Test & Measure Your Market

by Brad Sheppard (B.Ed (Phys.Ed))

The best way to see if your marketing strategies are successful is to test and measure. If there are only a few that you do in your advertising and marketing strategy, then this MUST be one of them!

Once you understand this principle, you will be able to fine tune the process behind your lead generation and place on your cost of acquisition (that is, cost to acquire each new client).

Many Personal Trainers that we mentor have discussed with us in detail their frustration with conventional forms of advertising. Most have experimented with the various mediums, from local papers to flyers and brochures, only to find that they had no success with their investment. Worse still, they the see the not as an investment, but as an EXPENSE (This requires a change in mindset!), as it did not produce great results for them!

However, if the local newspaper, flyers, radio and other conventional forms of advertising do not work, then why are there so many businesses and organisations still using them?

The simple fact of the matter is that these businesses have found a way to measure if they are getting results. That's right, they Test and measure the effectiveness of their advertising.

The truth, in many circumstances is that it is not normally the strategy or the medium that does not work; it’s the fact that the advertisement itself was not good enough in the first place.

There are a huge number of personal trainers that will write their own ads and in many circumstances the ad is mostly about features as opposed to benefits. So, more often than not the personal trainer will place an ad that is a lot like, well, what every other personal trainer lists themselves as, and it can read a bit like:

This is me, look at me – I am fit, energetic, in-shape and look great in lycra! I have great colours in my logo, shining white teeth and could perform over 100 squat jumps in a minute! I do fat loss, toning, Bodyshaping, re-habilitation, muscle building, pre-and post pregnancy, special populations and if you call up, not only will you get a discount, but you will also get a FREE workout with me!

Ouch, it's almost too painful to read!

Just remember that out of your prospects virtually NONE of them want a trainer OR a workout with you - that stuff (working out) actually hurts too much! What they are after are the benefits that you can provide them with

After the personal Trainer has written their new ad, they generally place this ad on a flyer or in a newspaper and simply sit back and wait for the calls. All along, they are under the impression that this ad will bring in more leads and why not? Most of their current clients read this publication. However when it fails to improve their number of leads, prospects and conversions, they will simply stop running that ad altogether and blame the newspaper for the poor response.

Stay tuned to the topic of "How to write a great ad" as this will be the topic of another article altogether!

Brad Sheppard B.Ed (Phys.Ed)
Fitness Australia REPS Council member and Queensland Fitness Professional of the Year title winner; Brad is the co-founder of Create PT Wealth a business building program for Personal Trainers. To be one of the lucky 27 readers of this article to receive a FREE ticket to the next Create PT Wealth 2-Day Business Bootcamp (Valued at $597) simply click this link www.CreatePTwealth.com.au/gymlink and complete your details, it's that easy!