Everyone knows social media marketing is important. It’s the biggest, most financially savvy medium available, and it is utilised by top businesses worldwide.
Perhaps the trendiest strategy in digital marketing today is the leveraging of the influencer. The term gets tossed around a tonne. The definition is straight forward: somebody who can influence the purchase decisions of a massive following. Yet some mystery and hesitation continue to surround influencers: Who are these people?
Finding the right influencers for your fitness business
How do I find the right ones for my brand? Which platform should I target? Can I trust them? If so, what should I be asking of them?
Researching, coordinating with and directing a social influencer strategy can be an overwhelming and time-consuming job with everything else you are doing to drive results for your club. The good news is that you don’t need to go far to find the perfect influencers for your business. In fact, they’re already working with you — your personal trainers and fitness instructors.
Instructors with influence
Some of your staff may already be Internet famous and have a massive audience, but more likely, your staff fall into the tier of micro-influencers— those who have a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand followers. Micro-influencers are valuable due to their heightened relevance on a local level; that is to say that their audiences are much more local, relevant and actionable than the wide and varied audience someone like The Rock may be broadcasting to. Sure, he has millions of followers, but how many of them live close enough to your club to come in and try a new class or buy a pack of PT sessions? Probably few if any at all.
These mighty micro-influencers are not only more relevant to your target audience, but as your trainers and instructors, they also have a vested personal interest in sharing enthusiastically about your club on their social networks — and if they don’t, they should.
Building bodies and brands
Trainers or instructors who aspire to high levels of success know that building their reputation online is the foundation of creating a personal brand. Although organic word of mouth can help, establishing their expertise and effectiveness by sharing success stories on their own accounts will fast-track the process.
Not only will creating social media evangelists increase online awareness, it can also act as both a new business driver and member retention tool. What better way to prove people should be working with you than to show it first hand? What better way to keep a client coming back than to show them just how far they’ve come?
Above all, empowering the members of your team to build their own brand through social media comes full circle to benefit you as an owner.
When people search for your club on social media, they should see post after post of reasons why they should be working out at your club with your trainers.
As your group fitness classes fill up day after day and your trainers’ books of business grow, so does your revenue.
Getting started on social media
Your trainers and instructors are already influencing members in your club. Now it’s time to get them to influence your social media network. Some offers of encouragement…
Create a quota. Set concrete expectations staff can use as guidelines, e.g. share twice a week.
Suggest topics. Theme certain days to inspire content, such as Motivation Monday or Flex Friday.
Show support. Affirm efforts made by liking and commenting on staff posts, and even re-sharing them on your brand accounts.
This article was written by Austin Smith and published in the 2019 Summer Edition of the What’s New in Fitness Magazine.
Check out these articles:
If You Haven’t Moved To Cashless Gym Vending Machines, Now Is The Time
In 2025’s fitness landscape, the integration of cashless vending machines in gyms across Australia is gaining momentum. These machines offer a seamless blend of convenience and functionality, benefiting both gym owners and members. In the past, smaller gyms faced unique challenges when considering the installation of vending machines due to coin and banknote payment systems
An Insider’s Guide To Raising A Family While Growing A Business
Balancing the demands of parenthood with the responsibilities of running a business is no small feat. For Georgie Richard and her husband Mitch, owners of Fitstop Wollongong, it’s a daily juggle between managing their thriving gym and raising their young family. We took a peek beneath the superhero cape and asked Georgie how she and
Best Practices For Creating Video Content in 2025
Effective video content is the heart and soul of most forms of online communication in today’s fast-paced digital age. From social media to professional platforms, videos are everywhere. And the use of videos is only gaining momentum. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business owner, a fitness entrepreneur, or a content creator, it’s important to
Driving Growth in Australian Fitness Franchises By Leveraging Technology and KPIs
This article was provided by Jaffrey Ali, Chief Product Officer at FranConnect As Summer approaches, gyms across Australia are experiencing a surge in memberships. Health-conscious individuals, both new and returning, are flocking to fitness centres to prepare for the warmer months. This rising trend presents a golden opportunity for fitness franchises and multi-location gyms to
Changing Your New Mum Goal Setting Language
Your new-mum client walks into the gym. You congratulate her on her recent arrival, move through her pre-exercise questionnaire and then it’s time for goal setting! An often overlooked aspect of working with clients is helping them to reframe their view of what health and fitness means. Jen Dugard, founder of MumSafe, shares some advice
Using Instagram To Grow Your Fitness Business in 2025
In today’s day and age, Instagram is an indispensable tool for any fitness business. From personal trainers and nutritionists to fitness centres and studios alike, social media has become a powerhouse for promoting services, connecting with potential clients, and building a highly recognisable brand. Different platforms work best for different demographics and in this article,
Five Questions With Panatta Australia’s Tony Griffin
WNiF had the opportunity to catch up with Tony Griffin, Managing Director at Panatta Australia at the AusFitness Industry Trade Show and Summit recently in Sydney. Panatta had an impressive range of their industry-leading commercial fitness equipment on display and was drawing plenty of attention from facility owners keen to level up their gym floor
Is Biohacking The Next Frontier in Client Engagement?
Biohacking is so popular that there’s an entire subreddit devoted to it these days. What is it, and how can you utilise it as a fitness professional to help your clients achieve their goals? In the noisy fitness landscape, trainers are always looking for ways to stand out from the crowd, so is the rise
An Insider’s Guide To Securing Sponsorship For Athletes
Sponsorship is abundant, and it’s available to athletes of all levels from elites to beginners as well as clubs, sporting organisations, businesses and individual professionals. Now more than ever before, sponsorship is about the benefits you can give to your sponsors off the sporting field. Media, social media, social networking and brand ambassador activities are