on March 16, 2022
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Why TikTok can help, especially when it comes to attracting younger members
- 5 tips on how to make the most of TikTok as a fitness provider
What is TikTok and how does it work?
Few platforms have taken the world by storm faster than TikTok! The platform now has 689 million users (source: Statista) worldwide and 10.8 million monthly active users in Germany alone. As an accelerating factor, the pandemic has contributed to social media platforms gaining even more relevance.
On TikTok, users can post short, self-shot videos and back them up with familiar music sequences. The videos can be 15 seconds to 3 minutes long. Often the funny and creative videos feature dancing or lips moving in sync with songs/scenes.
84% of people say they have purchased a product or service after watching a brand video. In other words, platforms like TikTok give you as a studio owner the opportunity to reach new audiences through inspirational, educational, or aesthetically pleasing content while attracting new customers!
Is TikTok suitable for your studio?
If you are the owner of a studio that focuses on a younger target group (18-24 years old), TikTok could be the ideal place to increase your reach and support your member acquisition! After all, 69% of active users are between 18-24 years old (source: futurebiz). That’s why we’ve summarized 5 tips to help you get started on TikTok a little easier.
Tip 1 – Keep an eye on current trends
TikTok lives on trends. Catchy songs, dance choreographies or funny videos run here in a continuous loop. At the same time, the platform is characterized by an incredibly fast pace, so that trends sometimes emerge overnight, but also disappear just as quickly. To be successful on TikTok, it’s therefore important to keep an eye on the current trends. Check the Discovery page regularly to see what videos are hot right now.
For example, the U.S. women’s gym “Blush Fitness” went viral on TikTok after they drew attention in their videos to protecting women while exercising, by using view-protected windows, for example. What makes your studio unique? Do you perhaps give unusual classes or have special workout equipment? Shoot a short video about it and add the appropriate hashtags. Maybe you’ll even start a little trend!
Instead of waiting for new trends, you can also produce your own brand-related challenges or other content. You’ll learn how to do that in the next section.
Hashtag challenges in particular are widely used and popular on TikTok. Users are encouraged to create content using a specific hashtag. To make your hashtag challenge as successful as possible, you should research a few things beforehand, such as spacing rules regarding the Corona pandemic. Otherwise, your challenge could quickly trigger a shitstorm and that, in turn, could have a negative impact on your studio. You should also make sure that you choose an individual hashtag that is related to your studio/brand and, if applicable, already gives first hints about the task that users are supposed to complete. It is best to combine the challenge and the hashtag with a suitable music sequence, which will then also be used by the participants of the challenge.
Tip 3 – Use popular music sequences
In addition to hashtags, the music sequences used are also decisive for who sees your video and to whom it is shown on the so-called “For you” page. For inspiration, check out the Discovery page, for example, to see what sounds and effects are trending for videos. In the TikTok song library you can also find the current top 50 TikTok sounds for your country. It’s best to save the songs and effects you like under your favorites, so you can quickly find them again later.
Tip 4 – Be entertaining
Regular and, most importantly, creative content is the heart of any account. Whether it’s useful tips & tricks, a funny dance video or before/after videos – TikTok is a place where users want to be entertained! So be creative and make video clips on the following topics, for example:
- Debunking fitness myths e.g. “Lettuce shrinks your biceps”.
- Short workouts e.g. an abdominal workout for at home
- Dance choreographies e.g. in combination with a workout
- Introduce the team from your studio/ the studio everyday life
- Tutorial videos e.g. why you should stretch after a workout
- Fitness challenges e.g. a plank challenge
- Motivational videos e.g. body transformation pictures of members, tips to keep the good intentions as long as possible
- Funny videos from everyday life in the gym, e.g. mistakes you shouldn’t make when bench pressing.
Find more inspiration using the hashtags #funnygym, #fitnessstudio.
Entertain your target group with your TikTok videos
Tip 5 – Interact with your followers.
Engagement, especially in the form of comments under your videos, helps increase the reach of your content. Therefore, respond to comments from your fans and make them aware of offers such as “Bring a friend”. Find out how to implement such a referral program in your studio here:
To increase the interaction among your videos, it is a good idea to include a question in the text description of your video. For example, if you show different types of workouts in the video, you can ask: Which workout type are you?
Conclusion
Especially for studio owners with a young target group, TikTok is a great way to increase your reach on social media. With our tips and a few creative ideas, you’re guaranteed to get started! If you don’t have a TikTok account for your studio yet, you can also check out Hubspot’s TikTok Guide on how to set up your profile and edit your videos.
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Any questions?
Want to learn how a gym management software can help you with the generation and retention of members? Then reach out! We're happy to consult.