DO PT’S STILL
NEED WEBSITES?
In a world fixated on social media, why bother with a dedicated website to generate
leads for your fitness business?
WORDS: MATTHEW PALFREY
ith the ease of access that we
have to social media, many
fitness
professionals
are
increasingly questioning the need for their
own websites. After all, social media and
directory websites can be a very effective
and affordable method of marketing your
fitness business online. But what limitations
does this approach have, and what are the
advantages of maintaining or launching your
own website?
W
How necessary is it to be online?
Necessary is a subjective term. A range of
factors, including your current customer base,
your route to market and the local competition,
are important when considering your business
operations and customer leads.
Today’s customer is very savvy and
relishes the opportunity to make an informed
purchasing decision. We live in an age where
many purchases are made based solely on
online reviews. So a business that doesn’t
maintain an online presence can be seen as
less trustworthy, and that can have a major
impact on its long term success.
But an online presence represents more
than just another way to generate enquiries
and income. It also opens up the opportunity
to scale yourself to a global business.
So, for most businesses at least, being
online can help to extend reach, establish trust
and attract a greater variety of customers.
Is social media enough?
You can develop a strong online presence
through social media alone. Your followers
may eventually become clients or customers
too, if managed correctly, so it is certainly a
viable means to market your business. But
there are two major disadvantages of social
media-only marketing.
1. You don’t own your social media
channels
Despite potentially years of effort to build a
following through your social media channels,
The 30-second article
• Social media is a viable way of
marketing your business, but it’s
getting harder to reach followers
without paying to do so
• Having your own website allows you
to build a database of engaged users
that you can then market your
products and services to via email
marketing
• Including an e-commerce feature
on your site enables you to activate
secondary income streams aside
from your face-to-face training
• The practice of developing your
online business has a simple
formula: Valuable content/
products/services + Finding the
people that value them = Success.
NETWORK SPRING 2016 | 51