How To Market Health & Fitness

Corrrr, phew, blimey. Does anyone else feel podged at this time of year???

J & I work for ourselves so don’t have the endless round of office Xmas parties to go to (although we make up for it ourselves with plenty of nice dinners out). We have however seemingly had a fairly steady stream of social ‘events’ in the past week or so. And it has left me feeling rather podged & full despite being quite restrained.

And that’s before we’ve even started with Xmas dinner (which we’re doing for the in-laws) this year and then a Boxing Day ‘gathering’ for my side of the family.

What does this have to do with marketing health & fitness?

Aha, well…it’s precisely those sort of feelings that make people think about their new year’s resolutions and about getting fit, getting back into shape and horror of horrors….joining a gym.

NOOOO, DON’T DO IT!

For those of us on the other side of the fence – the personal trainers, the gyms, the health practitioners, the nutritionists – it could & should be one of the busiest times of year for your business.

The gyms certainly make the most of it and I have seen first-hand (having worked in one of the major UK gym chains) the lengths that the fitness sales teams go to, to get memberships in January. It’s not a pretty sight.

So from a fitness marketing perspective, what can you do?

Well, for a start, I’m on a one-woman mission to prevent as many people joining a gym as possible…I HATE the way gyms are in their current form – concerned more about sales, memberships & money than anything else. I’m advocating a much more effective, long-lasting and ultimately more cost-effective solution.

In the form of my clients! All of whom are selling health & fitness. Or at least they think they are.

If you’re a personal trainer, a CHEK Practitioner, a Sports Therapist, a Nutritionist or Metabolic Typing Advisor what you’re really selling is something quite different…

You’re selling confidence. Helping people feel more confident about looking at themselves in the mirror without running away shrieking or feeling like they want to cry. You’re selling the confidence to go into a shop & try clothes on without going up 2 or 3 sizes because the thing they thought would fit, barely fits over one leg.

You’re selling relief. Relief from pain, an endless battle with some niggling health problem that one just accepts as part of ‘getting old’. Relief from constantly trying to find something, anything that will work for them.

You’re also selling hope. Hope for people who’ve struggled with their weight & body shape for years that they will fit into their favourite outfit again. Hope for those with chronic health problems such as ME/CFS, arthritis, asthma, allergies who again, are sometimes told to just accept the fact that they suffer from something for which there is no cure & ‘manage’ their illness.

You’re selling solutions to the main areas of pain that people experience. Whether it’s physical or psychological pain, you’re selling an end to that suffering.

So no, you’re not selling 1 session at £50 or 10 sessions at £450. And you’re not selling “the best designed programmes in the area” or “extra motivation” or “information you won’t find anywhere else” or “a unique way of training that gets rid of the most body fat in 10 seconds”.

As a CHEK practitioner or an advanced personal trainer, marketing your health & fitness services at this time of year is a must-do. It’s your duty to let people know that there are alternatives to the big gyms – and more effective ones at that. If you don’t, how will people know you exist & that they have a choice?