Picture this. A confident, good-looking muscular man rides into social media feed to sell you deodorant. TV shows like American Ninja Warrior still have a place in primetime ten years after their debut. Once-small tech companies like Fitbit and MyFitnessPal have exploded into the mainstream, growing thanks in part to partnerships with major athletic apparel brands. Fitness in marketing matters, and there’s a ton of ways to capitalize on creative opportunities.
Let’s start with time of day. TONS of marketers – digital and traditional – struggle to figure out when to speak to potential consumers. Why not step in their shoes? We evaluated over 300,000 posts from 2018, and found most people are talking about and engaging with fitness content between the hours of 9am and 1pm. Conversations taper out around dinner time (5pm-6pm), but pick back up from 8pm to 10pm for the late night lifters. Looking for a great day to reach gym buffs? Try Wednesday, when people are searching for inspiration and motivation to get them to the weekend.
Fitness isn’t just a trend, it’s a lifestyle. From a conversation perspective, it’s a 9-5!
Don’t work with a brand that fits with a fitness angle? Get creative! Financial brands can market themselves as economically fit, assisted living facilities can call attention to the ways they’re helping to keep older people sharp, and educational brands can tout ‘mental exercise’ for their students. There’s a ton of great hashtags that align closely with the fitness conversation, but none may be as useful for food brands as #cheatmeal or #cheatday, which saw a combined average of 64,000 impressions a day. That’s a lot of eyes on your awesome gourmet donut picture.
Speaking of donuts, #donut was the top associated food with #cheatmeal and #cheatday, followed by #pizza and #cake.
All content ideas aside, you need to advertise anything you’re selling. In fact, you’d be surprised how many of your followers also follow a solid percentage of fitness brands. Take the DIY Network, for example. Our research found that 11.95% of their followers also follow UFC, CrossFit, and MyFitnessPal, not to mention plenty of other fitness-related brands. By taking a look at your audience, you can craft a genuine message around fitness, then target people that follow common-interest brands, leading to a higher response rate. You may value your organic audience, but advertising is key to get your brand in front of new, excited potential consumers.
Wondering what else we looked in to? Download our latest white paper HERE to discover more insights, competitive analyses and other ways you can use fitness to your advantage.
