7 steps to create your gym’s Instagram strategy

In recent years, social media have become a key communication channel for any sector because through them you can maintain close contact with your users while reaching potential customers and publicising your gym. That’s why, in this post we tell you the 7 fundamental steps to create your gym’s Instagram strategy in an effective and practical way. Shall we get started?

7 steps to create your gym’s Instagram strategy

1. Define achievable and measurable objectives

The first step in creating an Instagram strategy is to be clear about what you want to achieve. In other words, your strategy has to be focused on achieving certain marketing goals: do you want to achieve brand awareness, reach potential target customers, create an online community loyal to your brand, or are you going to use instagram to inform and educate your followers about fitness? Define the what and then prepare the how.

Although there are many different goals, you should focus on 2 or 3. Usually what you want to achieve with Instagram is:

• Increase visibility
• Raise awareness of your gym
• Get new users
• Create an online community
• Get more traffic to the gym’s website
• Complement the experience users have in your gym

You must be clear that for each objective you will design specific content that will help you to achieve it. That is why this first step is fundamental.

2. Define the target of your gym’s Instagram strategy

Once you are clear about what you want to achieve with your strategy, it is time to define your buyer personas.

What is a buyer persona? It is a fictitious representation of your potential customer, the one who might buy your services.

The target audience of your gym is very broad, so the message will not be the same for some as for others. Let’s look at it with an example: the audience who might come to the club to do strength training on their own is not the same as the audience who might come to a yoga session.

In addition, you must analyse and know very well all the profiles that make up your target audience: age, gender, objectives and needs, training preferences, purchasing power… In other words, don’t think of everyone. Correctly defining your buyer persona will allow you to create an effective strategy in tune with your gym.

A simple way to find out what kind of content they might be interested in is to identify what their pain points are:

• Lack of motivation
• Unhealthy or not goal-oriented nutrition
• Lack of knowledge about the use of machines
• Lack of exercise habit
• Fear of injuries
• Mobility problems

3. Analyse competitors and similar accounts in the sector

One thing is clear, nowadays everything has been invented. It’s normal, there are thousands of gyms and sports centres. However, this can help you target your Instagram strategy.

You should never copy what others are doing but it is important that you analyse what your competitors and industry leaders are doing, after all they know what works and what doesn’t. This will help you define what content you want to showcase, as well as see their engagement, how their followers act, even what hashtags they use. This will help you define what content you want to show, as well as see their engagement, how their followers act, even what hashtags they use.

In short, analysing other Instagram strategies of businesses in your sector will help you to have a better understanding of what users are looking for and to attack in a more effective way.

*Want to know how to do better than your competitors? Take a look at this article: Outperform the competition with good club management.

4. Define the message you want to give

One of the key aspects of a successful Instagram strategy is to define the message you want to convey to your audience. This message should reflect the identity and values of your gym, and help establish an emotional connection with your followers. Here are some guidelines for defining your message:

• Value proposition: Identify what makes your gym unique and special.
• Positioning: Determine how you want your gym to be perceived in the marketplace. Do you want to be recognised as a place to get fast results, an inclusive space for all ages and fitness levels, or a holistic wellness centre? Define your positioning so you can align your messaging and content with this vision.
• Tone and style of communication: Do you prefer a friendly and motivational approach, or perhaps a more serious and professional one? The choice of tone and style will depend on the personality of your brand and the way you want to connect with your followers.

Remember that consistency in your messaging is key. Use your core message as a guide for all your posts and make sure all interactions with your audience are aligned with your gym’s identity.

By defining a clear and powerful message, you can establish a deeper connection with your audience and differentiate yourself in the competitive world of Instagram.

5. Generate valuable content

The content you share on Instagram should be valuable and relevant to your target audience. Knowing who your buyer persona is, what you want to achieve, what the message is and what your competitors are doing will make it easier for you to generate content.

Here are some ideas for generating valuable content:

• Training tips: practical advice on how to improve fitness, maximise exercise results or incorporate effective routines into daily life. These tips can be short and easy to implement.
• Educational content: useful information on nutrition, anatomy, injury prevention or any other topic related to health and wellness. This will demonstrate your expertise and help your followers gain relevant knowledge.
• Testimonials and results: share testimonials from satisfied clients, before and after transformations, or results of challenges and achievements at your gym. These testimonials are a powerful way to build trust.

6. Plan the content for your gym’s Instagram strategy

To maintain a constant presence on Instagram, it is essential to plan your content. First of all, you should define how often you want to post and the frequency of each content you have defined. Ideally, you should post at least 3 times a week.

Once you’re clear about your target audience on Instagram, it’s time to get involved with your account. What can you do?

• Research the type of content used by your competitors.
• Test different content formats: photos, carrousels, reels, instagram stories, ebooks…
• Use scheduling tools such as Facebook Creator Studio or Metricool among others to plan and schedule your posts in advance. This will allow you to save time and maintain a regular presence.
• Interact with potential customer accounts and other companies in the sector.

Planning will help you maintain a consistent and effective strategy on valuable Instagrams on other accounts.

7. Measure your results and be aware of Instagram’s algorithm

Resawod’s mantra is: “measure and you will win”.

Once you’ve planned your content, use Instagram’s analytics tools to evaluate the performance of your posts. These stats will show you important data such as reach, impressions, engagement and follower growth. Analyse this data to identify what type of content and what strategies work best for you.

Once you have analysed the data, adjust your strategy. Experiment with different types of content, posting schedules and communication approaches. See how these adjustments affect your results and make changes accordingly.

On the other hand, you have to take into account another decisive factor: Instagram’s algorithm. Keep up to date with the changes the platform makes to the way it displays content to users. Make sure you understand how the algorithm works and how you can adapt your strategy to maximise your visibility. Some key aspects to consider include content relevance, user engagement and the appropriate use of hashtags.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new ideas. Instagram is a constantly evolving platform, so it’s important to be willing to adapt and learn from the results. Be patient, building a successful Instagram strategy takes time and effort.

Extra tip – 7 tips to boost engagement on your Instragram account

It is important that you know the different marketing actions and strategies that you can carry out to get more likes, increase the number of views of our videos, increase the number of followers and comments on our publications. In short, which strategies increase engagement.

But let me tell you, this does not happen overnight, but there are techniques that we must know how to apply in order to increase interactions on the social network.

Engagement, or the interaction and participation of your followers with your content, is crucial to the success of your Instagram strategy. Increasing engagement will help you build a strong community, strengthen your brand and achieve your goals. Here are 7 tips to boost engagement on your Instagram account:

1. Optimise your biography
2. Include a link to your website or a page that interests you.
3. Make the most of your instagram stories content
4. Interact with your followers
5. Use featured stories
6. Create a company profile
7. Make live videos

Remember that engagement isn’t just about getting likes and comments, it’s about building genuine and lasting relationships with your audience. Apply these tips consistently and authentically to boost engagement on your Instagram account and grow your community of engaged followers.

In short, creating an effective Instagram strategy for your gym takes time, planning and consistency. We have been talking about the 7 basic and crucial steps you must follow to achieve success on this platform. There are thousands of strategies but without a good foundation, they will be useless. Follow these steps to boost engagement and foster an active and engaged community that will strengthen your gym’s brand.