Social media makes a big impact on marketing and how people decide to join your club. Developing a social media strategy will help you grow your run club or athletic club and build a strong brand.
Consider the five elements below to build an effective social media marketing strategy:
- Target Audience
- Social Media Platform
- Content Posting
- Social Media Ads
- Organic Growth
1. Target Audience
Everything you do centers on your audience. Who are you building your club for?
Answer these questions to get a strong sense of who your audience is:
- How old are they?
- What does their weekly schedule look like?
- Are they early risers or night owls?
- What’s their athletic ability?
- What are their goals?
Once you understand who your audience is and what they’re looking for in their run club experience, your marketing and communication will be more effective.
2. Social Media Platform
Once you’ve identified your target audience, choose the social media platform that will connect your run club with your target audience.
- TikTok – Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials; majority women
- Instagram – Gen Z and Millenials; majority women
- Facebook – Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X; majority men
- X – Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X; majority men
- Threads – Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X; majority men
Posting across multiple platforms will help you expand your reach. You have to balance your reach with your own bandwidth for posting. It’s okay to pick one platform to begin. Then expand from there.
3. Content Posting
Next, develop your content plan and start testing posts.
- Recreate popular trends
- Post reels and short-form video
- Announce runs and other activities
- Craft motivational posts
Video performs well on Instagram and TikTok, so you’ll want to emphasize that style over visual posts.
4. Social Media Ads
As you’re posting regularly, consider paying for ads on your social media platform. Ads can help you gather followers, build your audience, and grow your membership.
Craft each of your ads around a specific goal and track how successful your ads are. Pay attention to the total cost of your ads and the amount you’re spending for each follower or page view.
5. Organic Growth
Instead of spending money on ads, you can get people to share your membership page with their friends on Facebook in exchange for a small discount.
Offering $1-2 off of membership gets your membership page directly in front of your newest member’s friends and family. People enjoy doing things with friends and family. Seeing that their friend just joined your club is a compelling reason to join your club.
Using this feature is also much cheaper than spending on ads and can help you connect to a highly interested audience faster. It’s a powerful marketing tool that both creates organic buzz about your club and helps you find new members.
