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Social media is different now that you’re a personal trainer. Instagram isn’t about posting videos of you doing a keg stand at Coachella in a questionably racist Indian headdress. It’s about 1) providing value 2) showing proof and 3) attracting interest. Those will be the three primary objectives of your social media presence. So, before you keep reading, go ahead and give your IG a quick gloss over and delete that post about why Will Smith had every right to slap Chris Rock. None of that matters now. 

Provide Value: People tend to get this one wrong. When you’re posting to social media remember that you are not doing it for yourself anymore, you’re doing it for your audience. You should be giving your audience something that matters to them. Sure, it needs to come from a genuine place and you need to be interested and passionate about it, but the end result is that the audience wins the transaction. They give you your attention and in exchange they receive value that exceeds the price of their time. 

While social media might be narcissistic in nature, your presence online needs to be selfless. Give, give, give. Your audience should be shocked at how much information you hand out entirely free. Think about all successful podcasts, Instagram pages, and YouTube channels. Why do they blow up? Because they cater to their audience without asking for anything in return. 

What’s the end goal? Cool, so we gave our audience a bunch of stuff for free… but how does that make us money? I mentioned before that if you provide enough value, your audience will feel like they’ve won the transaction: they received more than they gave. Well, it’s great that they feel that way, but it’s not entirely true. Our win is just more subtle. When we give value for long enough, we earn people’s trust. And that’s often the first step in client acquisition. 

Show Proof: As a personal trainer, it’s not enough to say that you can get someone results; you have to prove it. 

We’ve all seen the misleading before-and-after photos on Slim Fast commercials where the subject is suddenly tall, dark and handsome after 3 weeks of dieting. That’s not the route to go down. You just earned your audiences’ trust. Don’t lose it. 

Authenticity is key. Honest transformations earn clients.So let the unrealistic progress pictures go viral on Reddit. We’re not after “likes”; we’re after clients. Despite what you see scrolling TikTok, the Internet isn’t as dumb as it puts on. In fact, if you’ve done it right, you probably built an intelligent, inquisitive, and evidence-based following. Don’t try to fool them. 

Attract Interest: At the end of the day, social media is still entertainment. If your digital presence is one giant PowerPoint, people are going to tune out. Potential client’s want their personal trainer to be knowledgeable and deliver results but they also want them to be human. Don’t feel tied down to steps one and two. Use them to get you moving, but once you’re in motion, be yourself. Think of your favorite trainers, coaches, and fitness brands online. They aren’t just businesses. They’re people.

This is what audiences will ultimately be attracted to: you. Personal trainers, whether we want to believe it or not, are not all entirely unique. We share a body of knowledge. We read the same research papers. We have the same certifications. What makes us different is our personalities. And often that’s the deciding factor for a client hiring a personal trainer. 

It’s important to note, there’s no blueprint to social media. Remember that video that went viral of the guy skateboarding while drinking cranberry juice and listening to Fleetwood Mac? No one can predict what will work and what will flop. But by following these three principals, you can at least have a framework that gets you in the game and gives you a chance to succeed.