A lot has changed since the days of picking up a few extra clients a month by hanging your business card or flyer up at the gym. Member referrals, word of mouth, and maybe a little bit of traditional advertising helped keep your personal training business booked with clients. Those methods still work, and referrals that come your way from clients you’ve helped achieve health and fitness goals are still the best source of business.
But there’s at least one other way to get your name out there as a personal trainer that can transform your business, build trust and authority, garner a massive following, and help more people build muscle, lose weight, stay in shape, and achieve their goals. Harness the power of social media to grow your personal training business, and you have the potential to reach millions of people.
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Check out these top 5 social media platforms for personal trainers, and apply them to your personal training business:
1. YouTube
Maybe YouTube used to the the go-to place to watch funny cat videos or get how-to instructions on a home improvement project, but it’s become a powerhouse for building your personal training brand. YouTube now has over 1 billion active users, and many people are looking for help on fitness-related topics. For example, a basic search for “fitness” generates 29 million results.
So what are personal trainers like Chris Jones (a YouTuber with 738K followers) posting videos of on YouTube? Exercise demonstrations, workout videos, nutrition advice, fitness success stories, and even personal riffs on bodybuilding and the fitness industry.
Start posting your own videos (they don’t have to be long, 1-5 minutes), about health and fitness topics, and you can reach more people than you ever thought possible.
2. Pinterest
If you thought Pinterest was just a place to get ideas for do-it-yourself projects or swap recipe ideas, it’s time to give this social media platform another try. You’ll find 100 million active monthly users on Pinterest, and many of them are hungry for health and fitness advice.
Health and fitness pro Natalie Jill has an estimated 70,000-plus followers, and serves up workout plans, nutrition advice, and encouragement to help people get in shape and stay in shape.
To make the most of Pinterest, you’ll need to combine your health and fitness knowledge with graphic design to create “pinnable” posts people will share on this platform. But don’t worry, you can create your own pinnable designs for free at Canva.com, or hire a graphic designer on Fiverr.com to create appealing pins for you. Then you’ll be ready to pin, post, and follow others on this platform to reach more people.
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3. Instagram
Here’s another way to turn fitness photos and videos, gym-selfies, and your personal training advice into lead-generating success for your business. Tap into the power of Instagram to engage its more than 600 million active users with images and video.
Personal trainer, CrossFit competitor, and bodybuilder Natalie Newhart shares her journey to compete in the Ms. Olympia bodybuilding competition on Instagram. And more than 16,500 users are tuned in to see what happens. Newhart also uses Instagram to share photos and videos about proper lifting techniques, exercise demonstrations, training strategies, and nutrition advice.
Want to get on Instagram to build your personal training business? It’s easy. Take a picture or short video of your next workout and explain the “why” for your approach to training. Like and comment on other posts, and add fresh content to your own Instagram account regularly to build a following.
4. Facebook
It’s by far the most popular social media platform out there with more than 1 billion regular users. And you can tap into this rich resource for personal training leads by posting regularly about health and fitness, creating a Facebook group, and even leveraging Facebook’s advertising platform to generate leads based on your marketing budget.
In just a short amount of time, personal trainer and transformation specialist Ryan Spiteri has attracted 319,000 followers, and built a highly successful business training people online, and in the gym. You’ll find exercise demonstrations, client success stories, fitness motivation, and even some good humor and best-of-fitness videos from the Internet on his Facebook page.
And it’s a model you can replicate to grow your own personal training business. Start by creating a Facebook page for your personal training business. Reach out to people in your network and invite them to like and share. And be sure to like, follow, and share comments and posts from others on this platform to expand your reach.
5. Twitter
Ever wonder why political leaders and celebrities talk about Twitter a lot? It’s another social media platform with a massive following of 974 million people. And in 142 characters (amount of text you can include per post aka “tweet”), you can reach a lot of people.
Personal trainer and founder of the Lift Like a Girl movement, Nia Shanks, actively uses Twitter to build her brand, connect with personal training clients and prospects, and share her philosophy on health, fitness, nutrition, and workout motivation.
How does it work? Like most other social media platforms. Create a Twitter account. Connect with others by liking and following their Twitter accounts and tweets. And share your own tips, tricks, advice, and strategies to help people build muscle, lose weight, get lean, train for an event, or simply improve their overall health.
Want to grow your business and tap into a massive audience of potential clients? Start utilizing social media for your brand and business. Pick at least one of these platforms and get started. Looking for more information about how to build a successful personal training business? Check out this blog post on building a personal training business.
