Your gym’s audience is scrolling social media every day. If you want to build relationships with them, you need to create an active, online presence they can engage with. But how do you create content that resonates with your gym’s audience?
Let’s look at 8 do’s and don’ts of posting on your gym’s social media so you can create engaging content and build an online community.
1. DON’T Try to Market to Everyone
It seems like making your posts appeal to as many people as possible would help you engage a wider audience, right? That’s actually the opposite of what happens! When you generalize your posts and try to broaden your appeal, you’re actually watering down your brand and making your posts less engaging. To create an active community of followers, you need to find your gym’s target audience and speak specifically to them.
Think about what type of content your target audience wants to see, and find ways to provide it. Speaking directly to your audience and showing them you understand their unique perspective fosters trust. Making your audience feel seen and served through your posts will turn your viewers into loyal followers.
2. DON’T Spend All Your Time Selling
How many times have you unfollowed someone because they were pushing a product too hard? People come to social media to be educated and entertained. Promotional posts don’t offer that value and can quickly scare followers away.
It’s true that promotional posts are important, but there’s a fine line between being informative and being spammy. Aim for the majority of your posts to provide valuable content for your followers, and sprinkle in your sales pitch when needed.
3. DON’T Copy Another Gym’s Social Strategy
Every business is unique and what works for another gym might not work for yours. Your competitor’s social media strategy should be a learning tool, not a template.
When you see another gym crushing their online presence, odds are they’ve narrowed down who their target audience is and discovered what content resonates with them. If you want to recreate their success, you need to go through the same process. Identify who your target audience is and build your posting and marketing strategies around the content that would offer them the most value.
4. DON’T Try to Do Everything
Each social media platform has its own nuances and content generation best practices. If you try to master all of the platforms at once, running your social media will quickly demand more time than any other aspect of your business.
Start simple. Pick one or two platforms that align with your business and your target audience. Work on building an active community there first, and revisit other platforms as you scale.
5. DO Focus On Your Community
A successful social media presence should show your followers what it’s like to be a member at your gym and make them want to join. Use your posts as tools to highlight what your gym’s experience is like.
Show your followers how it feels to be a member of your gym’s community by sharing:
- Motivational quotes
- Member success stories
- Your community’s approach to fitness
- The relationships your gym has fostered
If you can create a clear picture of how great it feels to be a member at your gym, your followers will want to join in.
6. DO Stay On Brand
When followers engage with your gym, they’re trusting you with their time, energy, and (hopefully) money. Your social media, website, and testimonials all need to work together to support that relationship. Every aspect of your online presence should be cohesive and inspire trust in new viewers.
When your online branding is inconsistent, your viewers can get confused about what your business does and who you are. Keep your branding cohesive so your followers know you’re a professional they can trust.
To keep your branding consistent on social media, pay special attention to your:
- Bio
- Color palette
- Profile picture
- Voice and tone
- Banners and imagery
7. DO Respond to Comments
Social media is a tool for engaging your community, but relationship building goes both ways. Simply sending a post off into the world won’t result in consistent engagement. If you want your audience to engage with your posts, you need to be active in the comments.
Like and respond to comments to show your followers you want to start a dialogue with them. The work you put in now to engage your followers will turn them into long-term community members over time.
8. DO Stay Consistent
A successful posting schedule is built with balance in mind. Posting too infrequently may cause your followers to forget about you, but posting too much runs the risk of being spammy. Start with a simple posting schedule and adjust it over time to find the right balance for your followers.
Aim for posting one to two times per week when starting out, and gradually add more posts if it makes sense for your community. Over time, you’ll find the right cadence to keep your followers engaged without overwhelming them.
Whether you’re looking at your posting schedule, content, or the platforms you’re active on, creating a winning social media strategy all boils down to finding what works for your unique target audience. Offer them valuable content that meets their needs and you’ll see your online community grow.
Struggling to post regularly or out of ideas?
Download a year of social media posts for your gym for free! Put together by UpLaunch’s digital marketing experts, the download includes professional pre-made graphics and customizable social content built for local gym owners.
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