Creating a thriving fitness business is tough as there’s cut-throat competition from plenty of trainers and centers promising great results. For service providers, this means creating an effective marketing strategy to market their fitness business.
And the best way to get customers into your funnel and continuously convert them into leads is by using print and digital media to run health and fitness advertisements. But most fitness business owners are sole proprietors and don’t have a huge marketing budget to start with.
So, we’ve created a super-comprehensive article with the best fitness ads ideas to help fitness trainers, brands, and gym owners to get noticed and drive more leads to the business. And the best part is that you can bring these ideas to life in less than 10 minutes using InVideo online ad maker's ready-to-use templates and stock library. Here's what's covered in this article:
Here’s the list of ideas we’ll cover in the article:
A. Video Fitness Ads Ideas
B. Static/Image-based ads
C. Print Ads
D. Pro Tips For Creating Successful Fitness Ads
Let's get started with the video ideas!
A. Video Fitness Ads Ideas
If you’ve not started creating video-based health and fitness advertisements, this is your cue to start. Video is becoming the most preferred medium that people engage with and it’s one of the best ways to build your credibility as video shows the incredible results and transformations you got for previous clients better than other media.
For you, this means more inquiries and sign-ups, so if you’ve got a few free spots left, these 5 video fitness advertisement ideas will help you fill them.
1. Share Customer Success Stories
Customer success stories are testimonials that use real transformation journeys of people similar to your potential clients to show that you can get them results. Hence, they help build your credibility, remove the skepticism associated with fitness transformations, and motivate potential clients to sign up with you.
For instance, check out this short success story compilation from HealthifyMe. It goes beyond showcasing just the physical transformation and highlights the mental health benefits and the expertise of Healthify Me’s coaches.
Plus, it intentionally highlights the transformation of clients with conditions that make weight loss difficult to show that anyone struggling with similar issues can not only lose weight but also heal other health issues and transform their mental health with their program.
To create a compilation of customer success stories like HealthifyMe, get your clients to share pictures of their journey and add them to the InVideo template given below.
You can also modify the template to share your client’s backstory to make the ad relatable and include how your solution was different and helped them achieve their goals. Lastly, end your ad with a CTA so potential clients can reach out to you.
2. Promote Workout Training Programs
Home workout programs are popular and on demand as they give people the option to stay fit amidst a busy schedule. So, if you’re a fitness trainer the best way to reach these people and get them to sign up to your home workout program is to create a compelling video ad that tells them how you’re going to help them stay motivated and get results.
For instance, take a look at this ad from Training Mate’s founder, Luke Milton. It helps build Luke’s credibility and gives people a reason to listen to him, as he talks about his reality TV show appearance and how his workouts helped Hollywood A-listers get magazine-worthy bodies.
As the ad progresses, viewers see more of Luke’s energy and enthusiasm and they’re compelled to sign up as previous members of the program explain how beneficial the program was and how their trainers kept them motivated. Also, Luke already tells potential clients that his 30-day workout program was used by celebrities, giving his audience more reasons to sign up.
To create workout ads like Luke, use the editable InVideo template given below and add a talking head video of you explaining why people should sign up for your program and how you’ll help them achieve results like Luke did. Also, intersperse your ad with testimonials, give people a glimpse at your personality, and end the ad with a compelling offer and CTA to drive more sign ups to your program.
3. Offer Personalized Meal Plans
Eating right is as important as workouts when it comes to staying fit, but most people quit even before they start as they think cooking healthy takes up a lot of time and requires them to deviate from their usual diets.
And this knowledge gap provides a massive opportunity for trainers and fitness brands as they can educate the audience about how they can create a quick, healthy meal with the ingredients they have at hand and even sell them personalized meal plans. And that’s exactly what Right Bite is doing in this ad.
The ad itself is only 10 seconds long, but it motivates people to sign up for their meal plans as they don’t have to spend time creating a meal plan and can be absolutely sure that they’re eating right since the plans are designed by a dietician and are customizable.
Creating a short ad like Right Bite is easy. All you’ve got to do is use the customizable InVideo template below and add good, high-quality photographs of the meals included in your plan to show your potential clients that healthy food can be tasty.
And if your audience hasn’t heard of your plans before, include an attention-grabbing intro and quickly tell your potential clients why they’ll need a meal plan. End your ad with a CTA so your clients can trust you enough to reach out to you.
4. Create Product Promotion Ads
You might have the best fitness product in the world, but it won’t matter if your potential clients have never heard of it. That’s why it’s important to create a product promotion ad that gets people talking about your fitness product, builds brand loyalty, and sells more of your units.
For example, take a look at this short ad from Bowflex promoting their Velocore Bike. The ad jumps right into the benefits of working out with the bike by delving into the personalization it offers (so workouts with the bike are exciting) and showing users how it works the full body (so they can work out from the confines of their home.)
So, it immediately gets viewers to stop scrolling, take notice, and makes them curious about the product.
To create product promotion ads that make users want to try the product, start with a crisp, attention-grabbing intro that outlines the most common difficulties when it comes to working out. Then, include visuals of how your product helps users stay motivated and continue working out to reach their fitness goals.
You can also use a product promotion template like the one given below and customize it with product visuals, upbeat music from the library and compelling CTAs.
5. Make 'How-to' Video Ads
'How-to' videos are an excellent way to jumpstart the trust building process and get your audience to learn more about your fitness products and services since they position you as the fitness expert by answering super specific queries your audience has.
Also, according to a recent True Focus Media study, 73% of consumers are more likely to sign up for a service or purchase a product after watching a “How-to” video, so you should definitely make them a part of your fitness ads arsenal. And even if they don’t outright run as ads, they go a long way in building credibility and promoting your brand.
For instance, check out this “How-To” video from Athlean X where he tells his audience how they can lose stubborn belly fat in just 4 steps. The video is super informative and keeps the audience engaged despite being a lengthy video by asking them questions that help them figure out why they’re not able to lose belly fat.
The best part is that Jeff, the founder of Athlean X (and the speaker in the video), doesn’t bring up his service until the very end of the video and even when he does, it only seems like he’s trying to add value and help his clients reach their fitness goals.
If you want to create “How-To” videos that make your potential clients take notes and reach out to you, make a list of questions potential clients and existing clients ask you. Then, turn the answer to this question into an informative video using flowcharts, diagrams, and other types of visuals. Lastly, tie all the information to the service you’re providing so potential customers are naturally inclined to sign up with you.
But if you’ve got no time to shoot elaborate videos, you can also use the template given below and customize it with an attention-grabbing headline and an engaging explanation. Also, InVideo’s stock libraries have a vast collection of media, so you can add images, stickers, and more to build credibility with your “How-To” videos.
B. Static/Image-based ads
Static ads also perform well and they’re a great option for fitness brands because they cost less to make and are less time intensive than video ads. These health and fitness advertisements drive instant attention to users and take them directly to the call to action. So, here are 5 image-based health and fitness advertisement ideas you can swipe for your fitness business.
1. Share Fitness Tips
Sharing answers to your audience's most asked fitness questions and removing their biggest objections towards starting their fitness journey in the form of digestible, bite-sized tips will position you as a fitness expert and make you a trustworthy fitness brand.
So, you can dish out tips around general topics like weight loss, planning your diet, and making meal plans, or even talk about very specific topics like how to manage weight with conditions like PCOS.
For example, take a look at these weight loss tips by Carey Leigh Miller, a fitness trainer whose target audience is mothers trying to lose weight. Since pregnancy comes with weight gain, the ad begins with common terms that refer to areas of the body with a lot of fat, so it can grab the attention of Cary’s target group.
Once she has the audience’s attention, she explains how nutrition and workouts go hand-in-hand and lists out a few tips they can use to lose fat to provide value and motivate her target audience to take up the offer.
What lends more credibility to this ad is that Cary also shows pictures of her transformations and gives a realistic timeline. Also, the “Message Me” CTA adds a personalized touch and doesn’t seem salesy, so more people will be encouraged to reach out to her and work on their fitness goals.
To create a similar post like Carey, identify the most common problem your target audience faces and turn your answers into simple and actionable tips that’ll give clients the best results. Start the ad with an attention-grabbing hook, include a photo that shows your successful transformation, and finish the ad with a compelling CTA.
Pro Tip: You can also convert these types of health fitness advertisements into videos in under 5 minutes with InVideo’s fitness tips template.
2. Sell A Personalized Exercise Plan
Everyone has different fitness goals and the workouts they must do greatly varies according to it. Unfortunately, a lot of people aren’t aware about this fact and end up overtraining or undertraining themselves without seeing the desired results.
That’s where you come in. You can educate your potential clients on the importance of fitness plans and offer to create personalized plans for your clientele depending on their goals like Jay Ferrugio does in this Facebook ad.
He starts with an opening line that will make readers take notice and lists the most common mistakes made when it comes to working out. Since most beginners (who are also Jay’s target audience) make these mistakes, listing them and telling them why it won’t work convinces his potential clients that he knows what he’s talking about and motivates them to sign up for his personalized plan.
To create an ad that will get people to notice you and listen to what you’ve got to say, start with what your audience thinks is right, and explain why the practices will be harmful for them in the long run. Then, talk about your experience working with similar people like Jay does (coached people over 4o for 25 years) and explain how your personalized exercise program will help them.
3. Convert Success Stories Into Motivational Posts
People who workout by themselves need plenty of motivation and mindset shifts to continue thriving on their fitness journey as they think working out is hard and boring or can’t make progress because they think working out will not yield the results they desire.
So, you must create motivational posts that make your potential clients take that leap and get started on their fitness journey.
For example, this Get Fit Today ad uses a before and after picture of their client to motivate people who believe they can’t lose weight. This post instantly encourages potential clients to sign up to the program because the trainer promises personal attention and has shown proof that someone like them has achieved amazing results and they can too, if they work with them.
To create similar posts, address the audience’s emotional state, tell them why they’re wrong for thinking they can’t lose weight, and how you can help them achieve their fitness goals. Also, add trigger words like conquer, unleash, vanquish, freedom, challenge as these are power words that motivate people to take action.
You can also turn your customer success stories into slideshows that inspire people to take action and achieve their fitness goals.
4. List Common Nutrition Mistakes
Nutrition mistakes are quite common as there’s plenty of inaccurate information available on the internet that people tend to trust. This leaves space for fitness brands to chime in and educate their audience on the common nutrition mistakes that’s stopping them from achieving their fitness goals.
Check out this ad by Ashley Randall that highlights the most common nutrition mistakes that arise from our mindset. The gentle nudge to look at the bigger picture and be consistent in the fitness journey immediately reduces the pressure the reader feels and shifts their perspective in a positive way. So, they’ll be more inclined to listen to what Ashley has to say. Plus, the CTA seems like a natural value addition, so signing up to work with her seems like the best step.
To create fitness ads like Ashley, you must first identify common nutritional mistakes your existing clients are making and list them out in your ad. Then, add a CTA that motivates your target audience to take action.
5. Bust Fitness Myths
With gyms closed down due to the pandemic and people avoiding crowded places, more people than ever are following workouts and adopting diets without understanding if it's right for them. Plus, there’s rampant myths like magic juices and quick weight loss programs that are circulating in the fitness space.
So, you can fill this gap with fitness ads that bust myths to educate people on what they are doing wrong, similar to Bello Everyday. This fitness ad educates its audience on common myths and positions their program as the perfect solution to helping clients lose weight depending on their body’s metabolism.
And the best part is that creating a fitness myth ad like Bello Everyday is that it’s extremely simple. All you’ve got to do is look back at your interactions with clients and make a list of myths they believed in before they started training with you.
Once you’ve done that, start your ad with the most common myth to grab your potential clients’ attention and tell them what they should be doing instead to achieve their fitness goals and how your service can help them get results in a more efficient way. Then, end your ad with a compelling offer and a CTA to drive more inquiries.
Pro-Tip: You can go one step further and design a fitness myth video ad using this InVideo Fitness Myth template.
C. Print Ads
Now that you have an idea of what kind of ads you can run in the digital space, let’s go offline and see what else you can do to promote your fitness business. Print ads still play a major role in advertising as they help you reach a highly focused audience who are more likely to read about your fitness program and sign up for it.
Plus, 95% of people under 25 years old still read magazines and 82% of people still trust print ads while making a decision (source: Finances Online), so combining print ads with digital is the best way to get more eyeballs on your fitness business. And to help you get started, we’ve got these print ad ideas you can use for your fitness business.
1. Start A Fitness Challenge
The concept of fitness challenges isn’t new but they still work because people need constant motivation and clear fitness goals to see results. And it’s a great way to get more revenue to your business as you can acquire new clients who want to work with you to achieve their long-term fitness goals.
For example, check out this 30-day body transformation fitness advertisement by registered dietician Kristin Bell. It makes a bold claim i.e., clients can lose 8-12 pounds of fat, backs it up with pictures of transformations, has bullet points that explain exactly how clients will achieve the result, and gives clients an incentive to participate. All these elements of the ad will encourage a lot of people to participate in the challenge and continue being Kristin’s clients irrespective of whether they win or not.
To make an ad like Kristin, you’ll need 3 elements: a realistic timeline you know your clients can stick to, the before vs. after pictures of your previous clients to build credibility and show people the results are worth sweating for, and an incentive to motivate them (you can offer cash prizes, gift cards, or free gym membership).
2. Promote Flash Sales
Although flash sales is a term we’d normally associate with eCommerce and other fitness products, you can also use these types of fitness advertisements to bump up your revenue for a short time if you’re a small fitness biz owner with a small marketing budget.
This is because the urgency of Flash Sales triggers buying impulses which are enough to override the hesitations and objections of even the most skeptical clients and get them to take the leap to sign up with you.
Here’s an example of a flash sale print ad celebrating Amore Fitness’ 32nd birthday. They’re offering a free month and throwing in freebies to increase the perceived value of their package and motivate potential customers to take the deal.
If you want to create a flash sales ad that gets you loads of leads, choose the most popular plan your customers go for and offer it at a very reduced price. You can also check out what ads other fitness centers in your area are running for inspiration and load up your offer with plenty of freebies so your customers feel they’re getting more value than what they paid for. Lastly, end your ad with a compelling CTA.
3. Showcase Body Transformations
Body transformation ads work like magic as it showcases the ability of fitness brands to bring results and establish credibility as fitness professionals. Plus, such ads encourage most people to join the gym even if they’ve never worked out before.
Check out this print ad by Jon Lipsey, where he shares an eight-week plan to lose weight and gain muscles. The ad also shows his transformation in week 1 compared to his body because of things he followed in these 2 months. Such ads guarantee that your expertise can add value to their lives and help you achieve your fitness goals.
You can create similar body transformation ads by asking your current clients to share their journey with visual proof and feature some of the best transformations in your ad.
Pro-tip: Body transformation ads can work really well in the digital space as well. A good idea is to create a video using the before and after photos of different clients and run that across your social channels. Here’s a template you can use to create a video congratulating your clients on how far they have come on their fitness journey and how your business helped them do that.
4. Advertise Referral Programs
Referral programs are one of the best ways to get more people to sign up to your gym as your existing customers do all the selling for you and all you’ve got to do is provide an incentive that benefits them and motivates them to refer your services to their friends and family.
Plus, the referral system actually works as people tend to trust businesses that are recommended to them by their family and friends. In fact, A study showed that people are more likely to trust a product or service when someone they know endorses it. So, you should leverage the power of a referral program like Calta’s fitness did
The fitness center promises to give members a free month if the person they referred to joins the program. It benefits both new and existing customers and the center will see an increase in memberships from these referrals. The best part is that the process is very simple and if they’re having second thoughts while filling the details in the card, it also lists the benefits of having a membership at the center.
Before starting your referral program, you need to decide the incentive first. You can either offer a month free pass, discounts on gym products or provide them with add-on services like spa and body massage. Once you’ve come up with an incentive, create a simple process like Calta Fitness and ensure that the referrer and the referred person benefit from it.
Lastly, a referral program is only as successful as the business itself. If your clients aren’t happy with the experience and results you’ve provided them, they wouldn't want their loved ones to have a bad experience, too, no matter how enticing your referral program is.
Now that you have a fair idea of the different types of ads you can create for your fitness business, let’s go ahead and look at a few practices that will help you ensure that your ads convert.
D. Pro Tips For Creating Successful Fitness Ads
When creating ads for your fitness business, you want to focus on ensuring that potential customers trust you with their health and their money. This means you don’t want to be too salesly but at the same time give them a glimpse of how you can transform them. Here are three tips that will help you do that.
Tip #1 - Adopt the AIDA model
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action, and it identifies the stages a customer goes through before purchasing the product. It’s especially useful when structuring the copy or script for an ad as it takes your potential customers from not knowing about your services to making them want to work with you. Here’s a more comprehensive account of the AIDA model:
- Grab Attention: Your potential buyers come across so many health and fitness advertisements every day, and you should stand out if you want to stand any chance of selling to them. So, start with an opener that hooks your audience. This can be a storyline that defines your journey, answering your client's most common questions, or clearing objections.
- Interest of the customer- Now that you have grabbed your customer's attention, your next step is to make them continue reading the ad. Here, you can talk about your solution’s benefits and how your service is the best fit for them.
- Make your offer their desire: This phase moves the customer from just liking it to wanting it. Make them understand why they need this product and its benefits after use. Build enough trust in your product through customer success stories or certifications.
- Take action: Now that your potential buyer loves your product and wants to purchase it, the last phase of this ad would be to help them do that. Here, it's important that you are transparent about your pricing and offer, plus it needs to be clearly mentioned on your website and ad. Your action could be anything from downloading this brochure, purchasing the item, joining the newsletter etc.
Missing any of these elements in your fitness ad can reduce your chances of converting your prospects. For instance, if you miss out on awareness, your prospective buyer might not even read further, or worse they would not know their first step without a clear call to action.
Tip #2 - Plan And Test Your Offer
An irresistible offer is the one that makes your customers feel they’re getting more value compared to the money spent. To create one, you can start analyzing what your competitors are offering their customers.
Using this as a reference point, work out why people should choose your program over theirs and start structuring an offer that will help your clients achieve their fitness goals more effectively than other solution methods.
The next step is to test whether your offer works in the real world. Not every ad would bring you sales; that's why you need to create a range of headlines, videos, copy, CTA, images and test different combinations. For print ads, you can create different sample flyer options.
However, digital ads on social sites like Facebook, Instagram and others give you an option for A/B testing. This will provide you with a side-by-side comparison of what ads work for your fitness program.
Tip #3 - Create A Buyer Persona
It might feel tempting to target anyone and everyone to your ad; however, doing just the opposite will bring you the results you are looking for. But working with a specific type of clientele will help save you make more profit at a lowered ad spend.
So, ask your current customers to answer your questions or fill-up surveys to get insights into their personality, interests, and roadblocks . You can also ask for data from third-party agencies or conduct extensive external research on the type of people you would want to work with.
Then, fill out these five important pointers to help you create the ideal persona your fitness business must target.
- Demographic question- This section will help you understand the geographical location and lifestyle of your customer so that you know if they desire a product like yours.
- Sources of information- This is to identify the platforms your customers are most available at. You can know what your customers are consuming and the sources they trust.
- Goals & aspirations- This will help you define their fitness goal and how your offer can help them achieve it. The information should help you create an irresistible offer.
- Challenges or pain points- Your offers need to empathize with their pain, the challenges of changing habits, and give them hope that it's possible to achieve their fitness goals.
- Objections- Even with an excellent offer, your client might have some objections, Maybe because it's pricier for them and they don't think it justifies the value. But that's what you need to solve. Your ad should make your client confident that every penny they spend is worthwhile.
You can now accumulate all this information to build a buyer's persona. Now, you know what your client's look like, their objections, what they fear the most, their goals & aspirations. You can easily build a fitness ad that directly talks to these people, and there is a really high chance that a significant percentage of them would concert.
Wrapping Up
Creating and running ads might feel tedious when you’re starting out but this list of high-conversion fitness ad ideas should help. And while it may take you some time to create these ads, you can be assured that once you nail your strategy, you will get much higher ROIs than if you were to wait for growing organically. If you want more insight on how to create fitness ads, check out this blog.
And if you prefer learning via videos, you should definitely check out our YouTube channel, where we share daily video creation tips and tricks, the latest video trends and ideas, and help you make more money as a video creator.
This post was written by Mrignayni and edited by Adete from Team InVideo
