Why are there so many mirrors in gyms? No, it’s not for you to pose in. The fact that there are so many mirrors just so happens to make posing easier, but that’s incidental.
The real reason for having so many mirrors is to help you make sure your form is correct.
Because good form contributes to a well-executed rep. Properly executed reps makes the exercise more effective. And effective reps mean quicker gains!
If you’re a fitness professional – a personal trainer, a gym owner, a Pilates teacher or you run a yoga studio – you probably have a social media presence to promote your services. In fact, it’s more or less essential.
Your present and potential clients can be found on platforms like Instagram and TikTok and the visual aspect of the medium obviously plays an important role in providing social proof that you can get results.
But one of the things that’s often overlooked is the fact that using social media to promote your business is very different from using it for fun. For one thing, you need to be more… well, professional if you want people to take your business seriously.
So while your personal timeline can be filled with pictures of your last holiday or nights out with the mates, your professional timeline should be a shop window for your business.
Are your social media posts in good form?
I follow a lot of fitness professionals on social media. I read a lot of fitness magazines. And I keep up to date with the fitness industry as a whole. That’s partly because I enjoy exercising in the gym but also because that’s the industry I work in.
And I can’t help but notice some of the things they do that detract from the messages they’re trying to share.
So, here are 3 things you need to keep in mind if you’re a fitness professional posting on social media:
1. Check your spelling!
I get it, you’re not a spelling and grammar nerd (yeah that’s me!) But spelling mistakes make you look careless, and it sends a message to clients that you aren’t interested in ‘small’ details.
And it plays into the stereotype that people might have about the fitness professional whose life revolves around the gym. You know what I mean, too much time in front of the mirror and not enough time in front of a book.
While that stereotype isn't true (most fitness professionals I know are extremely well educated) you need to be aware of how potential clients will perceive your services.
Sometimes mistakes slip through the net, and that’s OK, we’re all human.
But at the same time, social media is characterised by the ability to level criticism at anyone for the slightest reason. And while you can’t let every critic discourage you, you don’t want that criticism to come from the very individuals you’re trying to attract as clients.
So, at the very least, you need to know the difference between:
their, there and they’re
your and you’re
to, too and two!
And while we’re talking about spelling, don’t just assume a spellchecker will spot these issues for you. Spellcheckers only find words that are incorrectly spelt not words incorrectly used.
2. STOP USING CAPITAL LETTERS ALL THE TIME.
A sentence written entirely in capital letters results in poor readability and it forces the reader to work harder.
Write a whole paragraph of text on an Instagram reel and you lose me halfway through. It’s just too tiring to bother reading it.
Remember, social media means we have really short attention spans. If it involves too much mental effort we just scroll to the next post.
And it comes across as SHOUTY.[1]
So follow the normal rules of punctuation (use capital letter at the start of a sentence, for names etc.) and only use capitals to HIGHLIGHT key words.
As an aside note, it’s worth keeping in mind how you format social media posts. Do they have any consistency? Do they create a sense of identity or brand? Is your content easily identifiable?
3. Include a Call To Action (CTA)
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that social media requires quantity rather than quality. After all, there’s so much noise out there it’s hard to stand out from the crowd.
But that doesn’t mean you should flood your timeline with meaningless posts, memes or pictures of your abs.
So, ask yourself: What do I want to achieve with this post? Do I want to inform? Educate? Inspire? Motivate? Post a variety of content that fits in with your purpose.
There’s nothing wrong with posting the odd cat meme if that’s your thing but the majority of your posts should tell your reader what they need to do – a ‘call to action’ or CTA. Maybe you want them to try out a recipe or an exercise, check out your website, download an ebook or click a link to book a class or training session.
Whatever it is, make it stand out because your CTA will encourage your followers to interact with you on some level.
Social media is constantly evolving and it’s hard staying up to date with all the latest developments or algorithms. Despite that, good quality content, like a well-executed exercise, produces good results.
Do you struggle to create inspiring content for your clients? Creating blog posts, client newsletters or web content will inspire and educate your clients, creating a sense of community.
Get in touch today to find out how I help busy fitness professionals like you to create engaging content for your clients.
[1] Heath, Maria (2021) "NO NEED TO YELL: A Prosodic Analysis of Writing in All Caps," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 27: Issue. 1, Article 10. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol27/iss1/10