How to become a fitness influencer in 2023
Ever wondered how Emma Lovewell went from a $50 Gumtree Job to author, Pelaton Instructor, and international fitness superstar? Or how Kayla Itsines started as a South Australia personal trainer to launching the Sweat App and now has a net worth of $70 Million?
There's no clear answer on how to be successful as a fitness influencer, but it all started with a dream. Below are 5 things that you can do to help grow your following and become a fitness influencer.
1. Define Your Niche
The term niche has almost become cliché in the fitness industry. But it's not without reason. It's because brands that focus on their niche customers deliver a more personal product and have a better chance of success. It's the whole argument of why Apple created the iPhone and focuses on what makes them different from their competitors by creating a unique experience for their customers.
As a fitness influencer, this could mean that your ideal niche is mums and bubs between the ages of 30-40 who want to work out at home. Or maybe your niche is men between the ages of 18-25 who are just starting to look into competing as bodybuilders. Whatever your niche is, it's important to figure out what it is and why.
2. Build Your Brand
This is where the not-so-viral work comes into play. Yes, there are stories of fitness influencers going viral on TikTok with a simple hack, and that's creating content. But the key to a successful brand is understanding why you create the content you do and for whom. You wouldn't see the Liver King creating Pilates content for a women-only gym (or maybe he would). It just wouldn't suit the brand as much.
Build your brand by:
- Having a consistent image or stance on something. James Smith, an English personal trainer now living in Sydney, does this perfectly by consistently debunking fat loss workouts in a humorous way.
3. Develop a Content Strategy
Content is king. And you need to have an angle that either entertains, informs, and provides valuable information to your audience. Hopefully, you can do all three. All strategy really is, is having a goal that you want to meet through some identified ideas with a little bit of research. For example, if you see all influencers in your space are creating reels about weight loss, but your niche is mums and bubs between the ages of 30-40, you could debunk what weight loss actually looks like for a new mum through reels on Instagram or TikTok, or by having a blog.
4. Collaborate With Other Influencers
You can probably succeed by doing everything yourself, but it'll be a quicker and a more enjoyable process if you network with people. Network on an authentic basis, whether it's collaborating on content or seeking your first round of seed funding for 1 million dollars.
5. Stay Authentic and Committed
It's okay to pivot and adjust your strategy, but try to stay true to your why. Your followers will respond better to you being yourself and delivering on what you stand for, not just what is currently trending.
6. Stay Committed to Your Goals
Having goals is paramount to anything worth doing. It's almost the fundamentals of the fitness industry—setting goals for weight loss or strength gains. So it shouldn't be any different when you set some SMART goals for your fitness influencer journey.
7. Choose the Right Revenue Streams
Choosing the right revenue streams is a bit of a catch-22. You might want to take a brand deal that could help you pay your bills in the short term, and there is nothing wrong with that. It would be smart to consider how it could affect the growth of your following. Sometimes it's a short-term loss for a greater gain in the long run.