You’ve built a large, engaged audience on Instagram/Tik Tok/You Tube – insert as applicable – and you’re ready to monetise your fitness content and launch your own fitness app. Congratulations!
However, it's important to recognise that having a large audience doesn't automatically translate to sales, without the continued hustle. In this blog post, we'll guide you through the process of monetising your fitness content and successfully launching your own fitness app.
Know your audience: If you’ve built up an engaged online audience, the chances are you know them pretty well already but, before you start, familiarise yourself with their demographics, preferences, challenges, and what will inspire them to purchase your fitness app.
Cultivate cohesive branding: Make sure the branding of your fitness app aligns seamlessly with the look and feel of the branding you’ve cultivated across your social media channels. You want to reinforce recognition and trust with your existing audience.
Leverage your existing audience: Whilst it might seem obvious, don’t forget your audience is your biggest asset. Make sure you are pushing out content over your social media platforms to generate excitement around the app and tease exclusive content and features to build anticipation. And don’t stop once the app is launched; if you want to keep your app top of mind, you need to keep on sharing app-related content.
App Store Optimisation (ASO): App store optimisation is the ongoing process of improving the ranking and visibility of your app in an app store. The higher your app ranks in an app store’s search results, the more visible it is to potential users. Searchable fields may vary for Apple and Google Play but, in short, make sure you are using the same keywords your target audience would use in your titles, sub-titles and descriptions.
Creator collaborations: Collaborate with other creators or brands who are aligned to your values and goals. Collaborations expose you to a new audience and their endorsement can help boost your app's credibility and visibility.
Paid advertising: Set aside a budget for paid promotion. Paid ads allow you to be very specific with your targeting. When combined with your organic content strategy, it’s an effective way to deliver tailored promotions to your ideal customers, ultimately driving more sales.
User Generated Content (UGC): Encourage your followers and app subscribers to share their fitness journey using your app. Feature their transformations and progress updates to demonstrate the effectiveness of your approach. By sharing UGC, not only does it make your followers feel more connected and involved, but it also serves as social proof. This authenticity builds trust and credibility among potential customers, as they are more likely to trust the opinions of their peers over branded content.
Time-limited offer for early sign-ups: Run a promotion to incentivise your followers to download and subscribe to your app in the initial launch period.
Build an email list: If you don’t already have an email list, start to capture the email addresses of visitors to your website or app landing page. It allows for direct, personalised communication with your audience, leading to increased trust, engagement and, ultimately, conversions. By leveraging email marketing, you can effectively guide potential customers along the buying journey towards becoming app subscribers.
Engage with your community: Set up an exclusive Facebook group, forum, or broadcast channel to interact with app subscribers. Provide encouragement and motivation, share success stories, fitness tips or exclusive content to inspire your community, The more additional value you offer through this channel, the more trust and loyalty you build. Furthermore, use this forum to seek feedback from subscribers. Their insights and suggestions can provide invaluable direction for refining the app experience.
Analyse Data and Iterate: Regularly monitor website and app analytics to understand user behaviour, conversion rates, and churn rates. You can then take this information to make data-driven decisions and improve user experience.
In summary, launching and marketing your own fitness app requires a combination of strategic planning, targeted outreach, and continuous optimisation. By understanding your audience, leveraging collaborations, and utilising various marketing channels, you can maximise subscriptions and revenue for your app. But, remember, it's an ongoing process, so don’t stop, stay agile and be prepared to adapt your marketing strategy.
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