7 Ways To Super Charge Your Boot Camp Marketing

online boot camp marketingSeems like just about everyday I come across a fitness site or check someone’s page out on Facebook and I know they just aren’t getting it. While many people have come to believe that they really have this INTERNET THANG down, most simply don’t.

The interwebs is NOT a “set it and forget it” world, for the most part. You have to nurture your online presence regularly. Your website has got to evolve as consumers buying habits do online.

For example, since launching Fit Body Boot Camp in 2009 we’ve gone through three different evolutions with the “location sites” – each one increasing SEO, time on page, and response rate. And as the web and consumer habits online evolve we’ll continue to tweak and modify the sites to make sure that they’re always pulling.

See, online boot camp marketing is a different animal because the internet mainly because of Google, and big sites like Amazon, Zappos, and Facebook are retraining us on how to use the web. Unlike offline fitness marketing where the “formula” doesn’t change much, the in internet is always evolving.

It takes some time, but if you cover your bases and develop an organized plan of attack, you can definitely minimize the time you spend while maximizing your boot camp marketing results.

As for results, you want SOME kind of action to take place. Forget the PUSH MARKETING approach, where you just throw out some salesy info and expect everyone to rush to pay you money. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, that don’t work. Instead, you have to focus on building relationships and establish real two way communication.

This post includes 7 tips that I believe will supercharge your online boot camp marketing activity and results. Make sure to include these 7 in your daily and/or weekly marketing rotation.

1.  Testimonials, Testimonials, Testimonials!

Forget selling yourself! Testimonials are killer because they allow someone ELSE to do the selling for you. People are much more likely to listen to someone who has worked for you than to listen to you talk about how awesome you are.

I mean, who is going to say anything else about themselves other than that they awesome! Now, if you have OTHER people saying you are awesome, the people perk up their ears and listen. You absolutely HAVE to develop a long list of testimonials and use them as often as you can (and NEVER stop getting them!)

It doesn’t matter if you have to train a handful of people for free, you have to have some quality testimonials and before/after pics AND videos.

This demonstrates REAL PROOF that you know what the heck you are doing. A key tip is to simply write the testimonials for your clients and ask if they will approve it. As long as what you say applies to them, they should have no problem. If you wait around for people to do them, it may take awhile. That doesn’t mean they don’t value you, but everyone has so much going on in their life they may not make helping You a priority, but if you HELP them help you, you can get a huge list of them in no time.

2.  Give it away, give it away, give it away now

free boot camp marketing tips

Ok, so maybe the Chili Peppers didn’t have boot camp marketing in mind when they wrote their hit song GIVE IT AWAY NOW, but they definitely had the right idea. The more info and knowledge you give away, the more people will see YOU as the expert.

Eben Pagen, one of the top internet marketers out there today calls it “pushing the free line”.

There is so much useless crap and false promises floating around online that if you stick to putting out valuable info that can actually help people lose fat, gain muscle, and feel incredible about themselves, you will likely get more than a few eyeballs on your site and social media posts.

Take your time to craft messages that will truly inspire and give someone the push in the right direction they need. Don’t just pump out shitty content for the sake of pumping out content because you heard that google likes that… Give out healthy recipes, shoot some video of you or a client performing some exercises with perfect form so others can see how its done. Just look for ways to give it away and in doing so you’ll actually being to establish credibility and expert authority.

3.  Make sure you are fishing in the ponds where your clients and prospects are swimming

What I mean is, make sure that you have an online presence in areas where your clients and prospects hang out.

Yeah, Facebook is a biggie, but nowadays, there are a TON of places online where you can make your boot camp marketing really hum. There is Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest to name a few of the places your future clients are hanging out at.

Don’t take something for granted just because it maybe doesn’t interest you, if your target market is there, you should be too.

Now, if you DO create a presence somewhere online, make sure not to neglect it. If you sign up or create a profile online somewhere, devote a bit of time each week to maintaining it. This can get pretty daunting as your boot camp marketing strategy grows, but this is a perfect area where an assistant can come in handy to help you with posting and interacting.

4.  PEOPLE LOVE WATCHING VIDEOS!

People are much more likely to watch a video than read a lengthy post, ESPECIALLY when the screen capture features a good looking guy or gal who is super fit OR includes some funny image and killer content.

If you don’t have one, go out and get a little video camera that plugs directly into your computer and start shooting! You can grab one that is perfect for this for less than $100 and the value you get will be more than worth the investment. Video yourself teaching something, video your boot camp doing a killer workout, or whatever else you come up with that may be interesting to your target market. There is no question that video should be a huge part of your boot camp marketing system. Post on YouTube and social media regularly and you’ll get awesome search engine rankings from them, too.

5. Don’t just act, INTERact

This is such a common mistake people make online…they post something and then roll out. You should be commenting on other’s posts and tweets, and creating conversations rather than JUST content. Show people you’re real. Through these conversations comes action. Find out what is important to others and talk to them about it. Put the focus on THEM, not just your boot camp.

6.  Don’t forget SEO

Many fitness trainers I know still neglect SEO as part of their online boot camp marketing efforts. Big mistake.internet boot camp marketing

I can tell you from first hand experience that we spend a substantial amount of time and energy on optimizing, link building and doing other google friendly things for our Fit Body Boot Camp sites like setting up and optimizing google places/local.

Listen, Google wants to make it easy for your local ideal clients to find you. And I asked my SEO guy create this easy to follow SEO program for you. So you have no excuse not be doing search engine optimization.

7. The power (is STILL) in the list!

If you haven’t started an email list as of yet, first, smack yourself in the face…next, START ONE!

Having an email list of targeted prospects, clients, former clients, business and media contacts is critical and probably THE easiest way to grow your boot camp.  And reaching out to them on a regular basis with e-newsletters, awesome content, client case studies, and email promotions is pretty much my #1 recommended boot camp marketing strategy. (I know it’s last on the list, but that’s because I want you to REMEMBER IT)

These are people who know you are, trust you, and are open to what your offers may be. Now, not EVERY email should be an offer, most should simply be offering valuable tips and info, but when in fact you do send an offer, if you have really created value, you will be surprised as to how many people take advantage of it.

We regularly see trainers get 15, 25, and as much as 60 new clients using the sequential email promotions that I’ve crafted.

It kinda goes without saying, but I am going to go ahead and do it…the EASIEST way for you to manage your personal trainer email marketing is with FitPro Newsletter 3.0, the fitness industries #1 email marketing system. (btw, I’ve loaded it up with done-for-you and ready-to-use email promotions, so it’s a total no brainer)

FPN pretty much takes this part of your boot camp marketing and turns it on autopilot for you 🙂

So, there are my 7 strategies to supercharge your online boot camp marketing. If you are already doing some of these, keep at it and make sure to add the ones you aren’t do yet. Putting all of these to work can make a dramatic difference in your income and lifestyle.

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