{"id":6054,"date":"2014-11-12T13:23:20","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T13:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fitproblog.mysites.io\/social-media\/"},"modified":"2014-11-12T13:23:20","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T13:23:20","slug":"social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Why it\u2019s hard to like fitness social media"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fitness industry is failing to consistently deliver social media content that strengthens brands and engages consumers, says branding and media expert Jon Lipsey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Social media<\/h2>\n

I have a few harsh truths that need to be shared. I want to look specifically at social media use within the fitness industry, a subject I delivered a seminar on during FitPro Live 2014. The odd minor profanity aside, that talk was both clean and constructive. I talked about how to optimise the visual space on your Twitter page, I deconstructed the art of creating engaging tweets and I fleshed out the basics of a simple social media strategy.<\/p>\n

Making a hash of Twitter<\/h2>\n

What I didn\u2019t dwell on, however, was the common failings I see on many fitness industry social media channels. And it\u2019s not just the small brands that are underperforming. The big brands are failing too. In fact, they\u2019re often worse because they\u2019re crushingly banal and fail to take advantage of the recognition levels their brands have built up outside the sphere of social media. Take this example of a tweet from one national gym chain: \u2018Feeling thirsty during a workout is a sign of dehydration and affects performance, so sip water before, during and after exercise.\u2019 Now, this simply doesn\u2019t need to be said. It adds nothing. It has no character and it has no sharable value. Surprisingly, it got one retweet, which is pretty generous. But they don\u2019t just do banal, they do dangerous too. Like this: \u2018Do you always stick to the same workout? Today, why not complete it backwards to trick your brain into working your muscles harder.\u2019<\/p>\n

Thankfully I didn\u2019t follow their advice, so I didn\u2019t do my conditioning work first, pre-fatigue my abs ahead of my main lifts and injure myself by doing low-rep sets of heavy squats at the end of my session. The most basic checklist for anyone running a social media feed is to ask if their content is either informative, interesting or entertaining. The gym chain in question fails on all three counts on both occasions.<\/p>\n

No one likes us<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s also a worrying level of complacency among certain fitness brands. I was speaking to a sports\u00a0nutrition company recently about being a commercial partner for IronLife<\/em>, the magazine I publish. I politely (see, I\u2019m usually always polite) suggested that I\u2019d be happy to advise them on how they could create more engaging social media content. They, not very politely, declined because they said they had already used a marketing specialist (one of the world\u2019s least-protected terms after nutritionist) and they were happy with how their social channels were performing. Now, I\u2019m not sure which bit they were happy about. I don\u2019t know whether they were happy with the fact that they barely have 1,000 followers on Twitter or happy with the fact that they haven\u2019t received more than 10 likes for a Facebook post for over two months. The point is, they clearly had no awareness of how to construct, execute and evaluate a social media strategy. But they were happy, so that\u2019s nice for them. What they\u2019re missing out on, however, is the opportunity to build a relationship with their target market. They\u2019re missing the chance to engage, build trust and, finally, convert a social media follower into a new client.<\/p>\n

On borrowed time<\/h2>\n

Even people who should know better are letting themselves down. I am bemused by one large media company that relies on generic memes to populate its\u00a0social media feeds, which provokes the following question: if you are a media brand and you don\u2019t create your own media, why do\u00a0you exist? The answer is that they may not exist for much longer. Or, at least, they will probably shrink for a couple of years before finally expiring. I do see the short-term appeal of using a picture of Arnie holding a big gun, accompanied by a witless caption, to illustrate the importance of leg day. It\u2019s quick, it\u2019s cheap and it\u2019s easy. But you need to ask whether those are the characteristics you want to be known for.\u00a0And you also have to ask why you\u2019re choosing to use something generic that you don\u2019t own rather than take the opportunity to create content that reinforces your key brand messages and your brand\u2019s visual identity. Every single thing you put out on social media either positively or negatively affects the strength of your brand. By using something that people have probably seen elsewhere and could even create themselves, you are essentially telling them that you are pointless.<\/p>\n

\"Jon\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jon Lipsey is the founder of the UK\u2019s leading fitness branding consultancy reward3.com. He is the co-founder and publisher of IronLife magazine (ironlifemag.com) and the editorial director of emote media (emotemedia.co.uk). He is a regular contributor to <\/em>Fitpro magazine.<\/em><\/address>\n
Is your business doomed? Find out\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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