Maximize LinkedIn for Personal Trainers: Lead Generation Tips

Marketing

Mar 7, 2024

By Tim Saye

How to Use LinkedIn to Generate Leads for Your Online Personal Training Business using LinkedIn


LinkedIn isn't just for job seekers and recruiters – it's a goldmine waiting to be tapped by savvy personal trainers like you!

LinkedIn is the go-to platform for professionals looking to boost their careers and network. It offers a wealth of opportunities for fitness professionals seeking to expand their online presence and attract new clients.

With over 500 million users on LinkedIn, 44% of whom earn upwards of $75,000 annually, - the platform is a hotbed of potential clients eager to invest in their health and wellness.

Imagine the impact of connecting with this affluent demographic and showcasing your expertise to a targeted audience primed for your services.




In this guide, we'll show you how to harness the power of LinkedIn for personal trainers to generate leads, cultivate a thriving online community, and elevate your personal training brand to new heights.


Step #1. Create Distinct Personal and Professional Profiles

LinkedIn allows users to promote their businesses as individuals and companies. This is extremely beneficial as it helps to appeal to different kinds of clients.

In your personal profile, highlight your skills, education, qualifications, certificates, previous projects, work history, and don't forget to update your job title.

You can use your personal profile to talk about the type of fitness coach you are in a way that your ideal clients can relate to on a personal level.

In the professional LinkedIn profile, it’s best to make it brand-centric and display what makes your fitness business uniquely positioned to help your ideal clients.

Explain your USP as a trainer, and how that benefits your clients and helps them achieve their fitness goals.

Feel free to spotlight your existing clients (with their consent, of course), their successes, and how they achieved them. If you run a company and have partners and a coaching team, create a place where you introduce them and their skills to your audience, too.

When it comes to profile settings on LinkedIn, there are certain rules and guidelines to follow:

  1. Personal profile photo: 200x200 (standard); 240x240 (premium)

  2. Personal profile background image: 1400×425

  3. Professional profile company logo: 100×60 (standard); 50×50 (square)

  4. Professional profile banner image: 646×220 (premium); 947x330 (premium)

Use the same branded background and profile images you use on other social media channels so your fitness brand can be recognized.

Highlight specific areas of your profile to catch the prospect's attention.

For example, if you’ve won any competitions or have taken part in international tournaments, highlight the ‘Achievements and Certifications’ section to be visible on top of the page.

Keep ‘Profile Summaries’ and ‘Speciality Skills’ separate. In your profile summary, write keyword-infused copy about yourself and your business to help with SEO optimization.

In your skills section, mention all the fitness-related qualifications and skills you acquired through education or hands-on experience.

Build a network of both professional and personal acquaintances on each profile.

Your professional network will help increase your brand visibility in other target markets, while your personal network is excellent for focused fitness marketing.

Finally, always use a CTA at the end of your profile to encourage readers to get in touch.


Step #2. Endorse Partners and Competitors

Endorsements on LinkedIn are often two-way streets and can help personal trainers on LinkedIn market themselves quite effectively.

If you endorse someone, your chances of receiving an endorsement from them or having them engage with you online are higher. Both scenarios can get your attention, contact, and conversions.

The rule with LinkedIn endorsements is 'quality, not quantity.' Identify people you’ve worked with in the past, interacted with physically or online, and, ideally, who are renowned amongst your target customer group.

Recognize people who have set good benchmarks, have an excellent fitness program, or are implementing excellent industry practices.

Your equipment suppliers, activewear brands you or your online clients use and deem good quality, athletes, coaches and nutritionists, and even other personal trainers and gyms you know in person are some of the people you can endorse.

All these parties will likely have access to a large following base, and when you endorse them, you appear on their profiles and become visible to their followers.

This can be a great opportunity to increase your brand visibility.


Step #3. Make the Best Use of LinkedIn’s Built-In Advertising Campaign Feature

LinkedIn has a built-in campaign manager that allows Personal Trainers to select from a wide selection of advertisements. Some of the ad types available are:

  • Self-serve ads, which include text ads, sponsored content, and sponsored InMails
  • Display adsVideo ads
  • Account-Based Marketing
  • Remarketing Ads

The campaign manager has a very user-friendly account management system that helps users create advertisements, choose target audiences, promote content, and track engagement with ease.

Campaigns covering various budgets are available, making LinkedIn ads cost-effective and helpful for small business owners. This is ideal even if you are just about to launch your online personal training services.


Step #4. Create Generation-Specific Content

According to statistics, there are 87 million LinkedIn users in the millennial age group, and 11 million of those are in decision-making positions, meaning they are high earners.

If that’s your target market, focusing on content that speaks to Millennials can be the ideal lead-generation strategy for your online fitness business.

Studies show that millennials are more likely to consume content that is educational, inspirational, and which helps them develop their skills.

Keep this in mind when creating LinkedIn articles. Use your readers' most burning fitness-related problems to inspire your topics, but do your research and create the article to educate and inspire rather than try to sell.

We recommend that you utilize LinkedIn’s publishing platform to establish your thought leadership. This makes LinkedIn a great platform to launch their brand.


Step #5. Join Relevant Groups

LinkedIn groups are excellent places for personal trainers to find clients and partners for your business.

When in groups, you can easily interact with industry experts and peers, show off your knowledge and skills, and engage with prospective clients.

The best way to promote your services in a group is by sharing:

  • Data-backed industry reports
  • Polls
  • Quizzes
  • Free webinars
  • Q&A sessionsLive streamed videos
  • Personal messages

Asking questions, especially open-ended ones, can increase the engagement of a specific post, so feel free to use them in your headers to grab the reader's attention.


LinkedIn For Personal Trainers

LinkedIn presents a valuable opportunity for personal trainers to expand their reach, attract new clients, and elevate their brand presence.

By following these steps and leveraging the potential of LinkedIn, personal trainers can take their business to new heights and achieve success in the digital age.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated to give you up-to-date information.

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