If you are planning to become a personal trainer, or have been in the business for a while, between taking the EREPS Level 5 exam and looking for a suitable studio location, you often do not immediately think about an appropriate brand image. Understandable, because you already have so many things on your mind, but it is a very important part of your business. Because how do you position yourself (a.k.a. how do you stand out) among all those other personal trainer studios? If you are really serious about your personal trainer career from the start, then your brand (image) should be a part of it.
Of course, as a personal trainer, you are primarily concerned with the core of your business, which is to help people improve their lifestyle by guiding them toward a more active and healthier life. But before you can help your clients achieve their goals, they must first be able to find you. And for that, it is important that your brand is clearly present and, most importantly, findable. But that doesn't happen by itself.
Establishing a brand takes a lot of time and effort and requires a fair amount of dedication and commitment. And that is exactly where many personal trainers, mainly due to lack of time, often fall short.
To make your life a little easier, we have set up a guide that will help you build your brand right from the get-go.
Branding
The right branding ensures that you and your brand are so much more than just a label on your services as a personal trainer. But what is branding? It was the Norwegians who branded their cattle with their uniquely designed iron brand to show which cattle belonged to them. This way, farmers could easily distinguish cattle from each other. Literally, the word: branding is derived from the Old Norse word brandr. Brandr, in fact, means branding.
Your business is your brand and your brand is your business
As simple and effective as these origins are, branding these days is a bit more than printing your personal trainer logo on something.
Branding is also described as the "Why" of your core values. These core values say something about your company in the long run. Branding ensures that you position your brand based on your core values. Branding from your core values creates loyalty, the reason you choose the same company over and over again. Your company is your brand and your brand is your company. Branding creates value, also for you as a personal trainer. It is important that you realize that good online personal branding for trainers is indispensable.
Brand development
There are hundreds of definitions of a "brand." When people talk about a "brand," they very often refer to the physical mark or logo printed on something. While that is indeed a great way to identify a company, a brand is much more than just that. More specifically, a brand is primarily an emotional experience, enhanced or diminished by each interaction with the company.
We like to define a brand as what people think, feel and say about your company. So this is different from marketing. Marketing is what you say about your company.
When developing a brand, it is good to choose a strategy. A brand strategy helps you understand who you are and acts as a blueprint for communicating the brand. It all starts with the following four areas of focus:
- Understand who you really are as a brand and use your own beliefs and core values to make decisions in a way that is better for your stakeholders, your business and the future.
- Communicate your brand consistently and effectively through every piece of content you create.
- Attract the right customers to build a strong and lasting brand.
- Position your brand in a way that helps you compete with others now and tomorrow.
If you want to know more about this, read the blog: 'Build a brand strategy that stands like a house'
Rebranding
You may already have a brand or use certain brand expressions. You may have had this brand for years, or just recently. When you think about rebranding, you probably think mostly about the cost. The logo on your premises and clothing will of course have to be replaced, online everything will have to be revamped and of course it will have to be designed. Still, it is good to keep developing and renewing your brand. Standing still is going backwards and the big brands see that too. For example, for several years there has been a trend called blending. Big brands like: Heinz, Peugeot, and McDonald's are rebranding their logos and brand look to a flat, minimalist, personal and transparent style.
These large companies use rebranding to stay dynamic and up to date. For example, the switch from desktop computers to smartphone design was one of the reasons for blending. So rebranding ensures that as a brand you are dynamic and keep up with the times. Therefore, don't just think of it as a cost but as an investment in your future.
Rebranding a logo both evolutionary and revolutionary
There are roughly two forms of rebranding: evolutionary and revolutionary. If your brand is already there, but it only needs minor adjustments, you can opt for evolutionary rebranding. The common thread of your brand will remain only it will be dotted, updated to current trends and structured.
For the latter reason, Voys engaged Fitbrand in 2021. What Voys needed in terms of branding was structure. In a revolutionary rebranding, you choose to completely turn your brand upside down. An example case in point is Activio. Activio Fitness from Sweden was in need of an update of its brand. The look and feel no longer matched the chosen brand strategy Activio had in mind from 2021. Therefore, they hired Fitbrand in early 2021.
Personal branding
With personal branding, you establish yourself as a personal trainer as a brand and can start to differentiate yourself from the competition. Whether you like it or not, your company has a certain image, an (online) identity. Your brand is all the information that can be found about you. Information that you yourself have left behind (online), but also what others say about you.
In personal branding, you look at what makes you and your company unique. You showcase your qualities, passions and ambitions. Not just the outside, but also your core values. You market yourself as a unique person. If you clearly communicate who you are and what you are good at, people know what they can ask you for. And sometimes for what they can't.
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Logo
There are plenty of reasons why a personal trainer logo is important. For example, a logo attracts attention, a logo can give a strong first impression, it forms the basis of your brand identity, and it can set you apart from the competition. These reasons alone should be enough not to skimp on a good logo.
Often when starting a business, the logo is placed on the list of mandatory things to do for a while when starting out. Because of this, people often skimp on designing and working it out. Entrepreneurs ask family or acquaintances with no real skills or use free online tools to design for the face of your brand. Because that's what it is. It's what you, as a personal trainer, will be recognized by. And indeed, you will be judged on it. You can only make a good first impression once. Therefore, spend enough time and money on the basis of your visual brand identity.
Design
Once your brand identity is in place and your logo reflects you well, you can get to work on design. Design used to be mostly print work, but today design is mostly online. Think ad banners, your website, posters, social media posts, etc.
Design can be creative, but it doesn't have to be. The important thing is that you can justify your design choices. Consider the following points when designing all expressions (both physical and online):
- What is the goal?
- Does it fit with the rest of my brand?
- How is the design displayed?
When designing expressions, you should always start at the end, namely: the purpose of your design. Say you are designing an ad for social media with a discount code. Then make sure the most important thing you see in your design is the discount. Too often we still see companies focusing on so many things at once in their designs that the ultimate goal is forgotten.
For example, business owners often think it's important that the logo, data, slogan, etc. should all be as prominent as the message they want to convey. But all those components are of secondary importance if a customer can see at a glance that it is a design from your company. You achieve this by designing consistently. It should be consistent with the rest of your brand.
Finally, you should never forget where your target audience will see the design. On social media, it's fine to put some information under your header. However, with a poster that is cycled past in the city, you have less than a second to grab their attention. So don't go into details here. When it comes to design, think not only about what you want to say, but also about what your target audience can see and what is needed to attract attention in the time you have.
Photography for Clubjoy
Photography
In addition to design, the photography you use for your brand also says a lot about your brand image. For example, there are brands that use an entirely unique photography style that is so strong that you will recognize it without any other brand element. Consider Hornbach, for example. Besides having your own style, the look of your photography is also very important. For example, a dark style fits better with a company that wants to present itself as "tough" (e.g. Harley Davidson) and a photography style with lots of colors suits a company that wants to radiate cheerfulness. An example of such a company is ClubJoy. Fitbrand took care of the new branding and photography for ClubJoy, ensuring that the models wore colorful clothing and the lighting was soft and nicely distributed. This, combined with the colorful design, gives a happy feeling.
Not all consistent brands are strong, but all strong brands are consistent
What is even more striking in ClubJoy' s photography is the expression of the models. The models of ClubJoy smile a lot and thus radiate fun. So a feeling can also be expressed with the content of the photography. In addition to human emotions, there are also non-human emotions that can be played with. In short, photography is an extension and reinforcement of your branding. For this reason, we advise against usingstock photos.
Styleguide Clubjoy
Fire manual
Not all consistent brands are strong, but all strong brands are consistent. To achieve this level of consistency, continuity is the key. All of the above components must coincide and fit together. To ensure this, Fitbrand never provides individual brand elements but always the total package in the form of a logo and a brand manual. The brandmanual serves as a manual and bible for your brand. From style cape to color palette and from typography to sample visuals, everything about your brand is reflected in it.
It is advisable to use a brand manual to create continuity, but in addition, it is also useful for when you are going to outsource your personal trainer marketing, fitness marketing or branding or when you are expanding with staff.
Website
Of course, your brand image should be at the center of your online visibility. Social media, ads and search results all lead to your personal trainer website. It is important that your PT website includes your branding so that a visitor immediately knows it is your brand.
As with your logo, it is advisable not to skimp on your website. A good website will bring you new clients and therefore money. Besides the right branding, there are more things that determine whether your website is a good website or not. It has to load fast, be mobile-friendly and user-friendly, be logically arranged, contain only the necessary content, be easy to find and be kept up-to-date. And above all, your site should convert (to put it somewhat flatly: you should be able to click and buy).
Branding packages for personal trainers
Branding packages for every personal trainer
At Fitbrand, we understand better than anyone that as a personal trainer, you would rather spend your time helping your clients live a healthier lifestyle. But all the things described above take up oceans of time. Time that you simply don't have. Besides the time factor, investment costs can also be a reason for you to drop out.
That last reason, investment costs, is something we at Fitbrand understand all too well. After all, a super sleek look costs money, money you may not be able to pay for all at once. So check out Fitbrand's affordable branding packages. Everything you need through an affordable package. So you can choose to pay for the package all at once, but you can also pay in installments of 12 or even 24 months!
To make it even easier for you, we have created three Personal Trainer Branding Packages for you! See which package suits you best and we'll get right to work for you, helping you stand out from the competition and becoming the proud owner of a rock-solid brand with rock-solid clients.
Were you inspired by this article? Make work of your brand identity.
