Marketing is one of the two key priorities in business. Without it you have no business. It is not something you should ever relinquish total control of in your own business. You want and need to be in touch with your customers and their wants, fears and goals, as well as how they want to get information from you. For that reason, you can’t rely on just one connection source. This article includes the must-haves for attracting fitness clients.

The thing to remember about each of these marketing venues is that they have multiple ways to help you. The richer the content you have, the more powerful they are. You’ll attract customers who are looking for what you have, as long as you use titles wisely. It will also improve your search engine optimization if you play nice.

  • YouTube video can help you attract customers who are looking for a solution to a problem or a specific service you offer. They will find you based on your title that matches their search. This is where you need to think like your customers think. It is important to think about the objective of each video and plan it from shooting to editing.
  • Facebook Business Pages can help you connect and get referrals from your current customers and their friends. That is, if you do it right. You will need to create a reach for your customers beyond your services and share your own promotions. Posting for your fans is not the same as advertising. Don’t think of it as a bulletin board listing your club’s special offers. Think of it as a conversation with the goal of eventual conversion.
  • Twitter posts are more instant gratification. Your client wants them to be innovative, avant-garde and the more up-to-date, the better. If you make them look witty or improve their status by liking or sharing, you’ve won the Twitter game.
  • Blogging is one way to improve your SEO. Do it consistently and use images and videos within it. Basically, you are multiplying your reach when you embed a YouTube video within your blog on your website. Share the link on Facebook or tweet. One activity and multiple arms.
  • Writing articles in online sources. Write for someone else’s blog. Provide an electronic publication. That gets you seen again organically and expands your reach in ways you can’t do on your own.
  • Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and other social networks are coming fast and just like the ones mentioned above they will be or are important. If you join, stay active. Putting up a Facebook Pro page and then posting every couple of months or even a few times a day won’t help. Commit to doing it and stick with it if you want to see results. When you slow down or stop posting, you also prevent your posts from being viewed again when you decide you’re in the mood. Facebook will decide that you are not relevant as no one is engaging and even the number of fans you think you are reaching are not showing in your posts. Other networks may follow below.

One thing not included above is reciprocity. You also need to interact with others. You can’t just throw constant information out there. You must comment, like, and share others’ information openly and generously if you expect reciprocity to flow to you.

If these aren’t skills you now have or want to undertake, be careful who you hire, how you train them, and don’t let it go completely unsupervised. The biggest mistake most fitness owners are currently making is not knowing how to use media to their advantage. Doing it and doing it right are two different things. It can be your best friend if you make the effort to get advice on how to handle it. It’s highly traceable, almost immediately responsive, and can show you a return on your time and energy with little investment.