How to Build an Online Brand for Your Fitness Business

For a modern fitness business, learning how to build an online brand is one of the most important things you can do. If you’re a business owner, building an online brand that’s attractive, recognizable, and easy to keep consistent is a vital step in your path to success.  

Showcasing your premises, expertise, and community is very easily done on social media, but it can also be a bit of a tightrope. Share too much, and your customers will switch off; don’t share enough, and you’ll leave their minds.  

This is all before we mention the true business goldmine of social media: fitness influencers. We’ll dive into those later.  

This guide is the complete practical how-to for creating a successful online brand for your fitness business, but here’s the TL:DR

• Consistency and efficiency are everything – make sure every potential member gets the same experience on your platforms
• Social media is more necessary than ever, but it really pays to have a sign-up, lead intake system that helps you track interested parties
• Email is more important than ever, and there are some great tools out there to help you automate things
• With fitness influencers, it’s often better to spread your bets and work with micro-influencers in your specific area or niche to get things off the ground. It’s cheaper than you think.

This is a summary of our full-length fitness marketing guide, which you can download below 

Dominating Instagram 

Audience: Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X 

Why Instagram is Crucial to Your Business 

Instagram is a must-have for any fitness business owner. It’s the window your followers have into your life and how your business runs. If you’re looking to get your name out there and build a recognizable brand with faithful customers, then Instagram is where you need to be, every single day.  

Best Practices on Instagram 

• Quality Over Quantity: Clear images and high-quality videos are vital. Take the time to make things look exceptional. 
• Consistency is Key: Maintain a cohesive aesthetic. Make sure your brand and style are recognizable in a heartbeat. 
• Engaging Stories: Use polls, questions, and quizzes to interact with your audience regularly. 
• Don’t Underestimate Reels: Use Reels for quick, engaging videos that get your followers hooked on your style and personality. 

Quick Tips for Instagram Marketing

• Relevant Hashtags: Use 5 to 10 per post to increase reach. 
• Post Frequency: Aim for 3-8 story posts per day, 3-5 reels per week, and 2-3 profile posts per week.  
• Engagement: Respond to comments and messages to build a community. 
• Remember to Convert: Make sure you have a place for people to sign up for your business (ABC Glofox can help with that, but more on that later). 

Want to learn how to boost your leads, revenue, and time spent doing what you love? Our online branding guide can show you how to create clear, actionable strategies to bring in more leads and make your members happier.

Facebook’s Untapped Potential 

Audience: Millenials, Gen X, and Boomers 

Creating a Successful Facebook Page 

A well-structured Facebook page is essential for establishing your online presence. It serves as the face of your business in the digital world. It’s also the best place for building an active, engaged community: especially for older generations.  

Content Strategies for Facebook 

• Balanced Content: Balance educational, inspirational, and promotional posts. Encourage participation with questions and polls. 
• Engaging Polls: Ask your community what they want, how you can best provide it for them, and what your business is missing. 
• Business Updates: Class times changed? Facebook is one of the best places to update your community quickly and efficiently.  

Facebook Groups as Communities 

Building a Facebook community can be an absolute game-changer for your fitness business. If you can have people logging in and checking your forums regularly for fitness tips, news updates, and a feeling of belonging, then you’re set up for success.  

Quick Group Tips:  

Want the full guide on how to market your fitness business online?

TikTok – The New Frontier 

Audience: Gen Z’s & Younger Millennials 

Understanding the TikTok Algorithm 

TikTok’s algorithm is all about catching attention and retaining it. Use fast-paced, humorous, and energetic content to catch the eyes of TikTok users. Just like school, here is all about first impressions, looking trendy, and getting attention. 

Creative and Viral Content for Gyms and Studios 

• Authenticity and Fun: Show behind-the-scenes, quick workout tips, and inspiring stories. 
• Trending and Viral Music: Adapt trends to your gym or studio context. Videos using viral songs are 65% more likely to be noticed. 
• Ask for Opinions: Let users ask questions, react to comments, and let your followers feel like they’re part of your journey.  
• Collaborations and Challenges: Build out challenges for your followers to do, and then congratulate those that come along with you on the journey.  

LinkedIn – Professional Networking and Partnerships 

Audience: Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and other businesses 

Why Should You Care About LinkedIn? 

LinkedIn is priceless for professionals and businesses in the fitness industry. It helps build a robust network of valuable contacts, from potential customers to strategic partners. If you’re looking for funding, professional advice, or events to attend, there is no better place.  

How To Use LinkedIn For Your Fitness Business 

• Strategic Connections: Focus on quality, relevance, and people that can teach you something. 
• Participation in Groups: Engage with professionals and industry discussions.  
• Present and Attend Events: Host and attend events with large followings and engaged audiences. On average, active LinkedIn participants grow their network 5x faster. 

Content and Strategies for Establishing LinkedIn Authority 

• Value Publications: Share articles, industry insights, and case studies that show the value of your business. 
• Engagement and Collaboration: Comment on and share relevant content to increase visibility. 
• Attend and Host Events: Find a community that is open to webinars, roundtables, and other live events that can help grow your brand awareness.  

Building a professional network of like-minded founders or business owners can give you a huge boost in following, influence, and even potential investment. If you’re looking for ways to boost your online brand, then our guide is for you.

Influencer Marketing and Micro-Influencers 

The Importance of Influencers in Fitness Marketing 

Influencers are the queens and kings of the world of fitness marketing right now. Just one recommendation from the right social media account and you can easily double or triple your audience. People don’t trust advertising anymore, especially younger generations, so it’s important to use real people to help influence their buying decisions.  

How to Choose the Right Influencer for Your Brand 

• Values Alignment: Ensure your brand and the influencer believe in the same things. 
• Engagement Over Followers: Quality interaction is more important than the number of followers. 
• Create a Clear Content Plan: Don’t just ask them to mention your brand on the fly. Take time to plan your collaboration and how you can help out one another.  
• Don’t Forget, You’re an Influencer Too: If you have a big following or an engaged community, make sure to use that to your advantage in planning collaborations.  

Remember, just one collaboration at the right time can skyrocket the visibility of your business. If you’re looking to find the best way to build your online visibility (and become an influencer yourself), then our online brand guide is for you.

The Power of Reviews and Social Proof 

What Is Social Proof and Why It’s Important 

Think of the last large purchase you made; what was the deciding factor?  

Chances are, it was a customer review, video, or testimonial.  

Customer reviews have the potential to make or break businesses today, so it’s important to invest in them as much as possible. Make sure you’re giving your customers the chance to praise your business online, giving you the social proof and visibility you need to thrive.  

Types of Social Proof and How to Use It Effectively 

• Testimonials and Reviews: Share experiences to build trust, especially for smaller businesses. Google Reviews are vital for your business and brand trust. 
• Influencer Endorsements: Leverage credibility from well-known figures to boost your brand authority and reach. 
• Success Stories: Highlight real transformations and achievements, inspiring other customers to come join you on your fitness journey. 

Social proof is often what separates a business from just getting by to growing sustainably and exponentially. Want more tips on how to make your business more trustworthy to your potential members? 

Direct Communication – Email Isn’t Dead Yet 

Why Email Is Still a Powerful Tool 

Email remains essential for direct marketing, offering a personalized and scalable way to reach customers. Even something as small as updating your customers on new class schedules, anniversaries, or promotions can make a major difference in how they interact with your business.  

Email Marketing Strategies to Keep Your Audience Engaged 

• Personalization and Segmentation: Speak sincerely to your customers, appealing to their unique needs and values. 
• Valuable Content: Provide useful information, fitness tips, and success stories. It’s not all about the sales. 
• Frequency and Timing: Find the right balance to avoid information overload. Usually, a weekly update and a monthly newsletter is more than enough to keep your customers happy.  

If you want to grow an engaged and motivated fitness community, then having a regular newsletter with a clear nurture process is the best possible way to gain maximum leads from a minimum amount of effort.

Want to learn how to build your own fitness newsletter?

Sound like a lot of work?  

You’re right, it is. That’s why we’ve built the ABC Glofox platform that allows you to automate all of your outreach and marketing campaigns. Instead of managing every lead, member, and opportunity one by one, the ABC Glofox platform allows to gain deep insights into your member behavior while also simplifying your marketing strategies. 

ABC Glofox: The Future-Focused Tool For Your Fitness Business 

We know, managing your online brand is not an easy task.  

What’s the toughest part of building an online brand?  

Consistency, and Efficiency.  

There are a thousand moving parts and plenty of places for things to go wrong. But, with the right platform, you can make your fitness business a consistent, efficient, lead-capturing machine. 

ABC Glofox is a fitness business platform that allows you to present a consistent brand and user experience across all of your channels. 

Looking to learn more about how ABC Glofox can help your online brand thrive?