Today we’re going to cover a common gym Instagram mistake.
But first we tackle a related question:
Should you name your gym after yourself?
Well, speaking from firsthand experience, the answer is usually “no.”
Sure, a few people have pulled it off. But in general, you want your gym to be about a system and a team. Not a person.
On the other hand…
When it comes to marketing, “people want to work with a person, not a business.” So if your gym feels faceless and business-y, your results suffer.
At Mark Fisher Fitness, we’ve done a pretty good job of this over the years. We’ve managed to leverage me as the dancing monkey brand ambassador. MFF Ninjas don’t expect to train with me personally.
But it’s not without some weirdness.
Like when I hear someone say they train at “Mark Fisher.” 🙂
This consideration is relevant to your gym on Instagram.
And in fact, at MFF, we’ve used me as the voice of email marketing. But our Instagram voice is a “royal we” that speaks for MFF as a separate entity.
And this choice has its pros and cons.
So a version of this question is…
Should your Instagram profile pic be your face or your gym’s logo?
The annoying answer is, as always, it depends.
If your gym’s Instagram is truly about your gym, you’re not personally tied to it.
There’s no expectation that you’re doing most or all of the posts.
People don’t assume it’s you in the DMs.
You can have your team contribute more easily.
BUT if you use a DM strategy to start convos? It’s a bigger hill to climb to get a response.
After all, it’s no longer a “person” starting a convo. It’s a “business” starting a convo. So you can expect less responses and conversations.
There are ways around this (we teach them to BFU clients). But it’s still a lift.
On the other hand, if you use your face as the profile pic and personally brand your gym’s Instagram? You get an opposite set of pros and cons: harder to have other people participate, makes the business more about you than a system, requires you to spend more time being active on Instagram, etc.
So what should you do?
Well, there’s no correct solution in all situations.
The mistake here is not going one way or the other.
The mistake is not being intentional about which choice you make.
But here’s a simple way to think about this…
If you want to optimize for short term sales results, run your gym’s Instagram as the owner.
If you want to optimize for long term scalability, keep your gym’s Instagram as a true “business” account.
And if you need help thinking through which one is best for you? We can chat about it in a 10-minute brainstorm call.
Book yours HERE.
PS: Want to spend some quality time with Pete, Keeler, Ben, and me at our Unicorn Society Retreat in September in Boston?
Watch this space. We’ll open up a limited number of spots for non-US members this coming Friday.
We always cap these extra seats and we always sell out. So watch this space.