Exercise and fitness is a lucrative industry in which to forge a career. Many Brits are concerned about their fitness or appearance but lack the expert knowledge to approach proper exercise themselves. This, to some extent, explains the rising number of personal trainers (PTs) in the UK, as supply rises to reach demand.
If you know your way around a set of dumbbells, you may be considering a PT business yourself. The market is ripe for it, but there is one key obstacle to starting your career – marketing. How can you effectively grow your new PT business from the ground up?
Quality, Not Quantity
Firstly, it is important to understand the best route to profitability and longevity for your business. While a high volume of clients and customers might seem to be a good metric for success, it could also be your downfall at the start of your PT career.
In taking on a high quantity of clients, the quality of your work might suffer – either through overexerting yourself through sessions or finding yourself preoccupied with managing appointments over developing client plans and regimes.
Aiming for quantity is almost an unavoidable pitfall for new PTs, especially since they struggle to justify offering their services at the same price point as well-established local competitors.
Still, your strength is in the quality of your service – so lean into that. After all, If you create custom exercises instead of offering the same generic routine to clients, for example, your services will be worth a lot more anyway.
Set yourself a maximum client limit, and let scarcity be part of the equation. The better your clients review your services – and the harder you are to nail down – the more in demand you will be.
Offline Marketing
With that explained, it’s time to look at some of the ways in which you can start to market yourself as a PT.
When building your career from scratch, finding organic consumer interest is difficult whatever the industry. As a PT, though, you’ll have a unique head-start, in the form of your local gym.
Wherever you spend your time working out, you will naturally meet people. Through networking, you can offer your services and begin a portfolio.
Your body is probably your best marketing asset here, being proof of your methods. But you can’t be at the gym all the time.
Designing and printing some flyers to advertise your brand and services allows you to leave advertisements in your local, as well as in other gyms near you. You can expand brand awareness and give gym-goers a nudge into getting in touch.
Online Marketing
The importance of your digital footprint cannot be overstated, either. In creating and managing social media accounts for your PT services, you can publish all manner of online content to support your practice.
Simple tutorials on lifting techniques or the ‘perfect plank’ can help you reach wider audiences while advertising the efficacy of your work.
Alongside social media, you should ensure you have a web presence in the form of a website. Treat this as your digital portfolio, with testimonials and picture proof of your results alongside social media and contact information.