5 Reasons Your Marketing Isn’t Getting Strong Results

Is your marketing getting the results you want for your fitness business? Or are you sometimes frustrated by the amount of time and effort you put in, only to get crickets…

In this article, we outline the most common reasons why marketing fails to get strong results, based on what we’ve seen with our agency clients.

Using The Wrong Marketing Channel

The most common reason marketing efforts don’t work is that they’re focused on the wrong channel. Businesses are using social media when they should be using email or blog content when they should be focused on ads.

It’s a really easy mistake to make if you’re not familiar with marketing strategy and how consumers buy. But it’ll seriously impact your results if you get it wrong.

For example, most fitness businesses are super-active on social media. They pour a lot of time and effort into their Instagram reels and Facebook posts. And this is great for building brand awareness and nurturing a community of followers.

But it rarely results in strong sales.

Conversion rates for social media are incredibly low compared to other marketing channels…

• Organic Instagram campaigns convert between 0.3%-2.6%.
• X/Twitter conversion rates range from 0.5%-1.5%.
• Facebook data is sparse but we can assume it’s even lower since only 1.5% of followers even see a post, let alone engage and buy as a result of it.

Compare that with email marketing which has an average conversion rate of 15%. Or Google Ads, which has typical conversion rates of 3.5%-6% and doesn’t require you to build an audience first.

Focusing your efforts on the wrong marketing channel for your goals will have a huge impact on the results. But it’s easily fixed with the right strategy and aligning your approach with your business objectives.

Learn more about email marketing for fitness businesses or developing an effective marketing strategy.

Fitness Marketing & Lead Generation Roadmap

Your All-in-One Toolkit to Attract, Engage & Convert More Clients

Not Focusing On Customer Benefits

The second most common mistake that we see with our marketing clients is not focusing on client or member benefits. What’s in it for the customer exactly?

Often the marketing is focused on the features of a brand’s offering instead of the benefits they provide to clients.

Gyms will talk about having ’50+ state of the art machines’ instead of what that means for their members. People don’t care about how many pieces of kit you have (sorry). They care about what it means for them…

• Not having to wait to use machines during busy period.
• Reaching their fitness goals faster and more easily because they have access to the most effective machine for their specific need.
• Enjoying their workouts instead of them feeling like a chore, because they can use a variety of fun and engaging gym equipment.

By focusing on the benefits to the customer instead of features, your offering becomes much more compelling. Do this across your website, social media content, adverts, and emails to generate stronger results from your marketing.

Fitness Marketing Ideas Mini-Guide

25 fitness marketing ideas for your gym, studio, or online business. Attract new members, get more PT clients & boost your fitness blog.

Unclear CTAs

Another common marketing mistake is not having a clear ‘call to action’ or CTA for short. If you want would-be members or clients to do or buy something, then you need to tell them. If you don’t, then they’ll often just scroll on to the next thing…

Conversely, if you given them too many choices, it’ll be confusing for them. It’s easy to overwhelm your audience by telling them to do too many things (like and follow and subscribe and download and so on).

Focus on CTAs that are aligned with the objective of that specific marketing activity. If your goal is to generate online leads, then your CTAs should all direct people to book a tour, sign up for a free trial, or whatever your lead gen option is.

If it’s to grow your email list, then tell people to subscribe, and only that. Don’t dilute the message or overwhelm them by asking for follows or shares as well.

Include clear CTAs that support your marketing goals and your results will start to improve immediately.

Irregular Marketing Communications

This one probably won’t come as a surprise. If you’ve spent any amount of time working on marketing, then you’ll have heard about the importance of consistency.

Not being consistent with your marketing efforts can negatively impact your results. It can lead to a feast and famine cycle where you have lots of juicy leads one month but are struggling for sales the next.

But it can be tough to post, email, or publish on a regular basis when you’re juggling lots of other priorities. And this is the case for most fitness business owners.

So, what’s the solution? Well there are a couple of strategies that our clients have found to be effective…

• Focusing on one channel – instead of spreading yourself thinly across all the marketing channels, focus on the one that delivers the greatest return on investment (ROI) for your business.
• Batch preparing content – create all of your social media posts or blog articles in one go (or buy our ready-made bundle) then schedule them to be shared automatically.
• Setting up a marketing funnel – so that you have an automated process for collecting leads and converting them into customers (by combining Google ads and email sequences for example).

Implementing ideas like these can help you market your business on a consistent basis and generate a steady stream of sales.

Undefined Marketing Objectives

The final mistake we see with clients is not having clearly defined marketing objectives. If you don’t know what your goal is, then how can you achieve it?

Most fitness businesses would agree that ‘generating more sales’ is a top priority. If so, then your marketing objectives need to align with and support this overarching goal. They should clearly articulate how marketing will contribute, whether through generating X number of leads or demand for a new service you’re launching.

Not having defined marketing objectives will hold your business back from achieving its potential. Without a clear goal, your campaigns and activities won’t be focused. They might be fun and creative, but they won’t drive the results you need.

Fitness Marketing & Lead Generation Roadmap

Your All-in-One Toolkit to Attract, Engage & Convert More Clients

Fitness Marketing Strategy Made Easy

Your All-in-One Toolkit to Attract, Engage, and Convert More Clients – Tailored Specifically for Fitness Businesses Like Yours!

The Fitness Marketing & Lead Generation Roadmap is a comprehensive resource designed for gyms, personal trainers, and online fitness businesses. It’s packed with video workshops, marketing templates, step-by-step guides, cheat sheets, and more. We cover:

• Fitness Marketing Strategy: Build a solid foundation and plan for success.
• Lead Generation: Attract more clients with effective tactics.
• Social Media: Boost your online presence and engagement.
• Email Marketing: Nurture leads and convert them into loyal customers.
• Advertising & Promotion: Get your message out there efficiently.
• Content Marketing: Create compelling content that resonates with your audience.

Sources: Driftlead, Hootsuite, Bloomreach.