Content marketing is the process of providing valuable content to generate interest in your business. Customers have thousands of questions, and through content marketing, we can answer those questions and build a relationship.
Content marketing can be done through many different channels. It can consist of many different types of media, resources, posts, and blogs. At the end of the day, it is all about giving value to your customers by informing them rather than hard-selling them as more traditional business models would use.
Content marketing is around all of us every day. If you have ever read an informational blog or educated yourself through online resources, you have come across this strategy. Even this article is another example of email marketing. We see it every day, most of the time without even noticing. This is why it is such a useful marketing technique. Since it is based on providing value first rather than rushing to convert a sale.
How To Get Started Content Marketing?
One of the first things, to begin with, is deciding what kind of content you would like to create. Do you want to film videos, record podcasts, write blogs, or possibly create infographics? There are many options to choose from. In most situations, you will do a mix of all of the above. Video is one of the hardest to create but it normally has the greatest results. Written blogs and resources are the easiest but normally have the lowest conversion rates. Figure out what you would like to create and go from there.
Deciding What Content To Produce
The next thing to decide is what you want your content to be about. There are many different types of content that you can create. Sometimes it can be difficult to decide what is best to spend your time creating.
Always remember that the best content to create is whatever will benefit your target customer the most.
Many content creators and businesses get wrapped up in talking about things that they want to hear, rather than listening to what their customers want to know. Here are some great examples of content that you could create for your Gymnastics center:
Quotes – Everybody loves quotes. These are a great way to provide value to your customers without needing to spend countless hours perfecting and drafting content. They are a great way to improve your posting frequency without consuming all of your time
Athlete Spotlights / Shout Outs – These shout-outs are great for boosting your gymnast’s confidence as well as showing off your gym at the same time. Both your gym and your athletes are helped by this form of content. Make sure that you have full consent from your gymnast’s parents/guardians before posting anything about a minor on social media.
Coach of the Month – This is very similar to the previous post type. A coach of the month or coach shoutout is another way to appreciate your staff and showcase how amazing your coaches are at the same time.
Blog – Blogs are one of the most popular forms of content that you can produce. All businesses can benefit from regular blogs as they will help to answer customer questions and concerns while solidifying yourself as an authority in your industry. More on finding what to write about below.
Emails – Emails can range from simple monthly updates to in-depth information and promotions. The great thing about emails is that there is really no limit to what you can produce. Build out useful content and send it to your customers regularly to build up a following of people who are interested in your business
Stories – People love stories. From the beginning of civilization, we have been obsessed with stories. Capture what is happening in your gym and transcribe it into a story to post. These stories can be cute, inspirational, or informative.
Polls – Polls and surveys are a great way to get your customers involved. This can help to make their voices heard and give them a better sense of being part of your gym community. They also help to boost engagement and create a more interactive following.
Complete Guides – The internet is full of fractional pieces of knowledge. Sometimes it is best to create an ultimate guide that encompasses everything you need to know about a specific subject. These guides create great pieces of content that can benefit your customers for years to come
Videos – Videos can range from informational to educational and everything in between. Video is one of the easiest forms of content to consume. That is why it regularly outperforms its counterparts. The only drawback is that videos normally take longer to produce and publish than other forms of content.
Helpful Resource – Resources are a great way to go above and beyond to provide your customers with extra guidance. Resources can range from checklists to PDF guides. These pieces of content usually take longer to create, but they are incredibly useful.
Promotional Content – This kind of content is best in moderation. If you focus only on selling your own services you will quickly scare away any attention. Instead, the promotional content should always be in the background but never take the main spotlight. Post sparingly about your services and customers will click through when they decide, rather than being strong-armed into signing up.
Where to Find Content Ideas
We have created these two great resources for gymnastics keywords and content ideas. Check them out to help generate some inspiration and also get an idea of what you could be writing about.
Another great place to find content ideas is through a website like answerthepublic.com. This site can help you to brainstorm more ideas that customers might be interested in.
Now that you know what information you are going to share and what medium you will share it in, the last step to decide is how you will advertise your content. There are many social media platforms and various options of places to share your content. It is important to choose the best one for your gym so that you are not wasting your time.
Video Content
The best place to publish video content is on YouTube. Videos can also be published on Facebook, and Instagram as other great options. Normally Facebook and Instagram are perfect for shorter videos or highlights while YouTube can easily host longer content.
Written / Visual Content
Written content can be published through almost any social platform or marketing strategy. Written is best in emails, or blogs, as well as, posted on Facebook. Remember that written content along with a graphic performs much better than text by itself. Another great place to post text with visuals is on Instagram
The next step will be to start creating your content. You can do this yourself or you can hire someone to do it for you. Publish regular helpful content and you can work to improve your social media following as well as your website’s position in Google.
Planning a Content Marketing Calendar
A very helpful tool for Content marketing is to use a content calendar to keep everything on track. Create a list of commitments for creating content for your business. Having a content calendar will hold everyone accountable to consistently create content. Maybe you publish a blog every other week or perhaps you create a video weekly or have a regular podcast. Whatever you decide to do make sure that it is sustainable to maintain for a long time. The last thing that you want to do while content marketing is to be inconsistent with posting times. It is important to keep on track for your own sake as well as for the sake of your loyal followers.
Below are several example content calendars:
Content Calendar #1
This first content calendar is a great simple plan to stick to. Everything in this calendar is meant to be very manageable and time-efficient. If you are looking to be active online without investing countless hours into content creation then this is the plan for you.
Content Calendar #2
This content calendar is made for owners who want to invest a little more into their content creation. It is still not enough to overload your business but it will take a bit more time than the first content calendar.
Content Calendar #3
This content calendar will require slightly more resources to follow. However, it will also be likely to generate more value from your content. This is a perfect content calendar for businesses looking to get started investing a good amount of resources into content creation.
Content Calendar #4
Content calendar number four can be a lot to keep up with. It requires investing around 15 hours of work to create the content every month. When first starting this 15 hours can easily become 30 so make sure to account for extra time. This content will generate a lot of value for your customers so it should help to start building a following.
Content Calendar #5
This final plan requires the most amount of time to follow. This plan will help to generate constant value for your customers and followers. Over time this can build your customer base and help you find new and interested customers. This plan is best for gyms that want to dive deep into content marketing.
All of these plans are useful in their own regard. Each one will fit different gyms that are at different places in their marketing journey. Keep in mind that none of these calendars are set in stone. Feel free to use these, mix and match them or carve out pieces. They are here to give you a starting place in a subject that can become overwhelming very quickly.
Conclusion
Now that you have laid out all of the groundwork you will be set to get on a regular content schedule. Being a consistent content marketer can be a tiresome and disheartening process, but it can also greatly help your business over time. It is worth all of the long hours and difficulty at the end of the day. If you have any further questions or if you would like any help with your content marketing let us know here and we will do whatever we can to help your gym thrive.
Are you enjoying learning about content marketing? We think you would love to hear about the other best gymnastics marketing methods of 2023, check them out here.
