There has been a lot of buzz lately about production quality avatar themed videos in the gym space.
Here is the thing, some of us gym owner are also very creative people. Because there is limited outlet for it in the day-to-day of gym ownership, they have a ton of knowledge and pent up creativity.
Some, when they get the chance, tend to show off, rather than do what’s best for the client or instead point that energy to something that’s long been ignored.
If I own a business, I am not as focused nor do I really care about how pretty or innovative it is. Bottom line: it has to convert.
It’s often a case of shiny object syndrome, where the lifting of the heavy rocks is being ignore and the gym owner is gaining a sense of accomplishment by churning out over-designed content at an incredibly SLOW rate.
Not to say there is not value in these videos, there can be and there is.
The issue lies in the usage of time. It’s been shown in numerous studies that volume wins over design considerably when it comes to marketing and branding efforts in EVERY industry, not just gyms.
From what we’ve studied of the average gym owners content volume, it is almost non-existent. They hardly publishing at all.
We know the reason why. Because publishing new content everyday is hard work, even if its not packaged fancy.
Getting on FB lives is stressful for some people and sharing your knowledge opens up all kinds of insecurities. It’s easier to hide behind our members than to be the “attractive character” of our business, carrying our flag proudly and getting in front of people often.
It’s much easier to tinker with apps and cameras, and put in 10 hours over 5 days to create a high production video.
Meanwhile that same gym owner could have done 5 days of Facebook live videos with the phone in their pocket and generated considerably more volume and far more engagement.
You should definitely define and know your avatar first, that’s marketing and branding 101. It’s grade school stuff level to know that you cannot reach everyone equally.
It’s really about your avatar and their journey, and I have a strong hunch that gym owners like these production quality avatar videos because it’s really about showing off how awesome they are and how great their gym is.
Sometimes it’s also an attempt at trying to hang with the content quality of high level brands in our space like Orange Theory and F45 Training, for 8 and 9 figure businesses this level of production as the loyalty of the avatar is to the brand. Those brands are playing in a large national market, it’s a different game.
In our small box gyms, it’s consistent, creative messages that reinforce a connection to the people helps to develop a local brands reputation, which enhances the value of the services bearing its name.
In the end, know who you’re speaking to, and then position yourself as the guide on their journey and if you haven’t been doing that then it doesn’t require over-designed video.
Publishing this message frequently in text, voice and in video is the key. Publish and publish often.
Content works far better and is far more effective if it’s done frequently and consistently. That’s what builds an audience and following.
Is it harder? Yes. But that’s what will make it harder for your competition to hang with you. It’s hard for them too.
All this being said, there is a time and place for production quality content, when is it you ask?
- When you already have a content bank, keep a regular content schedule and are publishing daily
- Spending less than 10 hours per week working IN your business
- When you Operational systems in the gym are tightened up, are you still coaching 25 classes a week (not by choice)? Are you still doing all the admin and data entry work? Ok, then there are heavier rocks that need lifting before you worry about this level of production in your content.
- When you have a core offer that you are regularly marketing that is driving repeatable and reliable results.
Once your gym is a smooth running machine where most of the redundant tasks are either automated and delegated, then would be a good time to put some time and resources in to a higher level of production when it comes to your content. At this point it is safe to let your creative juices flow.
