As a personal trainer, it’s important to always be marketing to your audience. No matter how many clients you already have on your books, you always want to have a full prospect list to dive into when needed. To do so, you need to consistently build to that list. Here are nine super-effective strategies, tested and proven by yours truly. Increase your client sales, increase client retention, and become the go-to person when your prospect is ready to make a change in their physical health.

I’m going to break this into three categories and three strategies to market to each different client status: past clients, current clients, and future clients (your leads!). If you implement at least two of these strategies, your sales will increase, guaranteed!

Marketing to former clients

Now, this one will always work in your favor, if you were a good trainer. These clients already know you and trust you but might have gotten side-tracked with other things in life. You know they are not keeping up with their healthy lifestyle because you are not there to help them! Here are three ways to get them back in your books

Send handwritten cards

This one works so well. They know that you still think of them, and that you took the time to write to them. The card can be a simple “How are you, how is the family?” message. This personal touch goes a long way, and you could even put a little discount code as added incentive.

Send them a DM on your social media platform

This has worked so many times for me! I send a message saying “I was thinking about you the other day and…..” Keep this conversation open-ended and ask them how they’re doing. 75% of the time they will say “Man, I’ve really started packing on the weight after we stopped training.” Hook, line, and sinker… you’ve got them right back where you started without having to send them through a sales funnel. This is the time you invite them back into their routine. Many times these people are just waiting for you to reach out to them.

Send a special offer through email

A simple email saying “Hey Karen, I know it’s been awhile but thought you’d like to know about my 10% off special I’m running this month!” Continue the email from there with some personalized details, mentioning their old problems about weight loss or nutritional habits and how you’d like to help them. Most likely they will still have the same problems which need to be worked on by you!

Marketing to current clients

You might be asking yourself, “How do I market to current clients if they’re already my clients?” Let me show you! It’s a lot easier than it sounds. Again, these people already know you and trust you, the hard work is done, and now you’re giving them more value!

Upsell your services

Some clients, not all, started your services with a lower end package or maybe didn’t purchase all the bells and whistles up front. Now that you have them as your client and they know the value you provide, it’s time you market to them by upselling those bells and whistles!
Here’s an example. Karen purchased a training package but didn’t purchase the nutrition package because she thought she had that aspect of her health under control.

Now, Karen has been training but hasn’t been aligning her nutritional habits with her new training plan. This is your time to address the situation and say “Hey Karen, I know you’ve been doing great with the workouts but I really believe that if we include the nutritional aspect of this program, we can boost your results even faster.” More than likely she will agree, because she already knows you, is already doing the hard work, and wants to see results faster.

Plan for the future with a re-up sale

One or two weeks before your client’s training package is up, be sure to discuss their program with them. Instead of waiting until the end of their package, make sure you are giving them options before that last training session. Your client already sees the transformation and more than likely wants to continue. Remind your clients that if they continue training, the results will also continue. Market to your clients through email reminders and in person conversations. The more prepared they are in knowing their options, the more prepared they will be to make another purchase. And again, because they know you and see the value you provide, they might even be happy to choose a more comprehensive package.

Keep them in your prospect email list

If you’re sending automated emails, make sure you include your current clients when appropriate. For instance, if you’re having a weekend flash sale, make sure to include your current clients here as well. This one works wonders for me and I’ll show you how.
Even if a client has just begun training with you, they’ll see that weekend sale email and says to themselves “Well I already planned on continuing training, but now I’m just going to purchase that package now with the discount.” Make sure you clearly state that current clients can use this offer as well.

Marketing to future clients

These ones as you know, are your hardest population to reach. They haven’t trained with you, so they may not totally know the value of what you offer, or why they should train with you in the first place. You have to learn how to get in front of them and start building that trust and connection so they will smoothly run through your sales funnel (which I like to call my trust funnel!).

Incentivize leads to subscribe to your newsletter

I know you already have people looking at your social media platforms who aren’t your current clients but still see what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis. They like your posts and comment but still have yet to make the transaction. At least once a week, make sure to post somewhere saying “Subscribe to my newsletter for more tricks and tips on how to *insert your speciality here*…” These people will subscribe because they want to know more about you and want to get to know you. These subscribers will now be part of your email list. If you don’t already, I encourage you to create an automated email at least once a week to market your services as well as provide incentives for them to reach out to you.

Create a freebie download

This one is huge, people. If you don’t already have a freebie download (AKA a lead magnet), do that ASAP! These downloads should be simple and urgent, like “10 Hacks to Maintain Weight Throughout the Holidays.” In order to receive this freebie, they enter their email and voila, they have now entered your sales funnel (AKA your trust funnel). This freebie will give them a preview into what you offer and how your services will benefit them. Make sure you make a separate automated email strand for this freebie. This email strand will guide them to a higher ticket service/program you offer. If they don’t purchase as soon as you had expected, remember to add them to your once a week automated email list to continue building that connection. (If you’re based in Canada, be sure to comply with CASL requirements!).

Implement some social media ads

This one should be saved for last and only used if you know exactly what you’re doing. This statement is not meant to scare you, but rather to save you from losing money down the drain. I recommend outsourcing for this if your ad marketing skills aren’t strong. I personally have no idea where to start with social media marketing, which is why I outsource this service. Your ads need to be placed directly in front of the target audience you specialize in. You cannot cast a wide net and expect people to come through your sales funnel. Make sure you do your research as these ads could possibly be quite beneficial to your business and sales funnel.

You might find marketing scary, but it doesn’t have to be! Above all, make sure that when you’re marketing, you’re targeting the right customer, the correct way, with the methods listed above. Use my tried-and-true strategies and you’ll see new clients funneling through in no time!