Should You Resort to Guerrilla Marketing for New Fitness Clients?
As a personal trainer, finding fitness clients can be challenging—especially if you’ve exhausted traditional marketing routes like email and social media. Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic that is considered unconventional or untraditional, and can be done with a small budget. Perfect for personal trainers who are just starting out or need an extra boost in getting their name out there.
Get Creative
Guerilla marketing should be memorable. No generic wordings like “Want a great workout? Call Today!” Not only is it boring, but it doesn’t grab attention. Instead, get creative. Just remember to include information like:
- Name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Website (if applicable)
It’s not as difficult as you would think to create creative guerrilla marketing tactics. You can go around your community and:
- Leave notes on walls and cars
- Create decals for windows and cars
- Recruit people to spread the word
- Create reverse graffiti
Reverse graffiti is one of the newest guerrilla marketing techniques where, unlike traditional graffiti where you use paint and is illegal in most public places, you simply wash dirt off of walls to create your message.
Best Practices
Guerrilla marketing is a delicate balance of respect and risk-taking. A creative, edgy campaign will be memorable while an annoying one will steer customers away. Before you go out and spread the word, remember to:
Ask Permission
Before you go around posting signs or creating reverse graffiti, it’s a good idea to go to your local authorities and educate yourself about local posting laws. Understanding these laws can help you avoid posting in unauthorized areas, like on mailboxes, which could get you into trouble and annoy potential clients. When posting in a business, it’s a good idea to get the blessing of the owner first if they don’t have a posting board where anyone is welcome to advertise.
Respect Boundaries
It’s very important that you don’t ruffle the feathers of potential fitness clients. While leaving a sticky note or flyers at a beauty shop is acceptable, you shouldn’t do anything that will create tension like posting them on a wall one after the other. If a housing community or business contacts you asking you not to post, respect the request.