Are you ready to supercharge your marketing strategies for your personal training or fitness business? I understand that starting from scratch can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to choosing the ideal marketing tools.

Elevate your personal training or fitness business with these essential online marketing tools.

When it comes to marketing for fitness businesses, having the right tools is the key to success. I've listed a selection of ten top-notch marketing tools specifically tailored for your fitness venture.

The best part?

There is no need to purchase all of these items all at once; instead, you have the option to buy them gradually over time. 

But if I had to pick my top five must-have marketing tools specifically for fitness businesses or startups, I highly recommend: 

1. Business and communication tools: These will streamline your operations and help you stay organized in managing appointments, client communications, and administrative tasks.

2. Project management tools: Stay on top of your fitness programs, classes, and events with efficient project management tools that ensure smooth planning and execution.

3. Content management system: Easily create and manage captivating content for your website, blog, and social media platforms to engage your audience and showcase your fitness expertise.

4. Email marketing tools: Build strong connections with your clients through targeted email campaigns, newsletters, and promotions, keeping them informed and motivated to achieve their fitness goals.

5. Social media tools for mastering your social media presence: Harness the power of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to reach a wider audience, build a community, and promote your fitness brand effectively.  

Let's explore these tools in more detail and also discover other marketing tools that can be valuable as your fitness business and internal marketing team grow.

But here's the deal: starting small is the key to ultimate success. So, let's get started and delve into it! 

Here are the top 10 marketing tools tailored for personal training businesses:

1. Business Marketing Tools 

Google Workspace

Google Workspace offers you cloud computing, email and calendar capability, online document editing, file sharing, and much more. 

I use Google Drive extensively to house all my business documents and collaborate on projects with my team. For example, we use:

• Google Docs for creating copy for emails and landing pages, SOPs (Standard Operation Procedures), and brainstorming new things. You can add comments and suggestions and track all changes. It logs changes made and by whom, so that’s pretty nifty.
• Google Sheets for planning, recording, and tracking stats. It’s so important to know your numbers. If you’re not monitoring the performance of your marketing, you’re doing it all wrong.
• Google Slides for creating presentations for monthly team meetings and speaking events.
• Google forms for surveys and questionnaires for clients.

It also offers single-user sign-in, which is great if you want to log into other apps like Slack or Loom, Zoom, your Helpdesk, or whatever. You can do it all via your Google Workspace account.

And if a team member leaves, you can just suspend their account, which automatically locks them out.

So it’s convenient, secure, and relatively inexpensive. Just don’t use it for bulk emailing. That’s what your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is for. I mean, you can try, but your account will get flagged and banned

Alternative Tools:

Alternative tools for business marketing purposes could include Microsoft Office 365, Zoho Workplace, and Dropbox Business, which offer similar features for communication, file sharing, and collaboration.

2. Project Management Tools

Asana

How You Can Utilize It:

Alternative Tools:

If you’re just getting started with a project management tool and want to play around, I suggest opening a Trello account. It’s free, and the card system is really easy to use. But if you’ve got a team of five or more, switch to Asana. 

Alternative project management tools include Notion, Monday.com, and Basecamp, which provide similar functionality for organizing tasks, managing projects, and fostering collaboration.

3. Content Management System (CMS) & SEO Tools

WordPress integrates with Thrive Plugins and SEO tools: Surfer SEO & Yoast

An essential tool for small businesses is your website. It forms the centre of your marketing. 

As personal trainers, we don’t need a custom-built website. It’s expensive and generally not user-friendly. And having to contact their IT department every time you want to make a change to your site is impractical.

You want to be able to handle those things in-house or by yourself. Software tools like Squarespace and Wix have all of this really cool functionality built in, but if you require something they don’t offer, that’s it. You’re stuck. 

So you want a content management system that you can use to capture and follow up with leads, load blogs, add landing pages, and implement SEO with little training. 

I’d recommend WordPress. You can purchase a template design and build a really attractive site with minimal effort. Plus, you can find virtually any plugin you need. 

• Payment gateway―no problem.
• Video streaming―you’ve got it.
• Email integration―it’s a breeze. 
• Leave a review―why not.

And if you can’t find a suitable plugin, you can always get someone to develop it for you. 

Another great feature is Yoast for WordPress. It tracks how readable your article is, if your writing is optimized for search engines (SEO), and whether you have the keyphrase sufficiently.

Take a look for yourself. Here’s an example.

Alternative Tools:

Alternative CMS options include Wix and Squarespace, which provide similar website creation and management capabilities. Alternative SEO tools that integrate with WordPress include All in One SEO Pack and Rank Math.

4. Content Management System (CMS) & SEO Tools

ConvertKit

Much like your website, your Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) or email marketing tool is at the center of your marketing infrastructure. 

The purpose of your CRM tool is to capture high-value leads that come to your website,  trigger email automation that nurtures them, and eventually convert them into customers. 

Here’s why: On average, roughly 3% of your target market is ready to buy today. Unfortunately, every other brand is fighting for their attention. 

There’s another 40% who might not be ready to buy today but will be ready someday. 

If you don’t have a CRM system, you won’t be able to keep in touch with these prospects. So when they’re ready to buy in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days, a year, two years they’ll turn somewhere else.

You need a customer relationship management tool you can rely on to automate much of this process, especially if you’ll be sending three to four emails every week. 

I use Convertkit.

How You Can Utilize It:

ConvertKit allows you to create opt-in forms, build email lists, and design visually appealing emails using their drag-and-drop editor. You can segment your audience based on their interests and behavior, enabling targeted email campaigns.

ConvertKit's automation features enable you to set up email sequences triggered by specific actions or time intervals. You can also track email open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber engagement using the platform's analytics.

Benefits for Your Fitness Business: 

ConvertKit offers several benefits for your fitness business's email marketing efforts. You can engage with your clients by sending personalized emails, promoting new programs or offers, and providing valuable content. 

The segmentation feature helps you tailor your messages to specific target groups, ensuring relevant and impactful communication. 

The automation capabilities save time and effort by delivering pre-scheduled emails based on predefined triggers. 

Additionally, the analytics provided by ConvertKit allows you to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns and make data-driven improvements.

Alternative Tools:

Alternative email marketing tools include Mailchimp and AWeber, which offer similar features for creating and managing email campaigns.

5. Social Media Tools

Canva

Building your social presence requires great content. The message alone is not enough to cut through a crowded market space.

You need something eye-catching and shareable, especially if you’re trying to make it on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

To up your social media marketing game, here’s what I like to do. My team uses Canva, which is design software that anyone can use.

• It gives you thousands of templates to choose from. So whether you need business cards, banner ads, a social media post for LinkedIn, or digital assets, just drag and drop the template you like and replace the copy and image as required. 
• You can design your business logo.
• You also don’t have to pay to use the images. No matter your topic, you’ll find a host of free stock photos you can use. 
• But you can also upload photos or illustrations.

Jasper.ai

When it comes to creating engaging social media content, captions, or even chatbot interactions  I use the creative writing tool called Jasper.ai  The tool helps you create catchy headlines, captions, and copy that is tailored for the message you’re trying to convey. Plus it suggests new words to make your writing more interesting and engaging.

So whether you’re working on a print ad, website copy, or even a splash page for an event I highly recommend giving Canva and Jasper.ai a try. They make creating content both easy and inspiring!

Alternative Tools:

Alternative tools to Jasper.ai include ChatGPT, Ryter, and Copy.ai. Alternative design tools similar to Canva include Adobe Spark and PicMonkey.

6. Editing & Grammar Tools

Grammarly

Another marketing tool you want to think about investing in is editing software. There’s no point in writing a killer landing page or great social media content if it’s riddled with typos and grammatical errors.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received an email from someone on my list telling me they spotted a spelling mistake. It happens, but it’s also embarrassing. 

With tools like Grammarly, you can write content that anyone can read. It’ll highlight which sentences are difficult to read so you can correct them before posting that new blog. 

And you can download the tools to your desktop so you never have to open them and input your writing piece. 

I use Grammarly on Chrome and it automatically checks my LinkedIn posts, emails, and website. So even if I’m responding to someone on Instagram, it’ll highlight if I need to add a comma or use a different word. 

Alternative Tools:

7. Social Media Marketing - Scheduling Tools

Metricool

To do social media marketing effectively you need great design and editing tools, but you also need the right scheduling tools.

Social media marketing doesn’t just involve design creation and hitting the post button. You need to monitor engagement and track results. 

• What posts performed well? 
• Do your users prefer video content, text-based content, or a combination of image and text?
• Which days have the highest social traffic?
• What are the best times to post?
• Who has re-shared your content?

If you’re posting to multiple social media platforms, you need a tool that can, at a glance, show you what you’re working on, what’s been published, and how it has performed.

My team and I used to use SmarterQueue which is great but we’ve recently switched to Metricool, which plugs nicely into our social media channels. 

Essentially it can house and schedule every piece of content you create for social media. So whether you’re posting to Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, it’s all there. 

Reminder, we’re a fully remote team, so my CMO needs to be able to review posts, make notes, edit copies, and reassign as necessary. Metricool does all of this and more. Once the content is approved, my team selects a publish date and hits go. 

Alternative Tools:

Alternative social media scheduling tools include Hootsuite and Sprout Social, which offer similar functionalities for managing and scheduling social media content.

Each tool has its own unique features and pricing plans, so it's important to explore and choose the one that best fits your business needs.

8. Internal Messaging Tool

Slack and Loom

If you run a mobile PT business or have a remote team, you absolutely need some kind of internal messaging tool. If you’re not in the gym or studio with your team, you need a way to communicate with them quickly. 

When I worked in corporate, we often met up in the kitchen whilst waiting for the kettle to boil or around the water cooler and discussed projects, and internal messaging software replicates this.

My go-to messaging tool is Slack. It’s something my team and I use every day. 

• With Slack, my team can direct message each other or create different channels for the various departments. And we use these channels to collaborate and broadcast messages. 
• We’re able to share documents (files, images, Loom videos) and celebrate milestones or major wins.  
• It dramatically cuts down on email load, and it’s instant and available on your mobile phone, desktop, or other devices.

It’s a digital marketing tool that you want for your business.

9. Video Marketing Tools

Vimeo

You need to think of yourself as a fitness media company. To build your brand you need to amplify your message and the best place to do that I feel is to build and grow your own YouTube Channel.

However, my favorite video tool is Vimeo. Unlike Youtube, I can upload videos that only my clients can see. So if I create video content for an online fitness program, I’ll house it all on Vimeo. 

Other Tools: 

• I use Loom to send personalized videos to clients and my team. I also use it to film instructional videos. This is super helpful when onboarding a new team member or explaining a particular task I want them to perform. 
• When it comes to asking clients for for video testimonials, I'd suggest using VideoAsk. You can also use Facetime. 
• You can use Wistia as an alternative to Vimeo.

10. Data Reporting & Monitoring Tools

Google Analytics

The only way to know if your marketing is working is to monitor your numbers. I like to use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track website visitors, the best-performing pages, organic conversion rate, and bounce rate.

A high bounce rate means my content isn’t serving my visitor search intent. So I can use this information to make vital changes. 

If there’s a sharp drop off in visitors to a particular blog, I know I need to revise it. 

I use Search Console to submit new web pages to be crawled. It also gives me an overview of our best-performing keywords. 

By leveraging these free tools, you can kickstart your marketing efforts without straining your budget.

Remember, as your startup progresses and your financial situation improves, you can consider investing in premium tools for additional features and functionalities.

Key Marketing Terms

Conclusion:

In conclusion, these online marketing tools serve as the backbone of success for startups and small businesses. 

They are essential components that power your personal training business forward, enabling optimal functionality. 

Within this roundup, I've provided a mix of indispensable free digital marketing tools and paid options. It's crucial to thoroughly evaluate each tool's pricing and features to determine the best fit for your specific needs. 

Remember to start small and gradually expand your toolkit. 

As a personal trainer, you may not require every tool mentioned in this article, but if you aspire to grow your business, build a team, and achieve significant milestones, investing in automation, project management, social media, and content management tools become essential.