on April 04, 2021
Having an Instagram account can be really worth it! Over 1 billion people use the social network worldwide and there are over 21 million users in Germany for example. Around 500 million of these people look at Instagram stories every day. These numbers give an idea of the potential of an Instagram business account. A high reach and free advertising for your studio!
Instagram has become an important advertising channel. Since 2017, 10 million company accounts have been created (source: Futurebiz)
Many studios create an account according to the motto “being there is everything”, because they have read it somewhere. Then they post blurred pictures or completely overloaded graphics with, for example, the class schedule including flower tendrils and ladybug stickers in the background.
But maintaining an Instagram account requires regular care and effort. If you just run your social media profiles on the side, you won’t be successful.
Instagram offers companies the chance to improve their corporate image and build an even closer connection with their own members. However, only if you use the medium correctly and professionally you will be successful.
We have summarized the 10 most important tips for you to lay the foundation for a professional and friendly appearance on Instagram.
10 tips for your Instagram business account
1. Proper biography
First things first: You need a bio that represents what your studio is all about. The next importantthing to do is to turn your profile into a company account to get important information about your members: When are my followers online? How old are my followers? Which pictures are particularly well received?
In your biography, it’s best to include contact information for your members, such as an email address, phone number and studio address. Your studio logo in square format is the most suitable profile picture. The size is exactly 110 x 110 pixels.
Magicline has the following info in its bio:
2. Content is king
The most time-consuming and biggest part of Instagram is planning the content. But what should be posted on Instagram? That’s what many studio owners ask themselves when they start pre-planning social media content. Above all, it’s about entertaining followers, informing them and projecting a likeable image of the business.
Attention: This does not succeed by permanently posting advertisements!
Instead, events and happenings in your studio can be advertised. Be it an open day, an exhibition stand you have at the FIBO or simply the installation of a new vending machine. With the right description or sympathetic employees in the picture, even the current training about hygiene measures can be beautifully implemented.
3. Challenge your members
One of the biggest challenges on Instagram is getting your subscribers to interact with you and one another. Active followers are worth much more than silent observers. Why? Because they often spread content and thus become an advertising medium.
You want more interaction with your users? Then start a competition or a challenge. The best way to do this is to create your own hashtag, such as #yogachallenge or #situpswithdogs.
The #bottlecapchallenge recently proved how such content can go particularly viral, with not only numerous celebrities taking part, but also more than 400,000 posts on Instagram. We don’t expect you to start such a wave, but something like that offers your followers at least a little entertainment.
This is what a challenge of your studio could look like
4. Sweepstakes for gyms on Instagram
You can also combine a challenge or another event created by you with a small competition. For example, you can raffle off a drink flat among all participants of the challenge.
Sweepstakes are also a good way to increase your reach and gain new followers. You can also ask participants to tag two friends in your terms of participation. This way, new followers can be gained.
The supreme discipline is a competition with a cooperation partner. For example, if there is a sports shop in your region, you can exchange a pair of sports shoes for a voucher for 5 personal trainings and both parties post this on their account. This way the followers of the sports shop follow you and vice versa. It’s a win-win situation. However, both sides should be careful that the action does not come across too promotional. Therefore, it is better to post it with personal pictures from your studio instead of a pure advertising message.
Attention: Always think of clearly formulated conditions of participation for sweepstakes.
5. Memes are becoming increasingly popular
Who doesn’t know it: You see a funny meme and immediately think of another person. To show them the meme, they are tagged directly. With tools like Canva or Desygner you can quickly build a cool graphic yourself, maybe even using a picture from your studio. For example, “Tag someone who swings the dumbbell as fast as our trainee”. Your employees can then create a fun photo or short video to go along with it and you’ll get interaction with your followers again.
6. Introduce employees
Always seek contact with your members, build a connection with them. For this, above all your own employees are very well suited for this, as they have direct contact with your members and are already known.
Introduce new employees or celebrate the successful completion of your apprentice’s training. Other successes such as Coach Jason’s participation in the marathon or Trainer Isabella’s successful mixing of a coconut-banana shake can also serve as an incentive here. In addition, messages and even training prompts can be sent from the studio:
“Want to participate in a marathon someday too? Then sign up now for a personal training session with Jason to get tips & tricks and a training plan.”
7. Mini workouts
Want to inspire your studio members? Then why not create a mini-workoute.g. 10 min. abdominal workout, which you can either upload as a video or post as a picture in combination with the exercise to be performed. Your members can then try out the workout directly during their next visit.
At Magicline, our Head of Sports Max von Daehne did this regularly during the lock down, reaching out to all members who were eager to get in an exciting home workout.
Workouts for at home are well-received
Create your own hashtag! The advantage? Clearly, you create your own community. Examples for this could be the #fitnessparkexamplecityor if we take our Magicline as an example, the #thebestgymsrunonmagicline.
This gives your studio members the reason and means to produce content on their own, which you can then reuse and repost on your profile at the same time. You will immediately see all the posts that are posted under this hashtag. In addition, such a common hashtag strengthens the bond within your fitness community.
9. Surveys
Instagram also offers gyms many ways to interact with followers. A great example of this: Start a pollto find out if your members prefer cranberry cherry or woodruff as a new flavor in your vending machine. Then you actually put the winner in your machine. This way, all participants have the feeling that they have made a difference.
10. Mini tutorials
Last but not least: Create mini tutorials. These are small clips, which do not last longer than 2 minutes and possibly run in fast motion (for creating these, the app Hyperlapse is helpful). For example, you can post the preparation of a protein shake in fast forward, a funny video on “Pimp my sneaker” – who has the coolest laced sports shoe – or explain exercises correctly, which many often perform wrong.
Members should be encouraged to create response videos, which can then be posted by you. Therefore, always pay attention to the quality and the entertainment factor of your content.
Conclusion
As you can see from the last example, creating content is actually easy, but at the same time really hard, beacuse as soon as a post doesn’t appeal to your members, it is quickly ignored.
That’s why having your own Instagram account also means acting a bit according to the trial & error principle. If a post is not particularly well received, you remember this and try it with another one. If it is well received and you get a lot of positive feedback, then you can use the knowledge again for the future.
We also recommend that you appoint your own social media representative, who not only publishes all your posts, but also ensures that they are consistent – in terms of content and language. In addition, this person should then analyze the performance to continuously improve the quality and interaction within your account.
And if it doesn’t work out in the beginning, never give up! Try to be active on Instagram yourself and comment on events in your area. Over time, you’ll get better and better and your fan base will grow.
Finally, we wish you much success with your company account and lots of great interactions with your members!
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