4 Simple Ways to Capitalize on Fitness in the Age of the Influencer

Fitness influencers are everywhere these days, and for good reason. Marketers are spending between $1,000 and $10,000 a year on influencer marketing, which means that the field is yours for the taking.

Do you want to start making a living off of your workout routine? Then why not take to social media and see if you can make it as an influencer.

Start Strategizing

You can’t leap into a career as an influencer without a plan. Before you start posting on social media, you need to come up with an engagement strategy. Sit down with friends or a manager ahead of time to discuss:

• Platforms – Where do you want to focus your attention? Instagram plays home to a significant number of influencers, but you can find just as much success on Twitter or Snapchat. Do your research and determine which social media platform is most compatible with your preferred style of engagement.
• Message – What kind of vision do you want to share with your audience? Do you want to attract workout newbies? Or is your guidance meant for someone more familiar with the gym? You’ll also want to take time to determine your influencer persona. Some audiences love an attentive and forgiving influence, but others thrive when paired with a tough-love trainer.
• Goals – What are your ambitions for your platform? Do you want to attract a certain number of followers by the end of your second month? Do you want to eventually quit your day job? Identify your achievable goals first, then move on to your big dreams. It’s always good to keep the future in mind, even when you’re just getting started.

Find Your Niche

Once you have your plan in place, you’ll need to discover your personal approach to social media. Why? Because there are hundreds of fitness social media influencers already out and working in the world. What makes you different from the rest of them? A personal trainer plan for beginners starts with knowing your audience.

You can differentiate yourself from the crowd by focusing on:

• Your preferred workout style.
• Your approach to working out (enthusiastic, sarcastic, determined, etc.).
• Your posting aesthetic; are you pristine in the gym? Do you use clever graphics to boost your posts’ quality?

Look to the influencers around you and see how they’re approaching their audiences. On one hand, you’ll want to emulate their openness. On the other, once you know what your peers are up to, you’ll know what kind of content to avoid making. No one likes a copy-cat!

Create a Content Schedule

With potential posts in mind, you can move forward with a content schedule. You may think that assorted posting will score you followers, but news flash: if you don’t have a calendar, you’re going to fall behind.

Sit down with a planner and mark up the days of the week you want to post your content. You can post multiple times a day or twice a week and still find success, depending on your platform of choice. Regardless, make sure you’re sharing your content during your platform’s high-traffic time block.

You’ll also want to ensure that you can reliably post at the same time for several weeks in a row. Consistency is like catnip for a social media audience. If your followers know that they’ll be able to interact with your work every Monday at 9am, they’ll flock to your platform as soon as you post and focus their engagement around your schedule.

Interact with Your Audience

Last but not least, make sure to engage with your audience. No one likes a trainer who puts themselves on a pedestal. Respond to audience comments. Offer advice when you’re asked for it. Offer Q&As so newbies or old hands alike can get to know more about you.

Becoming a fitness influencer is all about earning your audience’s trust. The more personably you present yourself, and the more frequently you acknowledge your audience’s agency, the more likely it is that you’ll find social media success.