Social Media for Personal Trainers: What works best for you?

The fact that you are reading this blog article let me conclude, that you already know how important your presence on social media is as a personal trainer. Social Media is a huge component of your online marketing strategy.

But why actually do you need an online marketing strategy? The answer is obvious because nowadays most of the people start to search for services online. For you, that means that you want to use this opportunity for you.

You’re probably wondering how to start with your online marketing strategy and what tactics are the easiest, most time-saving and most efficient. Social media is only a small part of online marketing, but for you as a personal trainer is a must!

Why you should be active on social media as a personal trainer

Because your potential clients are there. Period. 

Your mission now is to make them aware of yourself with interesting content, qualitative information and likable storytelling to build trust and give them the chance to get to know you and your abilities before they decide to reach out to you.

This strategy is called inbound marketing. You want to make sure that people find you in the expanse of the web and reach out to you instead of actively (and usually desperately) looking for clients. Social media is much more than the stupid gathering of likes and followers.

Where to start?

So far so good, now you probably don’t know where to start. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be active on every social network. To find out what the right social network is for you, you need to be clear about which audience you want to target. Are they young moms, seniors 50+ or men in their prime? Who is your ideal client? How old is he? What’s his character? What’s his profession? What are his leisure activities? What wishes and needs does he have? Use the following template to create one or more of these characters. In marketing, we call this persona.

Of course, all of that depends on your qualifications, your personality, and your preferences. Try to clarify who you really are and how you want to be perceived by the world. How do you want to position yourself in the market? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What sets you apart from other personal trainers? What are your goals? If it’s hard for you, pick up a pen and paper, write down whatever comes to your mind and then try to organize it. You can use a simple mind map or the following graphic.

 

When you’re done with your analysis, you can pat yourself on the back. Now that you have a clearer view of both you and your target audience, you’ve taken a huge step forward in your marketing strategy.

Which social media platform is now suitable for you as a personal trainer?

01. Instagram

As one of the largest social networks, Instagram is the beautiful illusory world among all of them. Especially for a fitness audience is Instagram the place to be. The fitness community on Instagram is huge, fitness influencers have thousands of followers and Instagram users often get their training inspiration from successful fitness accounts. My recommendation: Instagram is your must-have.

Instagram Demographics

• 52% of Instagram users are Females and 42% are male.
• Six in ten online adults have Instagram accounts.
• 32% of all Internet users are on Instagram.
• 31% of internet users between the ages of 18 and 24 use Instagram and 32% of internet users between the ages of 25 and 34 use Instagram.
• 72% of teens use Instagram.
• 35% of US teenagers say Instagram is their preferred social media platform.
• 63% of Americans use Instagram daily.

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/instagram-statistics/)

02. Facebook

Over the years Facebook has become a social network for elderly people, but still, with the most monthly active users. On Facebook, you have great opportunities to communicate with your existing clients as well as build a meaningful presence where potential clients can easily contact you. Facebook is an important network because a very high percentage of the population has an account and the people are very active, even if it’s always said that Facebook is dead. It is not!

Facebook Demographics

• Facebook users are 43% female and 57% male.
• Of  all the people on the internet, 83% of Women & 75% of Men use Facebook.
• 62% of online Seniors aged 65+ are on Facebook and 72% are between age 50-64.
• 88% of online users of age 18-29 are on Facebook, 84% of those 30-49.
• 82% of college graduates are on Facebook.
• 72% of online users of income more than $75K are on Facebook.

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/facebook-statistics/)

03. Twitter

Twitter is fast, twitter is up to date, twitter is political. Twitter is popular among male users, with higher incomes. This can be a great way for you, as a personal trainer, to reach potential clients who will pay you higher hourly rates. But: You have to be extremely active on twitter to grow your audience.

Twitter Demographics

• 34% of Twitter users are females and 66% are males.
• 24% of All Internet male users use Twitter, whereas 21% of All Internet Female users use Twitter.
• There are 262 million International Twitter users (users outside the US) which make up 79% of all Twitter accounts.
• Roughly 42% of Twitter users are on the platform daily.
• 37% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29, 25% users are 30-49 years old.
• 56% of Twitter users $50,000 and more in a year.
• 80% of Twitter users are affluent millennials.

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/twitter-statistics/)

04. Pinterest

Pinterest is mainly used by young women who are looking for any kind of inspiration. On Pinterest, you can find great fitness content. Pinterest content is very long-lived, which means that you don’t have to upload new content every day, like in other social networks. A great way to use Pinterest is even to create boards and curate content that others have produced. Actually, you can be active on Pinterest by just organizing other peoples‘ content.

Pinterest Demographics

• 70% of Pinterest users are actually Females.
• 40% of New Signups are Men; 60% New Signups are Women.
• Men account for only 7% of total pins on Pinterest.
• 80% of US mothers who use the internet uses Pinterest.
• Millennials use Pinterest as much as Instagram.
• The median age of a Pinterest user is 40, however, the majority of active pinners are below 40.
• Half of Pinterest users earn $50K or greater per year, with 10 percent of Pinteresting households making greater than $125K.
• 144.5 million – Number of people that pinterest reports can be reached with adverts on pinterest

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/pinterest-statistics/)

05. LinkedIn

The business network. Mostly underestimated. My recommendation: You should definitely get yourself a LinkedIn profile. Why? Because when you google your name, your LinkedIn profile is often ranked on the first page of Google, which means to you that by having a LinkedIn profile you’re basically doing SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Whether you post regularly is another matter, but when you do it’s a great opportunity to find jobs as a company fitness trainer.

Linkedin Demographics

• 90 million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers and 63 million are in decision-making positions.
• 40 million students and recent college graduates on LinkedIn.
• There are 57% of male users and 43% female users on Linkedin.
• 25% of Millenials (18-24 years old) use Linkedin.
• There are 87 million Millennials on LinkedIn with 11 million in decision-making positions.
• 28% of All Internet male users use Linkedin, whereas 27% of All Internet Female users use Linkedin.
• 49% of Linkedin users earn more than $75,000 in a year.
• 51% of US College Graduates use LinkedIn.
• 190 million workers in the US have Linkedin profiles.

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/linkedin-statistics/)

06. YouTube

Everybody uses YouTube, but not everybody produces content for YouTube. That’s the whole point. As the second-largest search engine in the world, there is enormous potential in the use of the platform for content creators. If you enjoy producing video content regularly, such as longer yoga or fitness videos that people can easily participate, it’s a great way to build trust with potential clients, especially if you offer personal training services online. But: There is a lot of work behind it. 

YouTube Demographics

• 62% of YouTube users are Males.
• 9% of small businesses are on YouTube.
• 35+ and 55+ age groupsare the fastest growing YouTube demographics.
• Millennials prefer YouTube two to one over traditional television.
• 51% of YouTube users say they visit the site daily.
• YouTube services are available in 91 countries in 80 languages(or 95% of all internet users).
• 95% of global internet population watches YouTube.
• There 50 million creators on YouTube.

(Source: https://www.omnicoreagency.com/youtube-statistics/)

Now pick 1-2 social networks

To get started, find 1-2 platforms that accurately reflect your target audience and maintain posting to these channels of communication regularly. Once you got this up and running you can consider to post content to more social networks. Read our blog article about why you should schedule your content.

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