Ep 6: Is Your Business a Brand?
Question for you… Is your business a brand? What is a fitness brand, anyway?
Do you have your answer?
So what do you think? Is your studio a brand?
I’ll answer it for you. Yes. Your fitness studio business is a brand … because all businesses are brands!
Yes, it was a trick question!
What is a Fitness Brand?
Your business is the organization and people that deliver your services. Your day-to-day ops, sales process, teachers, class flow, desk team, and more.
Your brand is how customers perceive your business, which means it’s a little trickier to nail down. It’s less tangible but is SO important.
People ARE talking about your business, or at least have a quiet opinion about it. And the reality is that if you don’t define your studio’s brand, other people will do it for you.
So, once know the answer to the question of what is a fitness brand, the next question is, what are you doing to take control of how your brand is perceived?
My guess is you’re doing a lot of things already. You’re making efforts to offer a consistently excellent class experience. You care if your studio is dirty or if your front desk staff is rude.
But let’s be real. Every business is (or should be) doing those things. That’s the absolute low bar for brand respect.
This is where it gets fun…
When you go a little bit deeper into what your brand is, it CAN be the most powerful marketing tool in your tool belt.
It can inform where you market, how you spend your marketing budget, and, in time, it can even gain you brand recognition that will have people searching your studio out by name. That kind of brand love comes with some pretty great perks: customer loyalty, word-of-mouth referrals, and the willingness to pay more, to name a few.
So, if you’re like a lot of my clients when we start working together, and you think “colors and a logo” are the core of your branding, then this is an exercise for you.
Nailing Down Your Brand
I want you to take out a piece of paper and brainstorm your answers to the following questions:
#1. What’s Your Origin Story?
Why did you start this business? What couldn’t / can’t you already find in your local market?
If you’re just getting started, this one is probably very top of mind. But if you’ve been in business a while… think back. What was the passion that made you want to open this business?
#2. What is the Context?
Has the landscape changed since you initially opened? Are you responding to market demand or anticipating it? We’re going to position your new Lagree studio very differently if it’s the first of its kind in your town (like it would be in my hometown of Lincoln, NE) or if there’s already one on every block
#3. Who Are Your Clients?
Who are your BEST clients (like the top 20% of spenders in your business)? Check your scheduling software if you’re not sure about this).. What transformations are they looking for that you deliver on? How did they find you?
Its important here to not weigh all the preferences of all clients equally (which is why I want you to start with who actually puts money behind their goals). We love the drop in folks, but when you’re getting strategic about your brand and how to market it, it’s the big spender clients we want to keep top of mind.
#4. How Do You Serve Those People?
What services do they buy? And maybe more importantly, what do they NOT buy? How often do they come in order to get those results?
#5. What Motivates Your Clients?
What motivates them? What doesn’t?
Feeling stuck? Take a minute and browse through your online reviews, or even better. Have some real conversations with your clients
Losing weight may be a primary motivation for some client bases, while longevity or stress relief may be the #1 for others. Of course we all want all of these things, but chances are if you really listen there’s one thing that rises to the top.
#6. Who Are Your Potential Collaborators?
What collaboration opportunities do you uniquely have?
For example, one of my clients spouse is an ob/gyn so prenatal yoga is an obvious focal point for his yoga studio... another client noticed that they had a group of runners each winter cross-training for the local marathon that goes every spring, so they now run marketing campaigns each year uniquely targeting runners.
#7. What Your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
What do you want your studio to be known for? What’s one thing you do better or different than everyone else? One thing!
You can want to be known for a lot of things, but if there was just one thing at the top of that list, what is it? If you’re known for everything, you’re known for nothing.
Are you exclusive and highly curated?
Are you Inclusive and do you have a low barrier to entry?
Do you support clients who are critically time pressed, offering the most effective workout in 30 min?
Is your space, location or delivery method unique?
Do you place high value on continuing education and the experience of your instructors?
Do you regularly innovate with the latest technology and research?
Be totally honest with yourself answering these questions.. No one else needs to see this, this is for you to dig deeper into how your brand is special. And therefore, how your marketing can be more powerful.
What’s Your Secret Brand Sauce?
Once you’ve had a chance to think about and answer, take a step back.
What jumps out at you?
My guess is some of those questions just felt plain vanilla for you (like things that, if you were honest with yourself, any of your competitors could also say) but for a few you knew exactly what to answer and it felt exciting and maybe a little against the norm.
Highlight those. That is your secret brand sauce.
Those are the things that should be reflected in the implementation of your brand.
Your logo, fonts, colors, headlines, brand voice, imagery should highlight them.
Your pricing packages should be built around them.
Your website should clearly reflect these brand differentiators.
Your sales process and client experience should be crafted with these things in mind.
The next question is, are they?
Quick way to get a snapshot look is to open up your own website home page.
Pretending you know nothing about your business, is that secret sauce visible on that home page?
Is it clear what problems you solve? How you solve them? And why your studio is different? At a minimum you want this first look at your website to instill a little bit of trust and peak come curiosity.
It may be that you’re pretty solid already and you amplified your brand well on your home page. Or you may have some ideas now for small tweaks. If so, that’s great. The main banner image and headline is a great place to start. Keep looking for opportunities to emphasize what your brand is all about.
If you’re looking around and feel like your brand message falls flat, is disjointed or maybe you’ve made some big changes recently to your services, or are expanding locations, it may be a good time to reset these brand foundations in your business.
This stuff — looking with fresh eyes at your business that you know SO well already — can be hard. I get it! This is deep work but it’s the kind of thing that you as the business owner need to be able to answer before you hire a web designer, copywriter, or social media manager. Because if you don’t, you’ll end up looking and sounding like every other yoga, pilates or fitness studio out there. And that’s not going to set you up for long term success.
Great brands leave a legacy. You started this business because you wanted to make a positive change in people’s health and wellness and in your community. Your small business can leave that legacy, but it takes you, the visionary in the business to get clear on what it is you want the brand to be known for. It’ll make your marketing a whole lot easier.
If you’re feeling like you need a website or brand refresh, and some guidance through that process, I’d love to help with that. My website packages all come with the option for brand messaging, copywriting and brand design add-on options—this is because these things really matter to the effectiveness of your website and digital marketing in general. I’m also available for 1-off consulting calls. I’m booking projects now for Nov and Dec launch dates so if you want to have a fresh brand / website look by the New Year, now’s the time to reach out.
You can learn more here or book a consult with us right here.
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