Facebook is more than cute cat videos and updates from relatives. In fact, it’s one of the best platforms to reach potential clients and grow your personal training business.
Facebook is the largest social media site with 2.9 billion active users. And considering that 73% of U.S. adults visit Facebook every day, it’s probably a safe bet that many of your ideal clients are active on the site.
If you’re not already, you should definitely take advantage of Facebook as one of many great marketing tools in your overall strategy. And since learning each of these marketing tools can be time consuming, we want to make it a little easier for you with some of our best tips for using Facebook to get more personal training clients.
How to Get More Personal Training Clients from Facebook:
- Chapter 1: Set up your Facebook page correctly
- Chapter 2: Bring your ideal clients to your Facebook page
- Chapter 3: Post content to engage your ideal clients
- Chapter 4: Use Facebook Ads
- Chapter 5: Convert more Facebook followers into paying clients
We’ll dive deep and offer instructions within each of these steps that will help you make the most of this social media giant. Let’s get started.
Set up your Facebook page correctly
Your first steps will involve making sure that your Facebook page is optimized to serve your business. Setting up your page correctly will help you attract more new followers that you can convert into clients. Let’s break down what you need to know.
Use a business profile
Though your page will look very similar to a personal account, it’s important to make sure that you are using a business profile. This will allow you to take advantage of the benefits and extra features that a business account provides. It will also make it easier for prospective clients to find you and “like” your page so that they can see your content.
If you’re already using a personal profile, you can make the switch to a business account. If you’re starting from scratch, Facebook has a step by step guide to setting up your page.
Facebook will give your business a unique URL that will end in a series of numbers. To make your URL cleaner and more shareable, follow these instructions from Facebook to create a simplified “vanity URL”.
Choose great imagery
Your profile and cover photo are also really important. For your profile pic, choose a professional looking picture of yourself or set it as your logo. Use an eye catching, branded cover photo to capture the attention of anyone that lands on your page.
Optimize your page
Up next, you’ll want to write a great “About” section that helps visitors know who you are and what you do. When people first land on your page, they will see an abbreviated version of your “About” in a preview section on your page.
Optimize your preview section by writing short copy that helps people understand you and your business and encourages them to get to know you better.
Another great tip is to earn the “responsive to messages” badge by answering your DMs in a timely manner. Facebook will add the badge to your page which tells any visitor that you are a responsive business and will be quick to answer any questions they might have.
Lastly, Facebook allows you to include a “Call to Action” button right at the top of your profile. There, you choose from one of the predetermined button options and include a relevant link (like to your landing page or new client form) right there on your page.
Bring your ideal clients to your Facebook page
Having a correctly set up Business profile will help your visibility on Facebook. But there are also more active steps you can take to ensure the right people are finding your page.
Utilize Facebook groups
Facebook groups are a great way to find and connect with ideal clients. Think about your ideal clients and the kinds of groups they might hang out in. You can search for groups made up of people in your local area, or larger groups that have members from all over the world.
Once in a group, get involved. Join the conversation and engage with members to build connections and get your name out there.
You can also create your own Facebook group and invite people to join. This can be a great place to sell your services and share more about your business as it’s relevant.
Bring your followers from other platforms to Facebook
Use your other communication channels to bring new followers to your Facebook page. Send an email informing your subscribers that they should also follow you on Facebook. Include a link to your Facebook page (and all other social media pages) on the footer of your website.
For a big push for followers, you may even offer some incentives or giveaways. Tell your existing clients and other social media followers that you’re giving away one free personal training session to anyone that follows you on Facebook in the next 30 days.
Go live
As Facebook describes, you can go live to “make personal connections and create shared experiences.” This can be a great way to bring new followers to your page.
Consider a collaboration and go live with businesses that serve the same idea client but aren’t competitors. An engaging virtual event like a Q&A, conversation, or live streamed workout can help you reach new accounts and build a more loyal following.
Post content to engage your ideal clients
Getting people to your page is only part of the battle. You’ve also got to share the right kind of content that will help you turn your followers into paying clients.
Figure out your content pillars
One of the most important parts of marketing your business on Facebook is sharing educational content that informs your client and makes them feel like they can trust you. You’ll want to get really intentional about the kind of content you are going to share and how you can use your expertise as a personal trainer to educate your audience.
It can be helpful to decide four main “content pillars’‘ that you use to take your ideal client from point A to point B. Here’s an example of four pillars you might see on a fitness page :
- Workout
- Nutrition
- Mindset
- Habits
Once you have your pillars, you’ll break them down even further to generate your actual content ideas. Here’s what one of the pillars from above might look like broken down:
Workout
- Stretching
- Foam rolling
- Warmup
- Exercises
- Form cues
Doing this for each pillar will give you 25-30 subtopics to talk about, which is clearly a great start! These educational topics can help you build your authority online so that followers see you as a go-to source for all things fitness, making them much more likely to work with you when they’re ready to hire a personal trainer.
Focus on quality
You might be wondering: “How often do I need to be posting?”
A good rule of thumb for posting on Facebook (or any social media site for that matter) is quality over quantity.
Being active on Facebook is important, but you don’t have to get caught up in trying to post everyday. Instead, post a few times a week and make sure that the quality of your posts is really strong. If you’re posting just to post several times a day, you could actually end up overwhelming your customers or making them lose interest.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re posting at the right times of day. The data suggest that the best time to post on Facebook is Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 1–2 p.m. Other optimal times include Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. And the worst time to post on Facebook? Sundays, or any day before 7 a.m. or after 5 p.m.
And since sometimes you won’t be able to get on Facebook and post during the prime times, you can use a scheduling tool to plan out your posts in batches and automatically send them out on the days/times you choose. This can be a great way to save time and build out a robust content calendar.
Post great visual content
Your Facebook content needs to include eye-catching visuals that are worth stopping a scroll for. On Facebook, you can share single photos, a whole album, videos, and stories, and it’s a good idea to do a little of everything.
One study found that Facebook posts with photos saw the most engagement over any other type of post, accounting for a whopping 87% of total interactions, but video is a strong player as well. There are around 4 billion video views on the platform every single day.
A great strategy will include high-quality images, screenshots, infographics, and video content. Keep your ideal client in mind when choosing your media and pay attention to what types of media perform best with your followers.
Caption tips
Great media alone isn’t enough to warrant likes and shares from your audience. You also need to write captions with the intention that encourage conversation and spark interest in your business.
Put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes. What do they want to know? What do they care about? Think about how you can add value to your posts with your industry knowledge and expertise.
Format captions with a strong opening sentence and avoid large chunks of text. For many posts, you’ll want to end with a question that ignites further engagement or a Call to Action that encourages readers to take another step like sharing the post with friends, signing up for your program, visiting your website, etc.
Use Facebook Ads
According to Hubspot, Facebook ads provide the highest return on investment (ROI) among all paid advertising channels. Because of their advanced ad tool, if you’re going to spend money on ads, Facebook is a great place to do it. Let’s talk a little bit about how to make the most of this feature.
Decide on a strong offer
Facebook ads are at the top of the sales funnel, meaning you don’t necessarily need them to convert people that see them into clients right away, rather you need them to draw awareness to your business and help you open communication channels with leads.
To open these communication channels, you need a strong offer that you will share in your ad. Think about something that doesn’t take a whole lot of your time but that would be really enticing to ideal clients. You might offer one free training session or free fitness assessment. Another popular option is a downloadable freebie, also called a lead magnet. The idea is to get your leads to provide their contact info in exchange for these offers so that you can push them further down your sales funnel. You’ll need to build a landing page where leads can go to take the next step.
Design your ad
Creating an ad is similar to creating a regular feed post. Choose eye-catching imagery or video that looks organic in your prospect’s timeline and write strong copy using the following formula:
- Hook - Call out your ideal client’s pain points.
- Body - Tell them about your solution!
- Call to Action - Let them know what to do next.
Facebook Targeting
Facebook is smart enough to figure out what the right audience is after a few conversions, but to start you’ll need to help your ads get on the right path.
Make sure that you input your location when creating ad campaigns. Use the information that you know about your ideal clients to target your ads based on a combination of qualities. You can narrow it down by demographic information like age and gender, then get even more specific and target people with certain interests (like physical fitness).
Keep an eye on your audience size and be sure not to make it too small. You want to make sure you are still targeting a large number of people. Once your campaign is launched, Facebook will be able to determine who to show your ads to and where.
Test your ads constantly
To make sure you are getting the best ROI for your ads, you will want to test them constantly. A/B testing involves pitting two or more similar ads against each other and seeing how they compare. You will want to test things like your ad copy, your media, and your offers.
Use Facebook analytics to monitor your results and adjust accordingly. Things to keep in mind:
- Which posts got the most unique views?
- How many clicks stemmed from paid ads?
- Does your audience respond better to photo or video content?
Use your insights to help you keep creating new and better ads.
Convert more Facebook followers into paying clients
Facebook can play a big role in helping you grow your business, but if you’re really looking to convert more Facebook friends into paying customers, it might be time to reevaluate your personal training packages.
Traditional personal training is very limited. It requires a big time commitment from clients and the cost can really add up. For most people, it simply isn’t doable. This means that you may end up with a ton of followers, but a lot of them won’t be able to buy from you because traditional personal training is just not the right fit for them.
However, online personal training is a more flexible and affordable option that can help you reach more clients. Consider the following online training packages to increase your conversion:
- Online group training - serve many clients at once and offer them group support remotely.
- 1-on-1 online personal training - a fully online option where all of a clients program is delivered remotely including check-in calls, workout logs, habit coaching, nutrition support, and more.
- Template program - build a templated program that clients can buy and complete on their own time. This hands off option can make you money for years to come.
- Hybrid training - offer in-person support less often and deliver the rest of the materials online. This option is great for clients that want flexibility and affordability but a little more hand holding.
All of the online training packages can be delivered with ease through our personal training app TrainerFu. The app can help you deliver workouts, monitor your client’s progress, provide community support, build fitness template programs, and more.
Expanding your offerings can help you get more personal training clients from Facebook. And having the right tools to deliver those services helps you retain those clients for the long haul. To learn more about online personal training, be sure to check out this other great resource: