Right now, we are living through a demanding and stressful time. Many of us have been forced to adapt to new routines, and if you are a gym owner who has found themselves working remotely, you might be wondering how exactly to carry on in a field that often requires in-person contact.
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Even if you can't see each other in person, new media has given rise to a whole lot of new ways for businesses to engage with their customers digitally. But, of course, if you are used to speaking with customers physically, this could be a challenging new venture to take on.
Here is our guide for engaging with your community on social media as a gym business owner.
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1. Schedule live streaming sessions daily
Right now is a great opportunity to take advantage of livestreaming on social media; it's an even better opportunity to stick to a consistent schedule to go live for your followers. If you can, streaming daily for even just 10 to 15 minutes at the same time is a great way to answer questions for your followers and nurture your community.
Stuck for topics? Consider focusing your livestream on any of the following:
- • Workout routines—targeting a specific area of the body or the entire body
- • Healthy recipes
- • Q&A sessions
- • Recommendations for fitness gear
- • Partnership videos with others
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2. Post actionable tips & film tutorials
If you can't host a livestream, you can still reach your audience in other ways. Sharing helpful tips and tutorials will give them something of value through your content, but it's just as important to make sure the information you provide has an actionable approach for your community so they can engage right back.
Your call-to-action could be a number of different options, including:
- • Tuning into an upcoming streaming workout
- • Signing up to your newsletter for exclusive content
- • Inviting your community to share their own tips
- • Sharing content with a specific hashtag for you to share (more on that later!)
- • Reserving a one-on-one session with you when you back in regular operation
Plan ahead by knowing all the fitness industry trends:
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3. Respond to questions and comments from your community
This is also the best time to stay on top of replying to comments from your members, now more than ever.
When you respond to your community's comments with personalized and intuitive responses, they will recognize that you are a real person behind the account. This is a great way to build trust with your members, in a time when many of them are looking for sources of comfort to trust.
Plan ahead by knowing all the fitness industry trends:
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4. Share content from the community
Regularly sharing content from your followers is a wonderful practice to incorporate into your social media strategy, and there are a few reasons for you. It doesn't just give your audience an actionable goal, it also alleviates the pressure to create all of your own content all the time. The best way to do this is to encourage users to use a specific hashtag to be seen so that you can share their posts.
There are a few ground rules to follow if you want to take this path in your social media strategy, though. First, make sure you explicitly ask for permission to repost it, and get a clear answer from the poster. It's best to be sure you are in the clear to post it, rather than face consequences if you get an unclear answer. Next, make sure you give the original poster credit in the description by linking back to their account. Finally, don't alter anything about the image; leave it as it is for posting.
Plan ahead by knowing all the fitness industry trends:
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We're all in this together
Through this extraordinary and challenging time, we have all truly seen how being far apart doesn't mean we can't still stay connected. In the age of social media and constant communication, we hope these tips for engaging with your gym community have been helpful!
