Clients are the lifeblood of your Personal Training business. As well as being a source of income, clients can promote your business and generate referrals.

Getting Personal Training clients can be a challenge, especially in the early days of your business. The good news is you don’t need expensive or time-consuming tactics.

The best outreach strategies are sensible, sustainable, and easy to do. Here are 10 ways to get more Personal Training clients online or in-person.

Key points

Simple Ways To Get More Local Personal Training Clients

• Encourage referrals
• Host “Bring a Friend” sessions
• Smart social media presence
• Use your email list
• Local leafleting
• Create a community
• Simple Strategies For Getting More Online Personal Training Clients
• Social media presence
• Social media marketing
• Give free value
• Check-in with former clients

Simple Ways To Get More Local Personal Training Clients

Local Personal Trainers and mobile PTs need to know how to get more in-person clients. So it makes sense to focus on tactics which will result in a face-to-face meet up.

Encourage referrals

Have a referral strategy in place. This could be as simple as asking current clients to recommend you to friends and family. But it might be better to incentivise it with a reward. You might give the existing client a free class or credit towards a free session for every referral they generate, or gift them a piece of your branded merchandise.

Host “Bring a Friend” sessions

Bring a friend classes or small group PT can remove the typical barriers of attending a session as a new client. Their friend will be there to support them, and there’s no pressure to sign up. In return, you get to meet prospective clients and show them what it’s like to train with you. Consider offering a discount on their first session or block booking.

Smart social media presence

When you’re a local Personal Trainer, be mindful of your social media activity (especially in local residents’ groups). Your name will be closely linked to your business, so don’t say anything you wouldn’t be happy to say in front of a client. Get strategic by seeking out health and fitness questions in local groups like nextdoor or Facebook groups. Give value and advice, but be sure to showcase your values and personality too.

Use your email list

Create an email list of past and current clients, enquiries, and people who had taster sessions. Email regularly with short, friendly emails that give useful value around training, nutrition, or healthy living. Don’t be afraid to mention your PT sessions, classes, or offers at the bottom of emails.

Local leafleting

Leaflet drops can be a great way to raise awareness and promote your business at key points in the year.

Design your leaflet

Use a free tool like Canva to create professional leaflet designs. Ask at least two people to check it over for spelling and content.

Personalise your campaign

Choose the best locations in your local area, and outsource the physical work with a leaflet distribution service like Royal Mail’s Drop a Leaflet service which will ensure your leaflet gets through letterboxes.

Create a community

As a local Personal Trainer, all your clients will come from the same area. So why not create a client community? It’s a great way for your clients to support each other and encourage word of mouth marketing.

Choose a platform

Use a private Facebook group, a WhatsApp group, or whichever platform your clients will be most comfortable with.

Encourage participation

As admin of the group, show up regularly to check in with clients, promote classes or social events, and answer questions.

Simple Strategies For Getting More Online Personal Training Clients

As an online or hybrid Personal Trainer, you’ll need to think about ways to reach your target audience and then bring them into your world.

Social media presence

When you’re writing content for your social media accounts (and when you’re leaving comments on other pages), think about how you’re coming across. Any online PT can give advice about workouts and meal plans. Be sure to communicate who you are, what you stand for, and why you’re different. Help readers get a sense of why they should work with you.

Social media marketing

Use some simple social media marketing strategies to capitalise on every visitor who reaches your socials.

Use pixels

Pixels are small bits of code that track how visitors use your page. Add a pixel to your social media page so you can follow up with those anonymous viewers.

Best social media advertising ideas

Use the pixels to send visitors a targeted advert. The best ideas are something useful (your lead magnet) or something relatable (client testimonial content).

Give free value

Create a lead magnet to give potential clients some useful free advice, but make sure you have a strategy in place so you can continue the conversation.

Create a lead magnet

A lead magnet is any freebie that your target client would find genuinely useful. It might be video workouts, a recipe book, or an ebook about improving sleep hygiene. Create a compelling lead magnet that you can promote on social media.

Build an email list

People will need to enter their email address to receive your lead magnet. Capture all of these emails to create an email list.

Send regular emails

It’s a good idea to send a short email autoresponder sequence when people receive the lead magnet. But don’t stop there. Email them regularly with useful advice that will keep you top of mind. H3: Check-in with former clients

Finally, don’t forget about previous clients. They can be a great source of extra income, either by deciding to come back for more PT or by recommending you to other people. Diarise a note to catch up with them after 3, 6 and 12 months by email or message. Check how they’re doing, and offer a session whenever they feel they’d benefit from your help.

It can feel daunting to brainstorm ways to get more Personal Training clients. Hopefully we’ve shown you that there are lots of cheap (or free) common-sense methods that won’t take much time.