How to Promote Your Virtual Fitness Offerings with Social Media and Email Marketing

The initial impacts of COVID-19 required many fitness studios and gyms to quickly move their workouts online. Coronavirus created nearly overnight demand for online fitness and virtual classes and effectively changed the business model for the fitness industry.

Today, virtual offerings have become an essential part of many long-term business plans. In fact, some fitness businesses have decided to take their workouts completely online (via on-demand or live stream) moving forward. 

If your fitness business plans to offer online workout classes and video content, you'll need a plan to position and promote them. That's where social media and email marketing can help. 

Download our checklist to learn how to promote your online fitness classes using both organic and paid social media as well as email marketing. We'll cover:

Organic social media

• How to create systems that increase the likelihood of success for your fitness business, including defining goals, assigning specific staff to execute, investing in the right technology and tools, and more
• Why it's important to focus your efforts on social media so the right clients engage with your content
• How to promote your virtual fitness offerings to clients (and potential new members) using platforms like Instagram (and Instagram Stories) and Facebook
• How to get your staff in on the promotion fun by engaging clients on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok
• How to create FOMO (fear of missing out) by utilising user-generated content from current members to promote the online workouts or training you offer and grow your client base
• Why a private Facebook group isn't just good for client engagement—it's good for virtual fitness promotion, too. 

Paid social media

• How to define your target audience by creating custom, lookalike, and interest-based segments
• Why remarketing is the most financially efficient way to promote your online fitness offerings and grow your online client base (Facebook ads using the Facebook remarketing pixel, for example)
• How to create a unique ad experience so prospective fitness clients are served up marketing messaging that's appropriate to their stage of the customer journey
• Why it's important to be thoughtful with creative and copy used in your online marketing efforts—social media ads on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube included
• How to test, optimise, and review ad performance to improve your paid social media marketing efforts

Email marketing

• Why it's so important to encourage email list signups regularly (in your fitness studio or gym, on social media, and more) 
• How (and why) you should provide additional value through email marketing by sending fitness tips, recipes, workout equipment swaps, and more 
• Why you should create templates to streamline your email marketing—not just for brand consistency but for ease of use as well 
• How Mindbody's Marketing Suite is an important resource that can help your fitness business automate email marketing to help convert drop-ins, encourage reviews, and more