When I talk to people about marketing a personal training business, I get a lot of nuts-and-bolts questions about where to market, how many posts to put on Facebook, how to get more followers and so on. Those nuts and bolts questions are important, but the principles of effective marketing come first and you have to have them firmly in your mind before you do any of the nuts and bolts.

Here are what I consider to be the four most important things to keep in mind in order to create your marketing plan and then maximize its potential.

You are selling outcomes, not products

At least nine out of ten personal trainers in your area are competing on price and features (like the latest fitness fads or on-site child care) and their marketing reflects that. YOU need to be in the business of selling outcomes and your marketing should reflect that.

When you focus your marketing on what you can help your clients achieve (and what you are helping your current clients achieve), you take yourself out of all of that competition and set yourself apart. People like on-site child care and they like knowing that the latest fitness fad is available and they’re willing to pay rock-bottom prices for it when rock-bottom prices are offered.

But you’re offering results and people are willing to pay much more for those. So focus on what you and only you can deliver to your clients and then use plenty of social proof in your marketing.

Low-barrier offers are for generating leads, not for generating income

This is sort of in the same vein as my first point. Too many people get into the pricing competition by throwing all kinds of low-barrier offers out there and trying to make a living from them.

First of all, low-barrier offers alone will not sustain your business. Second, low-barrier offers were never intended to be the source of your income anyway. They are simply a loss-leader; a way to get prospects in the door so that you can build trust and credibility, give the prospect the results they’re looking for and then sell them a long-term membership. Don’t just keep throwing 14-day, $97 offers out there one after the other. Put one out and then work your butt off converting 80-90% of those people into long-term clients.

Two or six weeks with your prospects is plenty of time to show them that you are the best personal trainer for them, that you are the one who will help them reach their goals and that you’re worth every penny of your regular rates. When you build this relationship with your low-barrier customers, selling them high-ticket, annual contracts is easier than you think.

All marketing is meant to be a sales funnel and without that funnel, it’s a waste of time and money.

What good is having a ton of people like your Facebook page if none of your Facebook followers are paying clients?

All marketing, whether it’s on Facebook, Groupon or some other venue, is meant to funnel prospects to you so that you can then get them to know you, like you, trust you and BUY from you. But this funnel doesn’t happen on its own. You have to create it.

You need to have opt-ins on your Facebook and on your website that motivate people to sign up for your emails so that you can start building that relationship. Your emails need have value to the prospect and periodically make them a great offer so that they are funneled from your list to your facility.

Think of marketing as the steps down into the subway station. Once you get people to go down those stairs, you have to have trains that will take them somewhere. Otherwise, you just have crowds of people hanging around on a platform (like Facebook!).

All marketing should build your reputation as the fitness authority in your area.

It’s not enough for people to know your name or the name of your boot camp. They need to associate that name with true expert status. Experts turn customers away because they can’t train everybody. Experts command better rates because they’re known as specialists and authorities in their field.

You establish yourself as the area expert by giving. Share great, usable information with your email subscribers. Create and give away informative, effective fitness info products. Post social proofs and helpful advice on Facebook.

Every bit of your marketing should build your reputation as a local expert and every bit of your reputation will help build your success.

Yes, the nuts and bolts are important. Which types of Facebook posts work best? Which subject lines get the best open rates? Which low-barrier offers get the best results at which times of year?

But all of these things are based on the principles of personal trainer marketing and they’re only effective if you keep those principles in mind.

This entry was posted on November 6, 2014 at 1:37 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Boot Camp Marketing, Fitness Marketing, Personal Training Business by Steve Hochman | No Comments Yet