ONLINE INFLUENCERS
YOU NEVER KNEW
YOU HAD!
By Austin Smith
E
veryone knows social
media marketing is
important. It’s the
biggest, most financially
savvy medium available,
and it is utilised by top
businesses worldwide.
Perhaps the trendiest strategy
in digital marketing today is the
leveraging of the influencer. The
term gets tossed around a tonne.
The definition is straight forward:
somebody who can influence the
purchase decisions of a massive
following. Yet some mystery and
hesitation continue to surround
influencers: Who are these people?
How do I find the right ones for my
brand? Which platform should I
target? Can I trust them? If so, what
should I be asking of them?
Researching, coordinating with and
directing a social influencer strategy
can be an overwhelming and
time-consuming job with everything
else you are doing to drive results
for your club. The good news is that
you don’t need to go far to find the
perfect influencers for your business.
In fact, they’re already working with
you — your personal trainers and
fitness instructors.
Instructors with Influence
Some of your staff may already
be Internet famous and have a
massive audience, but more likely,
your staff fall into the tier of micro-
influencers—those who have a
couple of hundred to a couple
of thousand followers. Micro-
influencers are valuable due to
their heightened relevance on a
local level; that is to say that their
audiences are much more local,
relevant and actionable than the
wide and varied audience someone
like The Rock may be broadcasting
to. Sure, he has millions of followers,
but how many of them live close
enough to your club to come in and
try a new class or buy a pack of PT
sessions? Probably few if any at all.
These mighty micro-influencers
are not only more relevant to your
target audience, but as your trainers
and instructors, they also have a
vested personal interest in sharing
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WHAT’S NEW IN FITNESS - SUMMER 2019
WHAT’S NEW IN FITNESS - SUMMER 2019
enthusiastically about your club on
their social networks — and if they
don’t, they should.
Building Bodies and Brands
Trainers or instructors who aspire
to high levels of success know that
building their reputation online is the
foundation of creating a personal
brand. Although organic word of
mouth can help, establishing their
expertise and effectiveness by
sharing success stories on their own
accounts will fast-track the process.
Not only will creating social
media evangelists increase online
awareness, it can also act as both
a new business driver and member
retention tool. What better way to
prove people should be working
with you than to show it firsthand?
What better way to keep a client
coming back than to show them just
how far they’ve come?
Above all, empowering the
members of your team to build their
own brand through social media
comes full circle to benefit you as an
owner. When people search for your
club on social media, they should
see post after post of reasons why
they should be working out at your
club with your trainers. As your group
fitness classes fill up day after day
and your trainers’ books of business
grow, so does your revenue.
Getting Started
Your trainers and instructors are
already influencing members in your
club. Now it’s time to get them to
influence your social media network.
Some offers of encouragment...
Create a quota. Set concrete
expectations staff can use as
guidelines, e.g. share twice a week.
Suggest topics. Theme certain
days to inspire content, such as
Motivation Monday or Flex Friday.
Show support. Affirm efforts made
by liking and commenting on staff
posts, and even re-sharing them on
your brand accounts.
This sponsored article is part of Club
Industry’s report, “The Changing
World of Personal Training.” -
download this free report here.
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