Social media is a great way to promote your personal brand and personal training business. However, there is almost a science in using these platforms properly in order to gain the right type of followers and continue to grow your business.
Below are a few tips on how you can use Instagram to help build your online training business and gain a larger online following:
1. Find your voice and use the right tools to express it
The first thing you have to do before posting on Instagram is finding your style. This is usually a quick thought on what type of information would you post, what represents you, what tips / advice or beautiful images you can share with your clients to get them to be beneficial for your fitness business. Achieving appealing content starts with the idea, but after that, you’ll have to put it in place. That’s why you’ll need also need some photo apps to help you get better at Instagram. Check out this great read on finding your Instagram style and using the right photo editing apps to tell your story.
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2. Post before and after pictures or screen shots
The reason most people follow fitness professionals on Instagram is for motivation and to learn new recipes and workout ideas, not to be sold a bunch of e-books, training packages, and supplements. Secretly selling your services is actually the trick here: posting before and after pictures of online training clients and screen shots of text messages you receive from online clients about their awesome workouts, or how great they are feeling thanks to your online training. Posting pictures like these, with a motivating caption about how this person is on the other side of the world, but still benefiting from your training and that anyone can do the same, will definitely intrigue your followers and get them to your website without having to tell them to directly.
3. Use Hashtags
Hashtags are how people will find your profile on Instagram, so using a few hashtags with each post will help people find you online. You have to be moderate though, and try not to blast each post with a whole bunch of hashtags, because this might look like you are trying to hard. A good idea is to do a search online of the most popular hashtags for fitness and personal training, type a few of them into the notepad on your phone, and simply copy and paste this list into the comments part of each of your posts. You could also come up with a personal hashtag that describes your business or your workouts and with which people can associate with, such as #MichelleTrains or #FitForSummer, etc.
4. Provide your followers with quality information so they want to follow you
The key to building followers on any social media platform is to give people quality information and motivation they are looking for. You want to post pictures that are relevant to your business that people will want to share with friends and family, this is how you grow your following and keep people coming back to your page. Every once and a while you can post something that you are selling, such as an online training deal with a link to your website; however, do this wisely so people don’t feel like you are only on Instagram as a sales person not a fitness professional.
5. Connect your Instagram account to your other social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, or blog )
Assuming that someone who follows you on social media sees every post, is wrong. Because of the expansion of the amount of friends and brands people follow, you posts might not be reaching all your followers and possible clients. By connecting your Instagram account to your Facebook or Twitter, you will immediately reach more people. This also applies if someone re-tweets or shares your post, you may get even more Instagram followers, growing your potential client base.
What not to do:
Don’t be constantly selling your training in every post as people will get annoyed and unfollow you quickly.
Try to fight the urge to post random pictures of your personal lives for your friends. A few pictures are ok, so that followers can see you are a normal person and have a life outside the gym. However, if you want to post more pictures for your friends and family create a second personal account separate from your business account. Remember, people are following you for your fitness motivation and information, not to see your weekend adventures and baby pictures.