It is quite commendable that local business owners have started understanding the importance of social media. A lot of gym owners ask me if creating an Instagram account would help them increase their membership sales. My obvious reply to them is a ‘Yes’. Time changes and so does the most popular marketing media. Huge portion of the marketing industry is now going digital. Not only in Tier-1 cities of India, even in the tier-2 cities, gym owners are making Facebook/Instagram pages for their gym. However, just opening an Instagram page doesn’t guarantee you success. It’s actually just the start of your business’ social media journey. For utilising your social media page to its maximum, you must have a content strategy to reach out to the maximum number of people in your area and make them a possible client to your gym services. But first we need to understand what is a content strategy, and how you can create a social media content strategy for your gym.
What is a content strategy?
Running a business involves a lot of planning, strategizing and executions. Your gym is your business, and social media is your marketing medium. Social media can be a great marketing tool if used right. And to use it right, you need to make a strategy for social media too. Social media looks very easy to everyone. Well, it’s quite easy actually but still posting a photo with a swaggy background music and putting some hashtags along with it will not work. Let's be honest, It’s not that easy.
A content strategy is a social media plan that provides your social media a stable image in front of your audience. It also gives you a consistent reach and engagement and drives the organic sales of your local gym business. It involves planning, creation and execution of the content on your favourite social media platform. Your gym needs to have an image, and most importantly it needs to maintain that image in front of your audience. Let's discuss more about it in our next section.
So, How to create a social media content strategy for your gym?
There’s no thumb rule for making a perfect content strategy, but we at Gymbranders outline it like this -
Establish a Vibe for your Gym
Have you ever seen someone who’s very talkative and extroverted on social media but when you meet them in real life, they’re just very quiet and it gets awkward matching the vibe with them? Also, someone who acts very wise and mature on social media, but when you meet them in real life, they’re just very dumb and indecisive? You feel cheated right? You think that you expected something else and got something else.
It is really important to set the right vibe of your gym in social media as well. Show what you really are, and things that you and your gym atmosphere values. Avoid showing yourself as a cool gym (by showing loud music, young crowd, etc.) if your gym has generally people that come from an older age group who likes pleasant music, decent crowd and a basic discipline in your gym, and vice versa.
Define your Social Media Goals Clearly
Having a clear goal is really important before you start making your social media content strategy. It helps you track and optimise your progress. If you’re able to track the progress, you’ll always be aware about the success of your social media content strategy. So, keep the goal very clear.
Your goal can be to drive organic sales through social media, or it can be more gym visits through social media, or it can just be to get more engagement and reach on your social media page. Have it clear and start tracking your progress.
Identify Key Content Types for your Gym
What is content type? No, I am not talking about Reels, Carousels, Stories and Single Posts. By content type here, I mean the type of value your content is going to provide. Generally, we at gymbranders divide this into About the Gym, Client Progress, Vibe and Atmosphere, and Festivals and Celebrations.
You can come with more such Content Type according to your goal and write it down on a Google Sheet. This helps you focus on the content you need to make and not get overwhelmed with content ideas. It also gives your gym a brand consistency.
Segment your Target Audience
Label your target audience as well. You can’t categorise your entire target audience as one. Some of them might be students, some of them adults trying to take out time from their busy schedule, some of them are already finding a gym, while for some of them you need to make them understand how to exercise regularly.
Each of your content can target one of these/multiple sets of audiences. But for that you need to know what audience you’re targeting through your content. For someone who’s looking for a gym, can easily be approached with content that shows features of your gym. But for someone who’s not interested in joining a gym but knows that fitness is important, you’ll need to create a different value through your content.
Create a Content Calendar and Stick to It
After all that heavy work of differentiating your content type and your audience, you might get a headache managing all of this individually. Well, we have a suggestion for this too. Create a content calendar and maintain it. Be a week ahead in terms of content. Give your most important target audience and make content in a ratio that prioritises them more. Keep one content each week for the other set of audiences as well.
A sample content calendar is attached below, however since it’s social media, there’s no thumb rule to making a content calendar. Make it in a way that’s easy for you to maintain, understand and follow.
Plan, Create, and Strategize Paid Ads
Okay now, everything that you need in terms of organic content strategy is done. You can take a minute, relax and have water. This knowledge-packed article is over for you. But if you have a budget for paid ads and you’re willing to run Facebook and Instagram, then you should read this part too.
If you have a budget for paid advertising, consider running Facebook and Instagram ads. Paid ads complement your organic strategy by reaching a broader audience quickly. Utilise Meta Business Suite and Ads Manager to create and manage your ads effectively. Additionally, consider boosting posts on Instagram for increased visibility, although Ads Manager offers more control and customization options.
If managing paid ads seems overwhelming, reach out to us for assistance. We're here to help. Contact us or message us on Instagram (@gymbranders). This concludes our content strategy article. We hope you found it helpful. If you did, feel free to leave a comment.
Comments