How To Create a Social Media Marketing Plan for Your Fitness Studio

By Ryan Ketchum, Special AFS Contributor

Social media has made it easier than ever to build an active, engaged audience as a fitness professional.  However, many fitness studio owners aren’t leveraging social media to get new clients and position themselves in their local market.  

Don’t shy away from this powerful marketing tool!  A clear plan and understanding of how to leverage social media are needed to ensure that you get the biggest return on investment of your time.  Avoid the time suck that social media can be and follow this social media marketing plan for your studio.

Which Social Media Platform Should You Use?

To best answer this question, you need to look at your target market.  Where do they spend most of their time when using social media and where are they most engaged?  A safe bet would be to leverage Instagram and Facebook for your social media marketing efforts.  These two platforms are dominating the scene and show no signs of slowing down.

When posting on both platforms keep in mind the type of content that does best and how people tend to use social media.  For example, Facebook is good for sharing content, longer posts, articles and videos.  Instagram is great for quick videos, inspiration and images of you in action with your clients. 

Keep in mind, we’re talking about organic social media marketing not paid marketing via either of these platforms.  

When posting on both platforms keep in mind the type of content that does best and how people tend to use social media.

Your Social Media Marketing Plan

There’s a standard prescription for fitness studios and fitness business owners to use for their social media marketing plan.  You’ll begin with a mix of content to build your following and communicate with your current following. 

Instagram Plan

• Post once per day to your feed using hashtags and locations that will increase your following.  These can be a mix of video and images.
• Post 5 or more stories each day to communicate with your current followers and promote your offers.
• Reply to every comment (except from spammers) and direct message within 48 hours
• Comment on other businesses posts or posts from individuals using hashtags you follow at least once per day

Facebook Plan

• Post once per day to your newsfeed with relevant content.  Mix it up with video, photos and links to keep it fresh. 
• Run one Facebook Live each week to engage with your followers and promote your offers
• Join one local Facebook group that is fitness related and answer questions daily.
• Comment on other posts and share other businesses posts daily. 
• Reply to comments and messages within 48 hours

Use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of content to promotion as a guide.  You don’t want to constantly be selling on social media, but you do need to give a clear call to action every few posts to ensure you are getting a return on your investment of time. Don't miss our 5 tips to market your business on Instagram. 

If you’re struggling with content ideas think about the questions your clients are asking you each day in your sessions or ideas that you must help your clients getting better results.  Your audience will love to hear your thoughts and expertise.

Remember to be social!

The best social media marketers are actively engaging with their followers.  They comment, reply, and message people to engage in conversations. Don’t expect to simply post a few times per week and get a flood of new clients for your studio.  Engaging your audience will lead to the best results.

Adding value is the name of the game.  Providing information that helps your target market solve a problem or avoid obstacles that could hold them back will help you build your credibility in your local market.  You don’t need 10,000 followers to be successful with social media marketing.  Often a small, but loyal following will produce much better results.