Social media is where everything is happening these days. Pretty much no brand out there looking to gain exposure and reach to their target audiences can ignore it anymore. Over 5 billion people use it daily, and that number continues to grow with each passing day. It doesn’t discriminate against industries too, as any brand or business within any industry can use it to great effect in their marketing strategies should they choose to incorporate it. When it comes to health and fitness, many of the industry leaders who dominate this industry – unsurprisingly, usually have social media baked into their fitness marketing strategies.

Why? It is probably the quickest way to get information out to their target audience and consumers, but not only that, it makes a lot of sense that people who are usually on-the-move and active would consume social media content made for them on the regular.

So with that said, here are how some of the biggest health and fitness brands out there are using social media to great effect for their fitness marketing strategies. And maybe you might be able to take something away so that you can grow your brand’s online ‘muscles’ more effectively!

Exercise 1: Aim to be aspirational

Being healthy and fit is a lifestyle choice for many. So why not let consumers dream more with your brand? Offering ways that they can take their lifestyle to the next level is always appealing for all, and brands know that beyond just appealing to the basic needs of their customers, giving them a bit more than that can be the deciding factor that makes them go for them rather than their competitors.

An example of a health and fitness brand that does this is Alo Yoga, which sells active wear made for yoga enthusiasts.

On their Instagram, you will see that while they do promote their products pretty often on their feed as all brands do, what makes them stand out is they way their they are shown on their social media feed.

Those who love yoga will probably already know that Alo Yoga offers high-quality active wear for those really into the activity, but what they display on social media are women who have effectively styled these pieces of clothing into something more than just active wear. They look stylish in multiple environments, be it urban streets, against industrial walls or within their homes. Not only that, they actively engage influencers who actively use their products to show off their routines, helping customers better imagine how Alo Yoga’s offerings can fit into their life.

Show stories of success!

What gets people on the road to their own success? Other stories of success, of course. Gymshark’s Instagram often showcases people who are exceptionally fit and strong. What follows is usually a string of compliments within the comments, or people in awe of the glorious physique of the person within the image.

For those who are on the fence about buying their equipment to achieve their fitness goals, it wouldn’t be surprising if they took one look at Gymshark’s page and see plenty of people who have achieved impressive goals with their products. Not only does this build reliability, it helps the average consumer to associate the brand as a brand that could potentially help them to achieve their aspirations when it comes to their own fitness goals!

So always aim to make customers dream when it comes to your brand: what else can they have that they can’t if they buy a competitor’s products? You get to decide and curate that story with your social media platforms if done right!

Exercise 2: Educate your followers

There’s so much social media content out there right now that it can be difficult for the average consumer to know if it’s worth their time or not. To make sure that they understand that whatever you post is not just mere entertainment and worth stopping for on their digital screens, making content that is educational can help a lot when it comes to creating effective fitness marketing strategies.

A healthcare brand that does this often is Tonal, which sells a home gym machine fit for those who prefer to work out at home and away from the prying eyes of others. While they do promote their namesake gym machine prominently, in-between these posts are educational tips on exercising and working out.

Beyond sharing educational information, taking quotes from experts helps to build credibility for their brand, as what they’re saying on their social media pages are from credible sources. This helps it to stand out from potential misinformation and ‘fake news’, which we all know, runs rampant on social media regardless on what you are looking at.

Not only that, it helps to relay the message that you know what you are talking about, giving any potential product you might offer a boost in terms of perception.

Stir up those recipes!

If what you offer is something someone can consume, another way you can share something educational comes in the form of recipes. Bloom Nutrition, a superfood supplement manufacturer, does that on the regular! It is not uncommon to see them using their products in their own recipes, helping to teach customers and potential ones how to effectively use their products to create delicious drinks. Anyone who has been on TikTok knows that recipes go viral all the time… so who knows, maybe the content you create for your brand might become the next trend that everyone follows!

Methodology, a brand focused on delivering healthy meals to your doorstep and saving you time from meal prepping, does this in a different way. To showcase the good within each meal they make – they often create, digestible bites of educational content perfect for a customer to immediately understand why they should choose Methodolgy for their meal prep needs.

Focusing on matcha in this post, it quickly skims through health benefits that the average consumer might not know when consuming it. As it is a key ingredient in many of their meals, one can say that it is pretty much shouting out their unique selling point to their customers, while keeping it educational for those who aren’t customers too.

Questions aplenty

Sometimes, customers might have questions about your brand in general. You can save them a Google search by educating them on the most asked questions about your brand through your social media feed too!

ARMRA answers questions about its natural, whole bioactive food with visual posts. As many are probably unaware of what goes into something called a ‘bioactive food’, it makes a lot of sense to make educational information as easily accessible as possible.

Informing customers on a touchpoint they are commonly at could be just enough information they need to make their final decision for purchase! That’s definitely better than leetting them do a Google search which might lead their attention away from your brand entirely.

With all of that said, here’s your second tip: make your brand stand out by educating them rather than just pumping out pure entertainment for your customer. Teach them something new and maybe you’ll end up as a brand where your target audience will stop for each post!

Exercise 3: Diversity counts

Customers these days are always on the look out for brands that align with their values and beliefs. As such, it would not be surprising to tell you that showcasing a diverse range of people who are in love with your products can really help build that connection you want with your target audience when it comes to your fitness marketing strategies. Some common ways brands show diversity can be through race and age. But why stop there for your own brand?

As everyone can have different goals when it comes to their own goals when it comes to fitness, Dogpound, a boutique gym that offers membership services, features members of different races and builds on their own feed.

Not only does this help to create a connection with communities that might not be visually represented often within fitness and healthcare advertisements, it can help your brand’s social media also reach out to a wider range of audiences too! In the case of Dogpound, showcasing the diversity they have with their members helps others to understand that their gym is for all, and you can achieve results no matter who you are. A pretty compelling message for a membership-driven gym, I would say.

Shout out to those who differ

Other than showcasing diversity, celebrating the achievements of those who are diverse is equally as important as representing them. Take for example, Nike celebated the achievements of Tatyana McFadden, a track and field paralympian, for becoming the most decorated athlete of all time within that sport.

So if you are looking to find a way to reach an ever wider audience, be more diverse in who you represent and showcase on your social media platforms!

Exercise 4: Influencers that influence

Those who follow influencers might know that their opinion on certain issues can often be swayed by what comes out of their mouth. Those who follow them will also know that they are always usually eager to jump onto a sponsorship when it comes their way, and that’s for a good reason too: they get paid well, and at the same time, the brand benefits by tapping into their network of followers.

Celsius, an energy drink brand aimed at those who are really serious about fitness, occasionally uses influencers to showcase how its their preferred refreshment after a hard workout. Their TikTok is no stranger to showcasing funny experiences or situations that are relatable to their customer, such as showcasing it being drank over a caption telling them to work on their ‘new year resolutions’.

This particular video showcases an influencer struggling after a ‘solidcore’ workout, which usually involves intensive exercises that are targeted towards one’s abs and core. For those who know the influencer, it is already a strong endorsement for Celsius, as it showcases that it is effective enough that he trusts it to hydrate him after such an intensive workout.

For those who don’t, it’s still a positive experienced shared by a person followed by thousands of followers globally. It’s a win-win situation regardless, and Celsius gets the added benefit of reaching out to them too!

Tapping on memes and trends

Influencers can also tap into trends too, which allows them to further resonate with audiences such as Gen Z, who are always on top of the latest memes. Much like other hobbies and interests, fitness has its own share of inside jokes too, much like how this TikTok utilises the ‘winter arc’ meme made popular in the tail-end of 2024 during this time.

To keep a long story short, the meme’s roots come from anime, and everyone and their mother knows that the average Gen Z consumes copious amounts of anime like no tomorrow. It helps the brand feel and look younger too!

Another example of influencers using TikTok appropriately is utilising dances, a perpetual trend on the platform of TikTok. Zumba often showcases high-energy dances being performed by active people to tap into this particular type of content, allowing them to stay relevant while topical on a platform where the algorithm heavily promotes content that is topical.

With that said, go ahead and start looking for those influencers for your brand on social media! As you can see, it’s a great addition to any fitness marketing strategies that you might have cooking up.

Conclusion

With these 4 exercises in mind, you can now shape up your fitness brand’s social media even more. Now that you’ve red through everything, it should spark off some new ideas for how you want to improve your fitness marketing strategies! If you are looking to improve your presence on social media for your fitness and health brand, consider reaching out to us too… we can whip your platform up to shape using our very own secret techniques!