YouTube for Fitness Pros & Businesses – 5 Ways To Use It

Wondering how to use YouTube in your fitness business? Whether you’re a personal trainer, gym owner, or health coach, the platform offers plenty of opportunities. But how can you get the most out of it?

In this article – we share 5 smart ways to utilise YouTube for fitness professionals and business operators.

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 online, so our strategies are tried and tested.

YouTube has exploded in recent years, yet the fitness industry has been slow to adapt. While health bloggers and fitness vloggers were quick to tap into its potential, gyms, and personal trainers haven’t been as agile. 

• YouTube is the 2nd most visited website globally (after Google).
• Of all the social media platforms, people spend the most time on YouTube (almost 24 hours per month vs 19 on both Facebook and TikTok and 11 on Instagram).
• People use video to learn things – a third of people have searched for a tutorial or how-to video in the last month.
• YouTube ads have the potential to reach 2.5 billion people globally.

As these Hootsuite statistics demonstrate, YouTube offers a huge opportunity for fitness professionals, gyms, and studios. Let’s look at five ways you can use it to support your business goals…

#1 – Educate Clients

The first (and probably most common) approach is to use YouTube videos to educate existing customers. It’s a way to support them with their goals and help them get more out of their membership or sessions. 

The visual nature of video makes it perfect for demonstrating different exercise techniques, explaining a training method, or delivering entire workout classes. While workout videos are probably the most popular, there are lots of other ways to educate members and clients.

You can create how-to videos that explain…

• How to train for a particular fitness goal
• Perform a specific movement
• Progress from an easy to a more difficult level
• Use a piece of fitness equipment 
• Communicate the scientific rationale for your approach
• Improve your training technique 

Once you have several videos on a theme, you can create a library or playlist that contains all of them. These can be public or private, so if you want to password-protect the content and only make it accessible to paying clients, then that’s an option. 

You might also like… 10 Fitness Video Ideas for Vloggers & YouTubers.

#2 – Differentiate Yourself

Just doing YouTube in itself is a great way to get ahead of the competition. Your content will have the potential to reach all those fitness fans that other brands aren’t targeting. If your competitors aren’t on the platform, then starting a YouTube channel might be a no-brainer.

But the topics you cover, the style of your videos, and the way you present yourself can also be ways to differentiate. If your competitors are already on YouTube, then you can use videos to demonstrate why you’re better or different.

Step one is to prove your credibility. Why should people listen to you? What makes you an expert? Talk about your experiences, areas of study, qualifications, and results you’ve helped clients achieve. 

Topic selection is another way to differentiate. By focusing on one particular niche within health and fitness, you’ll establish yourself as the go-to person on the theme.

#3 – Generate sales leads

YouTube is an excellent platform for generating leads for your business. Videos can help you get in front of new viewers and turn them into paying customers.

Step one is to get found in the video search results. You can use keyword tools to figure out what people are searching for in relation to your area of expertise. Then create videos that address their needs or answer the most common questions.

You can also straight up pay to get found by investing in YouTube ads. One way is to promote your videos so that you appear at the top of the results. Another is to create video ads that are shown before and during other people’s or brand’s videos.

YouTube can also help to move people through the sales funnel and convert strangers into customers. Educational videos can be the entry point for this journey, but it’s worth including a variety of conversion content. Showcasing client testimonials or addressing common objections are particularly effective options. 

Whichever route you go down, the important thing is to include a clear call to action within the video. That way people will head to your website (or wherever you direct them) after they’ve watched it. 

You might also like… 5 Steps to Building an Online Fitness Business or Is YouTube right for your business?

#4 – Create revenue

YouTube can also be a revenue stream in itself. It’s a handy way to diversify your income.

If your videos get enough views, then you can generate income from embedded ads. YouTube will pay you based on how many people see the ad reels before or during your videos.

You can also generate affiliate commissions through your videos. By reviewing, recommending, or demonstrating fitness products, you can earn money when people purchase through your links. There are plenty of fitness affiliate programs that you can partner with and promote.

If you have a sizeable or particularly niche subscriber base, then you might also earn money through sponsored content. This is a popular approach with fitness influencers who are paid by brands to feature their products in their videos or social media posts.  

#5 – Build Your Personal Brand or Network

This option is often overlooked by most fitness pros and companies, but it’s incredibly powerful. You can use YouTube as a platform to build your personal brand or connect with others to develop your network.

Here are a few ways you can do this…

• Interviewing other people
• Reviewing their products, books, or courses
• Providing your hot take on a breaking industry news story
• Using your videos as pitch materials for speaking gigs

Video offers so many opportunities, you just need to find the one that aligns with your goals.

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