More than 80 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool, according to Hubspot, and with good reason. The average person spends 1.5 hours a day watching video content, while 15 percent watch more than three hours of video on any given day. 

If you’re not using video marketing, you may be missing out on a major opportunity to market your fitness business. The good news is that YouTube makes it easier than ever to start harnessing the power of video. 

Why YouTube?

Most likely, your gym already has a website and Facebook page, so why do you need YouTube? 

For video content, there’s no better platform for promoting user engagement than YouTube. Still not convinced? Here’s a statistic that may change your mind. YouTube boasts more than 1.9 billion logged-in users each month who watch billions of hours of video and generate billions of views every day. If they’re not watching your videos, they’re watching someone else’s. 

Did we happen to mention that YouTube videos also have tremendous potential for your SEO value? YouTube content frequently turns up on the first page in response to search queries. For example, if you’ve targeted to the keyword, “How to do yoga breathing,”  your video is likely to turn up within the initial results. Not only that, but videos also get frequent clicks. If your website isn’t drawing traffic, your YouTube channel may more than make up for it.

While YouTube is beneficial across a breadth and depth of industries, it has particular advantages for gyms, boutique studios, and other healthcare operations. For starters, it offers a visual experience that gives members a true feel for your facility. This can be an extremely effective way to encourage new members to join. 

Making the Most of YouTube

In addition to using SEO in your headline and description so viewers can find you, there are other ways to get your videos in front of members and prospective members. One of the easiest ways is through social media integration. After uploading your video to YouTube, post about it on your other social media platforms. Calls-to-action are also important. Something as simple as asking your viewers to share a video or to subscribe to your channel can go a long way.

Keeping a few words in mind when creating and sharing YouTube content can also help you make the most of it: catchy, compelling, and consistent. Boring content won’t get clicks; neither will content that’s irrelevant to the lives of your viewers. The more catchy and compelling your videos are, the more likely they are to get views, likes, and shares. Consistency is also key if your goal is to keep viewers coming back for more. 

This doesn’t mean sacrificing quality for quantity, however. Poor, low-quality videos are worse than no videos at all for promoting brand awareness, member recruitment, and member retention. This doesn’t mean videos have to be fancy, but quality audio and video quality is a must and can be accomplished with something as simple as a smartphone. 

All of this begs the question: what kind of video should your fitness business be producing? Many different types of video attract users, including exercise demonstrations, fitness and nutrition tips, Q&A’s, testimonials and success stories, and workout programs. 

Video content on YouTube is also a smart way to introduce new programs and services, such as fitness monitoring technology, to your members and potential members. To learn more about what cutting-edge wearables can do for your fitness business,  request a demo today.