Last fall we introduced how creating customer personas can help your fitness business improve its marketing efforts by better understanding the wants and needs of your idealized members. This begs the question: how do you go about creating buyer personas that hit the mark? Here’s a closer look at best practices and tips for crafting buyer personas for the fitness industry.

Embrace the Five Ws

If you’re like most people, you were probably introduced to the five Ws back in elementary school when you were learning about journalism. Comprising “Who,” “What,” “When,” “Where,” and "Why", they are prompts used for gathering information and problem-solving. Together, they tell a story. A version of the Five Ws can also be used for creating buyers for your fitness business, as delineated here:

• “Who” refers to demographics. Factors like age, gender, educational level, marital status, and many others can help you hone in on truly usable data. 
• “What” refers to what’s important to them and what isn’t. What are their values; what are their goals; what are their pain points; what are they looking for in a fitness business; and what obstacles might be standing in their way?
• “Where” refers to the best places to market to members and prospective members. All of your constituents don’t get their information from the same sources. Considering what websites a particular demographic visit, which websites they use, and so on can help you determine where to focus your marketing efforts.
• “When” refers to when your constituents are interacting with your content. This allows you to target emails, social media posts, and blog entries to when they’ll get the most mileage. 
• “Why” takes the “what” a step further. It’s not just about understanding what your members want, but also why (and how) your fitness business is the right fit for helping them achieve their fitness goals. Done correctly, the “why” also helps yield actionable insights for marketing to members based on each persona. 

Tips for Creating Buyer Personas

• Be specific. The more specific you are, the more targeted and effective your marketing message will be. 
• Create multiple buyer personas to encompass the comprehensive range of members and potential members. If you offer many products and services, you’ll appeal to many segments of the market. Make sure to address them all.
• Use your data...and your members. You’ve got access to more information than ever before. Using it is essential to creating valuable buyer personas. From monitoring engagement on social platforms and your website to conducting interviews with your staff, the information is out there. Not sure what’s important to your members or why they belong to your gym? Ask them. There’s no room for guesswork in buyer personas. 
• Make them real. While your personas are manufactured, they should feel like real people who live and breathe and function in the world. The more “real” your personas are, the more deeply they’ll resonate. 
• Keep them handy. The more buyer personas inform your interactions with members and prospective members, the better your team will be able to leverage them into desired outcomes. In addition to sharing personas with your staff, print them out and post them in a central location so they’re always top of mind. 

Member recruitment and retention is a top priority for today’s fitness businesses looking to outpace their competitors in the crowded market. Buyer personas can give you the intelligence to do exactly that. One “What” that may come up again and again in buyer personas? The desire for wearable technology, an ongoing fitness industry trend.  Request a demo today to learn about how AccuroFit can help.