also, ask for testimonials and reviews from happy clients to place on them.
5. Email Marketing
One of the best ways to be the first person that people think of when they are ready to hire is to stay at the top of their minds by sending them regular emails. I'm not talking about the salesy, inbox-bombarding type of emails. I'm talking about helping them, sharing your content with them, educating them, and providing value to them. There are plenty of automated email services out there that allow you to create a series of emails that go out to your readers regularly. Hire a marketing company or freelance writer to write engaging emails if you are in doubt about how to go about it without scaring your potential clients away with emails that are too sales focused.
6. Set Up a Referral Program
Your happy clients will be more than willing to spread the word for you, and often do without any help. Sometimes you need to help them out, however. They may not know you are looking for clients. The best approach is to tell your current clients that you are looking for more clients, provide them with documents to make sharing easy, and then tell them that you will offer them some sort of incentive if the person they refer signs up (i.e. a free training session, a gift card, etc). Make sure when you create your documents to give out that you are direct, specific (where, who, when), and include a call to action. This can be offering them a free consult if they call you or letting them know that if they sign up by X date that they will get 1 session free, etc. Be creative. If you have any doubt about your sales copy, send me an email and I'll look at it for free, no charge.
7. Invest in Your Professional Development
People want to work with a trainer who is an expert, who can whip their butts into shape (quite literally) and who they can trust with their bodies. You are dealing with people's health and well-being. You have an obligation to make sure that you are always up on the latest research. Not only that, your clients will respect you more, probably pay you more, if they know that you are invested 100% in your career.
8. Branding
Ever heard of "Tabata," "Zumba," or "TaeBo?" Thought so. That is because they were created by fitness professionals who branded themselves and their services. You need a unique selling position. This means that you need to have something that you offer that is different. Something that sets you apart from the crowd of other personal trainers. A great copywriter can help you with this, such as by creating your slogan, brainstorming names for your programs, and creating a consistent feel to your branding.
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I'm Amanda Becker and I'm a professional health content and copywriter. I write everything from ad copy, web copy, blog posts, eBooks, to sales letters for professionals in the health, fitness, and wellness industries. I've worked with Drs, personal trainers, magazines, and more worldwide. If you need help with anything, please contact me.
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