5 useful social media platforms for health and fitness professionals
With the increasing importance of social media and online customer satisfaction, creating a positive profile of your service as a health and fitness instructor is useful. Quality social media posts can boost your reputation and help your business grow.
Attracting new customers can cost up to six times more than marketing to existing customers, and since social media is free to use it’s a great way to increase your client base as well as nurture relationships with existing trainees.
Once you have completed gym instructor courses it is important to establish yourself as an excellent and qualified trainer. One of the best strategies for this is to network using social media.
According to research conducted by Google’s Consumer Barometer, which studies internet usage globally, 84 per cent of Australians use the internet frequently and 68 per cent actively use social media. It would be a shame not to profit by reaching these mass audiences, even if using social media is new to you.
Here are five social media platforms you can make the most of:
This photo sharing app is fast becoming an asset for businesses. Create an account for your business, and cleverly use relevant trending hashtags such as #fitspo or #fitspiration.
Instagram is an ideal place to share photos of yourself at the gym or in the middle of training some of your clients. Such personalised story telling through photos will help your clients see you as a friendly and approachable trainer.
A lot of Instagram users are food bloggers who photograph their meals and edit the picture using artistic filters. A great way to gain followers on this platform is by doing the same. You can post photos of your own nutritious meals, including drinks such as smoothies and pre-workout supplements.
The best way to gain recognition for these images is by using hashtags for each ingredient used, such as #banana #spinach #apple #smoothie or #acaibowl. Some hashtags are particularly useful as they get a lot of traction, such as #cleaneating #foodie #greensmoothie and #foodstagram.
This is better suited for short messages to your clients. You can use it to build networks with clients by tweeting at them to congratulate them for a job well done during that day’s training session. You can also share links to nutritional recipes in your twitter posts.
For maximum impact, sync your Instagram and Twitter accounts so posts are instantly shared on both platforms, especially when you are using hashtags.
A friendly yet professional Facebook page set up for your business is an effective way to gain publicity. Counting ‘likes’ is a good indication of your reach.
Facebook has useful features such as allowing clients to review your service by giving it star ratings and comments. Potential customers can see this positive feedback and contact you, whereas existing clients can cement their loyalty.
The most professional of these platforms, use this strategically to highlight your qualifications and list the different fitness courses you have studied. You can solidify your reputation by including various personal fitness goals and how you achieved them.
Think of LinkedIn as an online curriculum vitae of your fitness achievements. Chances are, clients will research who you are online before contacting you for a training session so make LinkedIn an authoritative source about your talents.
Essentially a digital pinboard, this allows you to pin recipes and photos of healthy food for your clients. Creating a good Pinterest board will provide your clients with a one-stop-shop for healthy eating advice. They will be thanking you after every meal for your careful selection and recommendations!
Use these tips to help increase your chances of employment in this excellent and rewarding career.
Posted On 17/03/15
