Training and marketing – what do they have in common?

With marketing is like with training. If you are a trainer or passionate about any specific sports discipline you practice regularly, you will understand easily the mechanisms that drive effective communication and marketing. Each personal trainer before starting training warnshonestlythat the effects do not come without dedication and that the exercises do not work after a week and require an effort and consistency. The same as training, marketing is a process and it should not be based on one-offs or occasional actions. Just as every trainer educates a trainee that training is a way of life, just as every marketer knows that marketing is a process that is q part of a properly running business. Virtually every stage of marketing, meaning planning and execution of the strategy corresponds to individual steps that are taken while planning training.

Check the environment

When you start working with a new customer as a personal trainer you need to know his/her current activities, lifestyle, and carry special tests to check his/her abilities and limitations. Similarly, in planning the marketing strategy you have to start with the analysis of the initial situation, examine the market and competition. If your brand exists already do a good SWOT analysis to identify weaknesses and strengths, and to distinguish between opportunities and threats.

Set the goals

While working on training plan together with your customer you set the goals - preferably realistic, achievable plus some steps in between which will lead to achieving those long-term targets. I already covered this subject in the article ‘5 steps towards effective personal training goals'. Similarly, in marketing planning you should set goals based on the Peter Drucker’s SMART model which stands for:

specific
measurable
achievable
relevant
time-bound

Choose the tools and resources for the plan

When planning your client’s workouts you select appropriate exercises: weight, equipment and training forms that you can customize to suit his/her abilities. These are the means thanks to which you will implement the plan. Again, the same in marketing, you need to consider what channels of communication and exact media types you will use plus what other marketing tools you will need. It all depends where you find your potential customers, whether it will be Facebook, Instagram. You have to decide generally how much you should invest in advertising on the Internet and whether to advertise in the traditional media, send flyers, hang posters etc.

Develop an action plan

Once you know what forms of workout you would be going for with a customer you are going to write a training plan. Also in marketing, after developing a strategy it's time to prepare the marketing plan. You're writing down specific activities over a set period of time, including budget. Budget is an important factor. It determines the choice of means and tools. But do not be discouraged with low funds. Just like training can be done at an outdoor gym, in the park or woods when running, practicing with your own body weight – simple creative attitude. It is the same with brand promotion – you can use the power of recommendation or choose cheaper and smarter solutions.

Control the progress

You cannot imagine achieving your training goals without controlling your customer’s progress, without checking if you are moving forward. Likewise, in marketing you will not know much if you do not measure your actions. You just have to figure out what indicators are the most important for you and what is good to remember as it not always have to be sales. It all depends on the goals you have set. Sometimes it can be conversion rate, the number of subscriptions to the newsletter, the number of people who filled out the form leaving their contact data, the number of recommendation etc.

Be up to date with the latest trends and news

You know, as a coach, you have to keep up with the industry. The approach to training is changing, the workouts looked completely different 10 years ago than now. If you want to be up to date you need to attend workshops constantly, check out the latest reports, news and stay open- minded. It is not different in marketing. The time of brand monologues and mass marketing has come to an end. Now the dialogue, conversation, answering customer’s questions count more for the recipients who are often the initiators of your brand communication in the social media. Personalization is key i.e. messages and offers tailored to preferences and your customer behaviour.

HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) could be translated into a marketing hit that is action that will draw the attention of the audience and, of course, translate into sales. However, marketing does not resemble short metabolic training, but rather ultra-racing. Be persistent and it will pay off, but you cannot omit none of those steps. If you have PerfectGym management system deployed, up and running, some of those mentioned actions will become easier and more effective.