Helping people to achieve their health and fitness goals is, in my opinion, one of the best jobs in the world. Still, in an increasingly competitive field, sometimes it’s not enough to just be great at what you do.
What’s more, with the increase in personal trainers joining the industry, fitness business owners have to work tirelessly to add value to their clients and give them more for their money.
With that in mind, trainers need a way to keep up with the competition without stretching their budget or motivation to run a business. Cue, Content Marketing.
With that in mind, trainers need a way to keep up with the competition without stretching their budget or motivation to run a business. Cue, Content Marketing.
Quality content (like blog posts, videos, infographics etc) add value for clients while organically improving your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But if you’re finding that your content lacks traction, it may be due to a lack of strategy. And a strong strategy needs to be driven by accurate data.
Check out these content marketing statistics for personal trainers who want to ensure that your content game is as strong as your deadlift technique…
1. 38% of B2C Brands Don't Have a Content Strategy
When you’re a personal trainer, you are your own brand. And you’re competing with other personal trainers and other B2C (Business to Customer) brands in the fitness industry.
While many of them may well be using content, there’s a good chance that they don’t have a strategy as 38% of B2C brands reportedly don’t. This leaves you plenty of scope to gain a competitive edge over nearly half the market!
While many of them may well be using content, there’s a good chance that they don’t have a strategy as 38% of B2C brands reportedly don’t. This leaves you plenty of scope to gain a competitive edge over nearly half the market!
2. Most Personal Trainer Use Paid Ads
Statistics show that many brands (including your competitors) are stuck in the “if I want to get my audiences attention, I pay for an ad” mindset. This also seems to be true of most fitness business owners.
Hence the onslaught of fitness marketing mentors and their free funnel strategy that you have to comment "yes" for.
READ MORE: HOW TO SPOT A DODGY FITNESS MENTOR
Hence the onslaught of fitness marketing mentors and their free funnel strategy that you have to comment "yes" for.
READ MORE: HOW TO SPOT A DODGY FITNESS MENTOR
In the cases of both B2B and B2C marketing, research shows that companies of all sizes spend a majority of their budget on Facebook ads and Google Adwords. But this isn’t even the most effective way to generate leads...
3. Content Marketing Can Generate Up to 3 x More Leads
Paid marketing is great for generating a surge of brand awareness, but without organic marketing means like content marketing, that awareness is destined to be short lived.
A content marketing ROI” study (<-- click to download if you're into geeky stats) revealed that marketing through content creation generates up to 3 times as many leads as paid channels in the long term, and because the overhead cost is far less it all makes for a great ROI.
A content marketing ROI” study (<-- click to download if you're into geeky stats) revealed that marketing through content creation generates up to 3 times as many leads as paid channels in the long term, and because the overhead cost is far less it all makes for a great ROI.
4. Longer Posts Get Better Results
When you’re creating content for marketing purposes it’s easy to focus too much on SEO and algorithms and lose sight of what matters most… the people who read your content. And long form content is more appealing to your target audience and studies show that it gets stronger results in terms of reader engagement.
Longer posts (usually 1,000 words or more) tend to be more information rich and therefore more useful to the reader. That said, remember that long passages of text can get boring so don’t be afraid to mix things up by introducing images, infographics and video.
5. Update Old Articles
In theory, writing guest posts for other PTs and fitness bloggers can help to get you the attention of someone else’s audience, grow your following and result in more potentially lucrative leads.
In practice, however, statistics show that this doesn’t always give you the biggest bang for your buck.
One far more effective (and more hassle-free) way to ensure that your blog gets more traction and that’s adding new content to existing articles. In fact, bloggers who update older posts are 74% more likely to get stronger results from their content marketing.
In practice, however, statistics show that this doesn’t always give you the biggest bang for your buck.
One far more effective (and more hassle-free) way to ensure that your blog gets more traction and that’s adding new content to existing articles. In fact, bloggers who update older posts are 74% more likely to get stronger results from their content marketing.
6. Consistency is Key
The life of a PT is extremely busy. Between working with clients, learning new skills and, of course, working on your own goals at the gym you have a lot of demands on your time. Nonetheless, it’s essential to blog as often as possible if you want your content to get noticed by prospective clients.
A 2015 study by HubSpot demonstrated that companies publishing 16 or more blog posts per month reported 35 and a half times more organic traffic than those that publish once a week or less.
I know, I know. 16 blogs per month is crazy talk but the general rule of thumb here is that more seems to be better.
7. Paid Ads Are On The Rise
It’s all well and good churning out good quality, well researched, useful content several times a week… but it can be frustrating when that hard work doesn’t find its audience.
If you were thinking of using paid marketing to promote your content you wouldn’t be alone. In fact, paid marketing for content promotion has increased five fold since 2014 and it's a worthwhile investment for audience building.
Remember to target mobile users in your paid ads as these now make up the majority of people who will consume your content.
If you were thinking of using paid marketing to promote your content you wouldn’t be alone. In fact, paid marketing for content promotion has increased five fold since 2014 and it's a worthwhile investment for audience building.
Remember to target mobile users in your paid ads as these now make up the majority of people who will consume your content.
8. Email Still Works
Keep on sending those emails to clients and prospects alike. Sure, it takes time and effort to put those emails together and keep new and familiar clients in the loop, but the stats show that it pays dividends.
In fact, 74% of B2C marketers find that outgoing emails are still the most successful distribution channel for their content.
That’s almost 25% more effective than sharing on social platforms which reportedly generates a success rate of around 50%.
And here's what companies are doing...
In fact, 74% of B2C marketers find that outgoing emails are still the most successful distribution channel for their content.
That’s almost 25% more effective than sharing on social platforms which reportedly generates a success rate of around 50%.
And here's what companies are doing...
Automated emails, promotions, events and monthly newsletter are among the most popular email marketing strategies.
READ MORE: HOW TO WRITE A WELCOME EMAIL FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS
9. Visuals Boost Content
Remember what we said before about interspersing long form content with visuals? It doesn’t just make things easier for your readers, it also helps your content to make a lasting impression with readers.
Studies show that we remember around 65% of visual content in comparison to 10% of what we read. What’s more, people follow visual instructions 323% better. This is especially relevant for those in the fitness industry sharing techniques and training regimens.
Studies show that we remember around 65% of visual content in comparison to 10% of what we read. What’s more, people follow visual instructions 323% better. This is especially relevant for those in the fitness industry sharing techniques and training regimens.
10. Video Wins Out
You may not be all that comfortable in front of a camera, but video lends itself very well to Personal Training. It allows you to demonstrate correct technique and ensure that clients (whether in your gym or remote) get the most out of your workouts.
And in an age where video is an increasingly large part of the online market share, it’s a bandwagon you’re kind of expected to jump on. In fact, by 2021 video is expected to account for 82% of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021.
