Lead generation
Learn how to generate new leads for your personal training business in the City of London with our free guide to the tools at our disposal.
The "Speed it up, I don't have time" summary: No one thing will revolutionise your lead generation process. We need all the components of our marketing communications to be coordinated to make sure that we:
• Identify who our customers are.
• Understand what they are looking for.
• Establish how best to communicate our products with them.
• Build loyalty.
In the fiercely competitive world of personal training, success hinges on more than just expertise in fitness. The City of London is a hotly contested business area with at least 15 personal training studios and 15 gyms near The Workout Network in Monument. In the City, personal trainers must master the art of lead generation to thrive. This article delves into the essential strategies for lead generation, focussing on attracting and retaining clients effectively.
Understanding your USP
Before diving into lead generation tactics, personal trainers must identify their unique selling proposition (USP). What sets you apart from other trainers? The best USP is your individualism. We have an article here: ARE YOU A GOOD COACH? On understanding and harnessing the power of your individualism, treating it as something to celebrate. Whether it's specialised expertise, innovative training methods or a unique approach to client relationships, understanding your USP is crucial for targeting the right audience.
Your Audience
Once you have established who you are and what you offer, it is integral to understand who wants to buy what you are selling. Understanding who you serve is essential to building strategies and content that resonates with your target audience. Additionally, if you decide that you would like to use paid promotions and ads, this element of outlining your audience becomes crucial to success when creating and targeting those ads. To understand who our client is, you can start by answering these questions:
Who are your ideal clients?
Where do they spend their time? By pinpointing your audience demographics, interests, and pain points, you can tailor your lead generation efforts to reach them more effectively.
What are clients looking for?
When we have established who our clients are, it is essential to understand what they are looking for. From my experience working with clients between the ages of 40 and 65 in professional services, I know they are often overworked, stressed, and looking to regain control over their lives. I meet people often at a very vulnerable point, in a new and scary environment. They may address aesthetic or physical issues with themselves that they have grown to hate. Someone once said that I was an ‘expert beginner trainer’. They intended this as an insult however, it is one of the biggest compliments I have received. To me, it shows that I have identified my skill set and who can benefit from it.
"Traditional" marketing tactics
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is probably the tactic that I have relied on for almost my whole career. Who better to be the bastions of your service than the ones who use it every week and always come back? They can recommend you on the strength of who you are, what you are about, and how you deliver that—capitalising on the power of word-of-mouth referrals by providing exceptional service and cultivating solid relationships with clients should be the ultimate goal. Strong relationships can also feed into your digital strategy asking for and utilising online reviews.
Public relations
Increase your visibility and credibility through strategic PR efforts, such as media features, guest blogging, or speaking engagements. I see some of you doing this to expert effect, collaborating with companies and brands that help promote you as an authority in the industry. Keep me from catching you in the Daily Mail, though.
Community
At TWN, we are lucky to be partnered with The Light Centre, which brings many different health and fitness businesses together. And whilst the build-back post-pandemic continues, working as a team is the best way to achieve that.
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Digital strategies
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Search Engine Optimisation
I immediately gravitate to Google to find what I want and am looking for. Making sure that your presence is there is incredibly important. During our piece on THE CLIENT JOURNEY, we see that if we are not involved with our customers’ consideration process, we can never be involved with their purchase. SEO is a dark art, and some elements are indeed confusing. Understanding customer queries and what they're looking for can be a crucial element. The HUBSPOT guide to SEO is a valuable tool for getting to grips with how SEO can impact your business.
Paid placement
You can always pay to feature on Google. Today, if you search "Personal Trainer in the City of London", my top three results were paid-for placements by Fitness Lab, Bark and Roar. Google ads are a great way to make sure you feature on the place that most of our clients will be looking. You can do this through the Google ads platform and understand the industry keywords that help your clients find your business.
Social media
Organic: Using your social media presence can be powerful in communicating who you are and what you are about with the world. Content Marketing allows you to convey that you have the answers to our clients' pain points. Whatever your area of expertise, if you can relate that to, and understand, the client's issue and can communicate the answer to them in a way that shows that, you can build trust.
Paid: All social media has paid for promotions; for example, Meta has its business and ads manager. One of the significant parts of creating paid-for ads is that you're not in the hamster wheel of creating large daily volumes of content to keep an audience engaged and feed the algorithm. Meta proposes that the content you wish to use as your advertising is delivered to an audience you build and believe your coaching solves. When creating a Personal Training advert, developing a clear, concise message with a suitable call to action is crucial.
Landing page optimisation
So, we create and implement all these strategies and spend all this money on adverts, but what do we hope to get back from that? Where do we send PPC? Optimising your landing pages to capture leads effectively and guide potential clients through conversion is crucial. When TWN runs ads, they are taken through to either of these pages if you're a client or a coach. Hopefully, by the time they make it to this point, they're already a qualified lead and ready to buy.
Email campaigns
Email is such an underrated tool; it creates a genuine two-way communication between you and any potential clients. It allows you to showcase what you're about. Your email list also usually includes people who have shown an interest in you or your business, which is a great way to build an authentic connection with them.
Control
All of these together will lead to the desired outcome. But is vital to have a review process to see what is effective, what works, and what doesn't.
Lead generation is the lifeblood of a successful personal training business. Personal trainers can attract, engage, and convert potential clients effectively by implementing a strategic blend of digital and real-life lead-generation tactics. Understanding your USP, identifying your audience, and leveraging a diverse range of lead generation strategies are essential to building a thriving and sustainable personal training business.
Are you ready to take control of your personal training business? We offer personal trainers a flexible, low-cost booking option for trainers in the City of London near Monument and Bank. Book your free trial today.
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