Fitness Brand Marketing for 2023

The last two years have been the most challenging for the fitness industry. Social distancing, hygiene measures, and every service adapting itself to a digital offering have been some of the greatest changes the industry has had to deal with in 2020 and 2021. In 2023, we can expect to be hopeful. It’s important for you to revamp your fitness brand marketing to take advantage of the renewed focus on fitness as the post-pandemic landscape has changed.

Even with the new coronavirus variant on the loose, it feels as if there is a renewed focus on health and fitness. People realize that letting their health and fitness lapse has serious negative consequences. Some social distancing restrictions have receded and people have experienced a newfound appreciation for health and wellness. This has led to an increased interest in gyms and exercising has increased across demographics. 

So, with good things on the horizon, what can you do to augment the good luck coming your way? We share 5 important marketing strategies that are highly relevant in the current climate. These recommendations can help you get new members, boost engagement, and position your brand as a top player in your market. 

Optimize Your Website Experience

Websites have always been important for businesses for a myriad of reasons. The pandemic made them even more so. Today, we don’t just visit websites to get more information about the business. Now we use them to make appointments, place orders or chat with the business online. Sometimes, we even go visit a business’s blog to gauge how authoritative they are on the subject they are selling.

To optimize your website, make it as effective in all of its various roles as it can be.

Website Optimizations to Focus On

• Make your design responsive. This means that you make it work and display well for all the different screen sizes people use to access the internet. Form small phones to large desktop computers. This includes your website as well as your logo design. When you make a fitness logo that retains its unique shape and legibility no matter the size it’s viewed on, you ensure that your brand visibility is intact across devices, sizes, and orientations.
• Intuitive navigation is also important. It’ll ensure that even the first-time visitors to your site will be able to move around on it without any hassle or hurdles. 
• Keep the content on the site updated, and accurate. Content marketing is more effective if it is polished.
• Make sure the images are optimized so that the page load speed is fast. If it isn’t, it directly impacts your search rankings on Google. This can also cause your site’s bounce rate goes through the roof as visitors won’t hang around waiting for your site to load.

Make sure that you give your visitors a personalized and optimized experience on-site. This will not only increase the credibility of your business but will also improve your engagement. These are key factors in successful fitness brand marketing.

Double Down On Your Retargeting Efforts

Retargeting refers to focusing on site or page visitors who have engaged with your ads or site a little but then didn’t move forward with a purchase or something similar. These include people who click on your ad, land on your site, check out what you have to offer, but do not subscribe or sign up. 

When you retarget the ads that have performed well, you invest in prospects that have a higher potential to join in. These targeted efforts will ensure that your brand remains front and center in people’s social media scrolling, email inbox, or even mobile gaming. When it comes to emails, make sure to avoid the no DMARC record found issue, which can be an indicator that your emails aren’t properly authenticated.

As you keep them engaged with what you have to say, chances are higher that they’ll eventually make the jump and decide to sign up for your subscription plan.

Integrate Reviews in Your Ads

User-generated content, which includes reviews and testimonials, seems more trustworthy to your general audience. What would you trust more? A paid ad? Online influencer? Or your best friend who has personally tried what you are contemplating buying? You will trust the one whose opinions you value the most. Heck, compared to ads and influencers, we are ready to trust strangers more willingly.  This is also why partnering with other businesses can gain you access to their customers with some built-in credibility for your business.

Yet, it is also true that well-designed and well-crafted ads do get people to your door. These ads can influence them to make a purchase decision. To improve your ad conversion rates, and make sure that people always trust your paid ad campaign, integrate user-generated content into your marketing. Highlight customer reviews and testimonials in your ads. So, try to build a strategy yourself or with the help of professional social media marketing services that fit your company’s objectives, and increase your online visibility. This way people will not only see the excellence of your marketing but also the social proof that helps them make important life decisions. This can have a big effect on their decision to buy your exercise equipment, sign up for a referral program, or join as a new gym member.

Be Transparent and Body Positive

As a fitness brand in 2023, you need to be open and inclusive. When we say transparent, we don’t exclusively mean in your pricing, though that’s an important factor. Real transparency should be present in everything you do and say. It means no hidden costs, no false promises, and no get-fit-quick gimmicks. Your fitness brand marketing needs to be honest. 

Instead, be as open in your communication as you can be. Call out Instagram-posing and share the tricks that go into making tummies flat and backs that shapely. Share with your audience the healthy eating routines that are always more impactful to a healthy body than overdoing exercise. Keep yourself aware of the latest research, follow influencer marketing strategies, and effectively promote body positivity for your social media audience.. Whenever there is anything that you think your members should know about fitness, health, and exercise, share it openly and invite conversations. 

Modern consumers want their gym experiences to be more body-positive and wholesome. If your gym fails to provide that, trust me, another will. This is not a trend that you can outlive. It’s a shift in mindset and here to become a part of successful business operations. 

Create a Culture of Care at Your Gym

There was a time in marketing and business when unique products and services were key differentiators for many businesses. Thanks to technology, our global village has made products that once seemed innovative, an everyday given. In these saturated markets, a business that wants to create a distinction for itself needs to do something more. 

In other words, customers are looking at their favorite brands to be something more than a trade operation. We want our brands to be more conscious and caring. Fitness brands directly deal with how people (and others) view their bodies. These brands create mental scripts in people’s minds. For these brands, a culture of care is more relevant and essential. 

It means working with a diverse group of people that all have different approaches to exercise and fitness. It means keeping an open mind to ideas that may not yet be mainstream. Additionally, it means adopting a language that is more mindful than macho. You want to create a space where every single member of your gym can feel comfortable in their gym shorts and floor-to-length mirrors. 

Fitness Marketing Wrap-Up

Post-pandemic fitness brand marketing needs to get mind and body both on the table. Openness, inclusivity, transparency, and a willingness to take a stand are important. These can be your business’s differentiator that sets you apart when you market your fitness brand. Gyms and clubs that can get ahead on these strategies will benefit the most from the influx of Gen-Z members. These Gen-Z members are looking for fitness brands that can speak their language.