Did you know that brands all over the world spend over $13.8 billion on influencer marketing? There are many different types of influencers. However, some of the most popular are fitness influencers.
We recently had the honor of being interviewed by Ismirelda of Porch.com. Ismirelda wrote an excellent article on starting an influencer business, so you may want to check that resource out as well.
There are currently 987 fitness influencers on Instagram alone. These influencers have an average of over 232,000 followers each. If you are able to become a successful influencer yourself, you could make a great living.
However, it is not going to be easy to succeed as a fitness influencer. You are going to have to treat it like a legitimate business from beginning to end. You should read more about the considerations of running a healthcare business for more detail.
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If you would like to become a successful fitness industry influencer you have to maintain some level of professionalism when it comes to running your social accounts and working with brands to promote their services and products. There are numerous factors that you will need to consider.
Here are 5 of the most important ones:
1. Niche Selection
It is important to first select a niche in the fitness industry. You need to have a narrowly defined niche since people require experience and some level of specialism to become an expert at anything.
If you are a marathon expert, for instance, you would have run a few and provide content that will offer value to your followers. Keep in mind that, to be successful, people must trust your content and the only way this is possible is if you are adding value to their lives.
Selecting your specialty as a fitness influencer is the quickest path to becoming an expert at what you do. You can choose bodybuilding, yoga, aerobics, or just provide information on your personal fitness journey.
Once you select a niche, post regularly so that the audience will be expecting regular posts. It will give you the opportunity to establish credibility while you test your style. The more content you post in your niche, the more people will start viewing you as an authority. After getting more comfortable, your reputation will start growing and people will easily find you.
2. Find Your Tone
Now that you have identified a suitable niche, the next step is decide how you would like to get the message across to your followers. You can come across as motivational, sympathetic, or even a tough nut.
Whatever works for your audience is what you always need to aim for. Fitness personalities are in the business of helping others to the best of their ability. Your job is helping people overcome their fitness difficulties, so your mindset and tone need to communicate the right message to readers.
Above all, you should strive to help followers achieve their goals. If you have a mindset of offering guidance, providing value and trusted support, this will go a long way in making sure that both followers and brands value your input.
3. Tell Your Story
Do people that visit your social profile for the very first time consider you a fitness influencer? Do they get the complete picture just by looking at your posts? Your profile needs to naturally be a storyboard of your fitness life. People will respond well if they are able to relate.
Your followers will appreciate your openness and willingness to offer them a peek into your life. It shows them that you aren’t just connecting with them to grow your numbers, but rather that there’s an actual human being behind the influencer account.
Sharing your story can also be a great way to promote brands. You can show videos, pictures, and share stories of your real-life experiences while including various elements in the story that can help you promote brands.
For instance, going on your account and stating “XYZ amino acid is great…” is far from a trustworthy way to promote products. A better approach would be to use a personal story like “I always take XYZ amino acids before hitting the gym…”
You should keep telling your story irrespective of the brands that you are promoting and people will keep trusting that your opinions are independent of any promotional fees.
4. Engagement Vs. Followers
As a fitness expert, you have to decide what kind of influencer you would like to be.
Influencer marketing isn’t just for big names like the Kardashians, you can still be a reliable and successful social force even with fewer numbers. Statistics show that influencers who have fewer followers have a higher engagement rate than those with millions of followers.
Obviously, if you have a million followers you will likely earn significantly more from brand sponsorship, but your engagement rate will likely suffer.
If you are working on growing your numbers, it is important to maintain a competitive edge and make sure that the audience is engaged even as your numbers grow. Ensure that your key appeal never suffers.
5. Build Your Audience
There are a lot of reasons healthcare companies utilize influencers. However, you have to add value to their brand for them to want to work with you. The most important thing you have to offer them is an audience to hear their messages. You are unlikely to get any sponsorship if you don’t have an audience.
So, the first thing you should do is build a follower base that will not only help you grow your credibility but also your income. Buy YouTube subscribers to boost a new account and attract new followers.
A great place to start is by contacting fellow influencers in your niche and building rapport with them. Share their content, show them support, mention them in your posts, and network with them to gain visibility.
If you market yourself effectively your audience will automatically grow.
