The fitness industry is huge, rapidly growing and constantly changing with plenty of personal trainers competing for clients and trying to carve out their business identities. It’s no surprise then, that—being in the midst of such a fast-paced industry—it can be difficult to differentiate your business and your skill as a personal trainer from the rest.
While the industry at-large might feel like it’s bursting at the seams with fitness professionals, it’s important to remember that every trainer has their own strengths, expertise, and interests, and when you start to consider these defining characteristics you can divide the industry into smaller chunks and suddenly it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
These “chunks” are what’s known in the corporate marketing world as “niches” and every business falls into at least one. Knowing what your niche is and leveraging this smaller subset of the fitness industry can have a huge impact on the growth and success of your business, so let’s take a look at how to identify your business’ niche and then how you can use some of Trainerize’s features to build programming for your new, focused market.
Step 1: Research Market Trends
Each and every year there are new trends in the field of fitness and exercise. If you aren’t taking advantage of these trends you could be dooming your products to fail. Unfortunately, even if you’ve created an effective workout program, you’ll still need to follow trends to boost visibility and interest in your product.
Take the time to research your local market and the international fitness market as a whole. In the 1980’s jazzercise and aerobic fitness were king. During the 90’s dance, tae-bo, and Zumba reigned supreme. In the 2000’s we saw the rise of fitness gadgets, fitness games, and home-workout DVDs. Current trends include Crossfit, HIIT, Bodyweight Training, Barre, Pole Fitness, and anything related Booty-building.
Whatever direction you choose to go, remember that you must go above and beyond products currently available on the fitness market if you want to be successful.
Step 2: Pinpoint Your Niche
After you’ve identified a trend you’d like to leverage and selected the type of fitness product you’d like to make, it’s time to hone in on your niche. You do this by determining exactly who, when, where, and why people will purchase your product. You’ll want to ask yourself questions such as:
- Who specifically will this product benefit? (Age, Sex, Activity level, Main Concern, etc.)
- Why should someone purchase this product and why now? (Is this product going to help someone get in shape for a certain time/event? What reason should they have not to hesitate and start right away?)
- What group of people will this product benefit most and who do you plan to market to? (Your local area? Worldwide? A certain group?)
- Why should someone purchase this product? (Is it different from other existing products? what makes this product unique, effective, or stand out from the crowd?)
Take the time to really think about these questions and answers so that they’re fresh in your mind when it comes to creating and marketing your program. It’s these responses and the hyper-focused target market that they point to that defines your niche.
Once you’ve found it, stick to it!
You’ve found your niche, now build your brand.
Step 3: Research the Competition
Now it’s time to find others who are already doing what you’re doing—or at least something similar! Ask yourself questions like:
- Who is currently selling a fitness product in my niche?
- What does their product consist of?
- What techniques are they using to sell it?
- What is working for them?
- What could be improved upon in their program and/or what do I think that I could do better?
Do your research and learn from your competitors’ mistakes. Build your strategy based on the proven success of others. Remember to respect intellectual copyright and to maintain the integrity of your product as unique and individual.
You need to have a clear understanding of competitors in your niche to be able to properly build and market your own product. If you don’t know what’s out there, you don’t know what you’re stacked up against and risk either underdelivering or replicating something that’s already being done.
Failing to do proper research can truly be the deciding factor in whether or not your product is successful.
Step 4: Create Your Plan in Trainerize
Now you’re down to the easy part! Once you’ve got a solid idea of what your program will include you can start building it.
Lucky for all of us, Trainerize recently released a brand new Programs feature that allows trainers to easily create periodized training programs and sell them as full-fledged interactive fitness products.
Gone are the days of neverending planning and program building for your clients, spending countless hours every week updating their plans and scheduling their workouts. With Programs, I’m able to deliver training faster than ever and periodize my training to create long-term fitness journeys. (If you aren’t using this feature yet, you could be missing out on growing your business!)
To provide a more personal touch and truly hone in on your niche, It’s highly recommended to take the time to build unique content that will set you apart from your competitors. you can do this in many ways, but one of the easiest is by adding small touches like a recorded intro video for your program or making sure to use only personalized exercise videos.
These small things really can go a long way!
Step 5: Market Your Product
You’ve done your research, you’ve identified your niche, and you’ve built a product that will blow your competition out of the water. Now get the word out about your awesome fitness product!
You’ve got a plethora of options to reach your niche audience and sell your product, from social media to Google. No matter which route you take one thing should always be included: an official product/program launch!
Make sure to build excitement leading up to your official launch, and to carefully schedule out your marketing tactics and campaigns so you can maximize your reach and impact.
Some Helpful Tips
See? Finding your niche isn’t that hard. If you’re looking for a way to gain traction in the market, follow the five steps above and you’re sure to create a stand-out fitness product. Here are some final helpful tips to help you leverage your newfound niche:
- Building a competition or challenge around your product can help build a sense of community.
- A slick video goes a long way in introducing your product or program.
- Discounts for first-time clients can help entice individuals who may be on-the-fence about starting a workout program.
- Building an email list that includes your targeted audience is key.