We manage Pinterest marketing for fitness companies and nutrition brands, so it’s an area of digital marketing that we specialise in. But it’s definitely not suited to every type of gym, fitness club, or personal trainer (which is something that often surprises our clients when we tell them).
In this guide – learn all about Pinterest marketing for fitness brands and businesses, including what to pin, which boards to set up, and how to get traffic from it.
We’re a specialist fitness marketing agency with 15+ years of industry experience, so we know first-hand what works (and what doesn’t!). We’ve helped gyms, fitness studios, and personal trainers to successfully promote their businesses, so our digital marketing strategies are tried and tested.
Pinterest has gained a huge amount of traction in recent years. What started as a place to save interior design and fashion ideas has morphed into a traffic-driving machine. And there’s a huge appetite for health and wellness content, so fitness businesses and brands are well-positioned to tap into the opportunities.
Fitness Marketing Resource Library
Generate a steady stream of leads, sales, and revenue for your gym, fitness studio, or personal training business.
What Is Pinterest?
Pinterest describes itself as ‘a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more’. The platform is filled with ‘pins’ which are vertical images typically overlaid with text. Users can save these pins to their own ‘boards’, similar to having an ideas scrapbook or mood board.
Pinterest is often grouped into the social media bucket but it’s actually more like a search engine. It’s like if YouTube served up images of ideas instead of videos. It can drive huge volumes of traffic to your website and is particularly popular with health and wellness-minded individuals. This is why so many gym owners, freelance nutritionists, and health coaches are turning to it.
Should My Fitness Business Use Pinterest?
Pinterest is a fantastic marketing platform for some types of fitness business, but unlikely to drive results for others. It’s ideal for showcasing workout routines, healthy recipes, and fitness gear. Pinterest is also a powerful traffic-driving tool and who doesn’t want more traffic to their website or blog?!
But it’s important to consider whether that traffic will really be useful to you. Is it high quality and well-targeted?
After all, what’s the point in getting lots of people to your Manchester gym’s website if they aren’t physically located nearby? Pinterest visitors from Australia might love your content, but they won’t be signing up for a membership anytime soon! In this case, probably not.
Don’t get us wrong, there are definitely situations where Pinterest is insanely useful. A large proportion of our website visitors find us via the platform so we’re actually big fans! But that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.
Learn which fitness marketing strategies produce the best results (so you can focus on what actually works).
Here are some situations where we recommend Pinterest marketing for fitness companies…
- Driving traffic to websites that make money online such as…
- Fitness blogs that are monetised through adverts, sponsored content, or online programs
- E-commerce sites that sell health and fitness products online
- Professionals who provide online coaching or consulting such as nutritionists, health coaches, personal trainers, and yoga instructors
- Promoting visual content like health and wellness infographics
- For beginner fitness bloggers who want to increase traffic quickly while waiting to rank organically in Google
As you can see, there are plenty of situations where Pinterest can play a valuable role in your marketing efforts. The key is to ensure that the platform will support your goals. It’s not a one size fits all solution – it’s usefulness is dependent on your business model and marketing objectives.
Here are a few situations where we wouldn’t recommend Pinterest to clients…
- For bricks and mortar gyms that are targeting local residents
- Wellness businesses or freelancers who sell in-person consultations as opposed to online offerings
Pinterest gets you traffic from all over the world. This is awesome if your business can sell to all these people. But if you run a local operation, then you’re better off putting your efforts into targeting customers that are nearby.
If you fall into the second category, then you’re better off using Facebook or Instagram to drive local leads. You can include location tags in your posts so that they show up in the feeds of people nearby. Or make use of the location-targeting features that social advertising and Google Ads offer.
Fitness Marketing Resource Library
Generate a steady stream of leads, sales, and revenue for your gym, fitness studio, or personal training business.
Creating Your Pinterest Profile & Fitness Boards
Setting up your Pinterest profile is quick and easy. Just sign up with your email address, add your name and logo or photo, and a short bio about what your fitness company does.
The nature of Pinterest means your profile is unlikely to get visited that often. It’s not like Facebook or Instagram where people will click on your bio. They’ll typically interact with your pins and click straight through to the linked web page.
But your profile does communicate to Pinterest what your account is all about. And that helps it to serve up your pins to the right people. So, it’s worth optimising your profile even though not many people will see it…
- Add keywords after your business name (e.g. Beautifully Balanced | Online Calisthenics Workouts)
- Use your bio to summarise what you offer and who you help (e.g. Calisthenics exercises and training programs for women who want to build strength, balance, and poise).
- Create 8-10 Pinterest boards that cover the various types of content you’ll be creating (e.g. upper body exercises, lower body exercises, balance exercises, calisthenics movements, calisthenics science, training programs, calisthenics nutrition, recipes for strength, etc.)
Fitness influencer Kayla Itsines has Pinterest boards on her different workout programs, exercises, recipes, motivational quotes to name a few. Women’s Health magazine has boards on fitness tips, 15-minute workouts, gift guides, success stories, workout clothing, and more. Think about what kind of content will appeal to your target audience and then create relevant boards.
Through your profile, use language that will resonate with your ideal client, weaving in keywords that reflect your fitness niche – be it strength training, yoga, or nutrition. Craft a bio that speaks directly to your audience’s fitness aspirations, and curate board covers that form a visual narrative of your brand’s holistic fitness journey. This will introduce your brand and act as a discovery tool for Pinterest’s algorithm.
Learn which fitness marketing strategies produce the best results (so you can focus on what actually works).
Creating Engaging Fitness Pins
Creating captivating fitness pins are crucial to any successful Pinterest marketing strategy. It’s an aspirational and ideas-focused platform, so focus on these aspects in your content.
Create pins about your products and services, embrace seasonal themes, and spotlight specific workout routines. Tap into emerging fitness trends – whether it’s the latest workout craze, a new approach to nutrition, or innovative wellness practices. Pinterest even has its own trends tool to help you!
Infuse your pins with a combination of inspiration and actionable content that encourages people to embark on their fitness journey with your brand.
Here are some fitness-themed pin ideas that are proven to work well on Pinterest…
- Exercise Tutorials: Break down workout routines with step-by-step visuals, catering to users of all fitness levels.
- Workout Challenges: Create 30-day fitness challenges that users can follow, promoting engagement and consistency.
- Seasonal Fitness Tips: Tailor your content to seasonal fitness trends, such as winter workouts or summer body prep.
- Wellness Quotes: Design aesthetically pleasing quote pins that resonate with the spirit of wellness.
- Fitness Gear Guides: Showcase recommended fitness gear, clothing, and accessories with engaging visuals (which also opens up affiliate commission opportunities).
- Recipe Infographics: Craft visually appealing infographics featuring nutritious recipes tailored to fitness goals.
- Quick Workout Pins: Design time-efficient workout routines suitable for busy lifestyles.
- Mindfulness Practices: Introduce mindfulness and meditation pins, promoting holistic well-being.
- Infographics on Health Benefits: Educate your audience with infographics outlining the health benefits of specific exercises or diets.
- Transformation Stories: Share success stories of individuals who achieved fitness milestones, inspiring your audience.
Tailor these pin ideas to your fitness brand’s offering so that it creates a seamless funnel for your website.
Rich Pins For Fitness Brands
Rich Pins can enhance your fitness brand’s visibility on Pinterest even more. These dynamic pins provide real-time information, ensuring that your content stays fresh and relevant. They’ll pull the latest info from your article, product, or recipe so that the details are always accurate (even if the prices or images have changed since you pinned it).
For fitness companies, Rich Pins are useful for promoting products and blog content. Rich Pins can include product details, pricing, and direct links to your website, streamlining the user journey from discovery to conversion. When promoting blog content, Rich Pins automatically update an article’s title and meta description so that users see up-to-date info and are more likely to click your website link.
Embracing the dynamic capabilities of Rich Pins can boost your fitness brand’s presence on Pinterest. They’re a useful tool for driving e-commerce conversions, which makes them ideal for fitness product companies in particular.
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Fitness Marketing Resource Library
Generate a steady stream of leads, sales, and revenue for your gym, fitness studio, or personal training business.
