Social media tips: Boost Your Pilates Business
Learn how to build community and create engaging content for your business every month
Building a community is important for your business. When you do this effectively, you create a group of people who are emotionally invested in your brand. By fostering a sense of belonging, which is a basic human need, a community can help increase awareness and loyalty of your Pilates studio by bringing people together who share common values and interests.
When your clients feel a sense of belonging and engagement, you can build a loyal client base that is more likely to buy more from you and recommend your studio to their friends and family.
By actively listening and engaging with your community, you can gather feedback and insights that can help improve the products and services you offer to meet the needs of your customers, create better sales strategies, leading to increased conversions and revenue.
A community can also serve as a valuable marketing tool by providing you with a captive audience to promote new products, services, special offers and events.
Here are some ideas for you to build content and engagement – remember… create shareable content, relatable content and inspiration, and funny posts are great too as they are light-hearted and make people laugh. If someone enjoys your space online, they will continue to follow and engage with you.
The following can help you do this:
· Post more than one image: If you are going to post in the grid, use an Instagram carousel post over just one image. It lets you to share up to 10 photos or videos in one post. Each photo/video appears as a separate slide that you can swipe through.
It's a great way to tell a story, showcase products or events, or share multiple angles or moments in one post and each swipe is classed as engagement - the more people swipe, the more engagement.
· Create a Call to Action (CTA): Providing a CTA in social media is a prompt that encourages users to take a specific action, such as clicking a link, commenting, or making a purchase.
· Asking your audience questions: Ask questions in your social media posts prompts users to respond with their own thoughts and opinions. It can also help generate conversation.
· Use stickers: Using Instagram stickers is good because they make stories more interactive, visually appealing, and fun, while also helping to increase reach, views, and engagement.
To increase engagement in an email newsletter, you can personalise the content using custom dear “fname” fields, make it visually appealing, segment your audience, include a clear call-to-action, ask for feedback, send at the right time, and offer exclusive deals or promotions for your clients to click through to.
Here is a list creative content ideas to get you started:
- Create a sequence of photos showing the different levels and adapted positions for beginner, intermediate and advanced or the injured, so you can connect with people at where they are at, which can make them feel more comfortable making the step to book in a class.
- Share a personal story or experience about how Pilates has helped you or a client overcome a physical or mental challenge
- Host live sessions on Instagram or Facebook to engage with your clients in real-time. These sessions can be used for Q&A sessions, tutorials, or even Pilates classes.
- Create online challenges related to encouraging your clients and potential new clients to participate. Use countdown stickers.
- Share a photo showing the correct and incorrect positioning and posture and how to improve it
- Create a short video or post explaining the benefits of Pilates for a specific health condition, such as back pain or postpartum recovery
- Share customer testimonials to demonstrate the effectiveness as instructors and build trust with your audience
- Offer promotions and discounts or a free Pilates class or tutorial on your social media platform, either through a live stream or pre-recorded video.
- Share a healthy meal idea that supports overall health and wellness.
- Highlight Pilates instructors in your studio, along with a brief explanation
- Create a poll, quiz or question box out of the sticker feature in Instagram
There are so many ways to create posts.
Next issue we will look at optimising your social media profiles and what tech can be used to assist you.
Michelle Vogrinec is a business and marketing strategist with over 20 years of experience. She co-founded GAIA natural baby, an iconic Australian baby skincare brand, that she grew from the ground up and sold in 2019. Now, she works with small business owners as a coach, mentor, and supporter, helping them build trusted brands and long-term, profitable businesses.
You can reach out to Michelle for business advice at michellevogrinec.com.au