Lift The Bar

Getting clients is often an area that personal trainers are prone to overthink and stress over but it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

If you have your own gym and need 50+ clients to run it, there’s a good chance you will need to use paid marketing methods. However, for most of us working on our own, we don’t need many clients to reach a position where we are satisfied with our client numbers and earning a reasonable income. Once we achieve this, we can maintain it by consistently generating a steady trickly of leads to replace clients who move on. 

The key elements of any successful marketing campaign are:

1. Appealing to the right people – you need to use the language, images and results that appeal to the people you want to train. It can be easy to fall into the habit of using technical language and sharing things with other trainers in mind but for most of us it's not other trainers who we are looking to work with.  
2. Showing you help people get the results they want – Don’t dismiss things because they aren’t easily quantifiable. Results can be anything that is meaningful for your audience. Often they are things that impact outside of the gym in their everyday lives.  Providing proof that what you provide works, and can help the people you are aiming for get the results they want, is a vital part of attracting people to your service.  
3. Showing that you work with others “like them” – I’m not a fan of saying “I work with people like you” directly as that makes a huge assumption that you know something about the person reading when there’s a good chance you don’t. However, by highlighting the people you work with and describing their circumstances, goals, barriers and achievements, you provide the information that allows your audience to relate to those you already work with and draw their own comparisons for how it could work for them.  
4. Using Social Proof.  Using your client's words to show how they feel about working with you is a fantastic way of showcasing what you do.  In a lot of cases it's also more persuasive than if we say the same thing as the business owner / personal trainer / person trying to make the sale.  By the very nature of our position and what we do for a living we have barriers to overcome to show we truely understand what it is like for our audience.  Demonstrating that others "like them" (with the same issues, concerns, goals and lifestyle) love what we do, and enjoy the benefits of working with us, by sharing testimonials or client quotes goes a long way to helping people make a decision to work with you.
5. Providing the key pieces of information to allow people to make an initial decision that it might be right for them – for the most part we want to know when, where, and how much before we commit to anything.  Some aspects will be more flexible than others but your marketing is a great opportunity to set expectations and not including key pieces of information wastes that.
6. Include information on what to do to take the next step – don't forget to add your call to action, it's important!

 

If you use Social Media then a lot of these things can be covered by a combination of posts celebrating existing clients, highlighting client quotes and testimonials and a more traditional advert including information on what you offer and how people can access it. 

The pictures (or videos) you use should be of your clients looking happy, or, if that isn't possible, then happy people who are representitive of the people you work with and those you are trying to attract.  

Marketing Methods 

There are lots of different ways to get your messages out into the world and in front of the people you are aiming for. You don't have to use all of them but you should have at least 1 method of letting people know you exist, what you do, who you work with and what they get out of it. Here are some suggestions: 

 

Free Methods

1. Local Facebook groups

Facebook groups come in all shapes and sizes so you’ll need to research what’s available in your local area (asking existing clients what groups they use for local info can be a quick easy way to narrow the selection).  

Then find out what the rules are on advertising in the group.  You’ll often find the good groups have limitations on when or how much you can post so learn the rules and follow them.  

Mix up your posts – don’t feel you have to follow the same formula as everyone else.  Use posts highlighting individual clients, provide useful information, share blogs or videos if you do them AND create “adverts” – posts that give people information about what you do and how they can sign up for it.

 Ask clients, friends and family to interact with the posts if they see them and to recommend you if they see any questions in any local groups where your services are relevant.

 

2. Ask for referrals

Tell family, friends and clients you have spaces and ask if they know anyone who might be interested in your service.  It’s easy to assume people will automatically suggest you to friends and family but your business is not their priority and they may not even think about it amongst the other things they have going on.  By asking if they know anyone who might be interested you cause them to pause and think and the results can be surprising.

You can incentivise or reward referrals if you want to but that doesn't change the fact that the key element is asking people!

 

3. Google Business

If you have a fixed location then setting up a google business page can be an effective option to get you showing up in results if people are looking for a personal trainer in your area.  

You should complete all the information when you set it up and then continue to regularly post / request reviews on it / add pictures and generally update the page so that Google knows it’s still active. 

4. Events*

Running workshops or seminars on topics that interest your target audience can be a good way of attracting people.  You can then use the event to ensure people know more about you, your approach, your knowledge and how they can work with you.

Ensure you have the right data protection processes in place and collect email addresses to send follow up information to and potentially a mix of helpful and marketing related communications going forwards.

Charity events can be particularly effective and may make it easier to interest local media in your event,  especially if you partner with a popular local charity or can get support from the charity for the marketing.  

* you still need to attract people to the events so you would need the other marketing suggestions to get people to attend.

5. Connecting with other local businesses

This is a longer term strategy but well worth it alongside other method(s) that can bring people into your business in the short term.  

If you already have any relationships with local businesses that your target audience also use then it makes sense to start with those and can fast track the process a little more than if you are starting from scratch.  

Depending on the business you are partnering with there are a number of different ways you can work together including:

• Using their venue for an event.
• Offering your venue for an event for them.
• Chatting on a FB live or podcast about their area of expertise and how it can help your clients and / or about your area of expertise and how it can help their clients then sharing the links to email lists, existing clients and social media platforms of both people.
• Training the owner and / or staff of the business - this means they can talk about how great you are from personal experience. This is most effective with businesses where the people have the opportunity to chat with their clients.
• "stamp cards" with benefits from the other business as a reward for completion.
• Using vouchers for the other business as gifts or prizes within your business
• Contribute to a newsletter / local media 

6. Other local communication hubs 

Use your local knowledge, or that of your clients, to identify the local channels of communication / relevant channels of communication for your specific demographic.  Where do people find out about what is going on locally?  This may be local Facebook groups, newsletters, noticeboards, communications from local venues, community groups or more. When you know what the communication routes are then you can work out how to become part of it.  

Generally getting out and about and chatting to people in the local area is also great.  The more people who know about you and your business and know you are a nice, friendly person, the more people there are who can tell others about you.

Paid Methods

1. Social media advertising

The most obvious paid method of advertising is to use social media platforms and pay to place your advert on the timelines of your target audience.  

Take into account the items mentioned at the beginning of this article and make sure your content is relevant and appealing to the people you are aiming for and think about the imagery and headlines you use as this is what is going to grab attention and stop the person scrolling.  The rest of the copy needs to keep the person reading and get them to take the action you want them to take.  

There isn't a magic formula to this and there is some trade off between methods that can get you high views, clicks and even enquiries and sign ups in the short term and those that bring in the right people for you who stay longer term so don't get caught up in anybody's claims they have a particular method everyone should follow.

2. Flyers / Posters / Banners / Signage

If possible have signage up in the vicinity of where you are working with people.  This can be temporary signage for the times you are there, or a special event, or permanent signage on the building you work out of.

Ideally you want your signage to be in a visable, high traffic area.  It should be eye catching, have enough information to attract attention and raise interest and provide a way of finding out more (QR code / contact details / website).

Make sure you have permission if it's not your property and that your signage isn't blocking access anywhere or causing a hazard.

3. Local publications

The readership of local publications can vary so use local knowledge / knowledge of your existing clients' behaviour to help decide if it is worthwhile for you to advertise in it.  

Assuming you decide it is a good way to get in front of  your target audience use the same approach as you would for any other visual based advert.  Smiling images of clients, key logistical information, highlight the benefits of working with you and include a call to action.

It may also be possible to partner with a local publication and do a regular health feature or similar if you like writing or, in some cases, a video for their online presence.

4. Branded goods

Wearing branded clothing, branding your car, using branded mugs, water bottles, laptops, or anything else that is visible, in public spaces can help raise awareness of your existance.  Of course you also need to be aware of what you are doing while you are easiliy identifiable e.g. if your driving could sometimes be described as questionable you may not want to include branding on your car.  

You can also make branded products available to clients as gifts, incentives or to purchase. The key thing is that the products are things the clients want to use so that they are out and about and showing people your brand.

Commercial Gym Methods

The principles of marketing in a commercial gym are the same as for anyone else and many of the suggestions above will also apply however they do offer a few additional opportunities. The key difference is that you have a building full of members who have already decided to work on their fitness in that location so you don't have to start by convincing people to move from the sofa or come to your location.

1. Talk to people

The best way to get people to know you exist is to chat with them. Start with a smile or hello, build up to asking their name and general chit chat, make a positive observation about their training, ask if they are training for anything in particular, remember things about them when you see them next (make a note in your phone if you don't remember the information from your chats), generally build a relationship.

Keep an eye out for people who seem unsure what they are doing, watch out for the people using difficult to adjust machines and offer assistance, offer alternatives to people who are unable to access a particular piece of equipment during busier times.

Unsolicited advice may not be well received so when it comes to offering help or advice start by asking if they would mind if you made a suggestion or offered an alternative method.  Be aware of the language you use and avoid making anyone feel stupid.  Offer alternatives or tweaks to how an exercise feels rather than corrections.

If something relating to what you do comes up in conversation then offer to send people a "helpful article" or additional information on the topic.  Alternatively print it off and hand it to them when you see them. 

Handouts can be another useful way of initiating conversation (If you are an LTB member don't forget we have a number of handout templates you can edit for your business or use as inspiration).

Don't be afraid to remind people of free services the gym offers where applicable, get people booked in (with you if possible) for inductions, programme reviews or other services where appropriate. 

When appropriate let them know what you do.  Options like saying you have space if they know anyone who might be interested in personal training are good because they avoid putting the individual in an uncomfortable position by asking them directly if they want to train with you which makes it less likely they'll avoid you in future. 

The best times to hang out and chat to people in the gym will be the times you would like to train people as if they are in the space anyway it means that they are more likely to be available at that time in future.

2. Run competitions 

Running competitions can give you a handy excuse to chat to people as well as to collect contact details and are particularly useful when you are looking for a significant number of clients, maybe when you are starting out, have moved into a new gym, are changing from doing shifts to paying rent or have had a life shift that has freed up more time for you to train people. 

The competition itself doesn't need to be anything complicated e.g. it could be a "guess the number of calories", "guess the number of x in a jar" type thing, an "answer a question" entry or something that requires a certain amount of physical effort like do x squats or row x distance.  Make sure you follow appropriate rules if advertising on social media, data protection laws and competition laws as appropriate.

3. Tell people what you do

Don't assume people know what you do.  Unless someone has worked with a personal trainer before or knows someone who has then there's a good chance they may not be aware of how we can support them or why it may be relevant to them and their goals.  (This is something I learnt the hard way when someone who had been attending my class regularly for years mentioned they had started working with a PT and were then surprised when I mentioned that I was also a PT). 

Whether it's conversation in the gym or during the cool down of a class you teach it's important to let people know what you do and how you can help them.  Come up with a few simple sentences you can use to let people know and mix up when and how you use them.  

Handouts can be useful, bonus points if they relate to the class you teach too, letting people know you have spaces and mentioning things that your clients have found useful in similar situations are some of the ways you can drop the information into conversation.  Spend some time coming up with some more that are specific and relevant to what you do.

4. Specialise on your profile board

Make your profile about your ideal client and how you help them.  Don't be afraid to be specific in who you are talking to (as long as they are within the gym demographic).  You'll stand out more, and attract more clients generally, by being clear on who you work with than you will blending in with the crowd of trainers who say they help everyone do anything.

5. Offer technique sessions / "Ask me a question" times / Ad hoc activities on the gym floor

Raise your profile and give people a reason to come to you by running planned and ad hoc activities.  These can be based around a particular piece of kit, a particular part of a session, a particular movement or body part or anything that will appeal to the type of person you want to work with.

6. Make friends with other people who work in the building

Receptionists, beauty therapists, cafe staff, cleaners, anyone who is in the building will potentially have conversations with the members and, because it is a gym, there's a good chance the conversations will be about fitness related goals.  By being friendly with everyone you increase the chances that your name will come up as part of any solution offered.

7. Be present, helpful and approachable

There's no point in hiding yourself away, avoiding eye contact or generally making it difficult for people to connect with you. You want to be the "go to" person in the gym and to do that you want people to come to you when they are having issues. Be friendly and open to conversation!

8. Explore options within your gym space

Every gym is different so it's always worth exploring what is possible in the gym you work with.  Can you put up posters? Hand out flyers? Run ad hoc sessions? Provide content to be sent to the gym email list? Create content for the gym social media channels? Contribute to member groups?  Wear branded clothing? Do stamp cards for people who attend your classes? Be creative.

9. Be present and engaged with your clients when coaching them

When you are training people in a public space every session is an advert and how you interact with your clients, their reactions to training and the methods you use will all be on display.  

Final Words

There are no set things you "should" do and no magic secret methods to millions.  There are short term methods of getting a large number of leads which are often built on emotional responses, unrealistic promises, quick fixes or unsustainable pricing and rarely result in the long term clients you want in your business. 

There is a large cumulative impact to marketing and it is common for people to feel that they are doing a lot and not getting much back at the start of their journey and then wonder where people are coming from later on when they are more established and doing less lead generating activities.  The key thing is to keep going.  

The only guarantee is that if people don't know about you they can't buy from you so, if you need more clients then focus on ensuring you are doing as many things as possible to let people know who you are, what you do, how you can help them, how you help others like them and what they think about it and how they can work with you.  

Offers can also be an option for attracting people into your service but you'll have to wait for the next blog for more on offers and fixed term programmes. 😁

In the meantime LTB Members can drop me an email with any questions they have or access more resources related to marketing (such as the Marketing Checklists) in the resource dashboard. (If you are new to LTB, check out the 2 week free trial to get support or find out what's available)