If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, or you receive my love letters, you might think we don’t teach social media marketing at all. That’s understandable.
We have a HUGE Facebook Marketing course in the Growth Stage of our mentoring program. It’s the most comprehensive online course in the world that’s specific to the fitness industry. But I don’t talk about it much outside our group. Below, I’ll explain WHY.
I spent the last 15 months traveling with a group of very high-level SaaS founders (if you don’t know what SaaS means, it’s “Software as a Service.”) These guys are all extremely successful. They KNOW Facebook and social media marketing.
I also enrolled in every FB marketing course I could find, and spent THOUSANDS on ads to test the systems. I went to lunch with experts; I invited some onto my podcast; and took 1:1 lessons from others.
I compiled all of these lessons into the Facebook Marketing Course. We listed the course for $599…and then, after one day of open enrollment, I decided to stop selling it.
Why? Because it’s NOT what gym owners NEED. At least, not until they can handle the growth. And I’m willing to bet $2500 on it for EVERY gym we work with.
Many gym owners (and some “consultants”) think funnel marketing and Facebook ads are the answer. And a tiny percentage of the time, they’re right. But jumping straight to social media advertising is like starting a CrossFitter on bar muscle-ups before they’ve learned the air squat: it’s frustrating, and it won’t take them from their current state to fitness in the fastest way possible. It might even break them.
Here’s one lesson from the Facebook Marketing Course we include in our Growth Stage:
There’s a lot of discussion in the module, but I’ll sum up this way: “Hot leads” are close to purchasing your service. “Cold leads” are very far away from purchasing your service (they don’t even know they need it, which is why they’re “Oblivious”.)
Are there “hot leads” on Facebook? Of course. But Facebook isn’t the easiest way to reach them.
Are there “warm leads” on Facebook? Yes. Many. But these folks are waiting to be told how your service will solve their problem, and an ad won’t do that well. They need to be part of a conversation.
Are there “cold leads” on Facebook? Billions. But they don’t know about you, or care about your service.
The latter category is the trap: people think, “If only ONE PERCENT of the people who see this ad sign up, I’ll make thousands of dollars!” And they’re right…but conversion rates for most ads are a fraction of one percent. Really great ads might get their attention, but won’t keep their attention. You’ll have to warm up cold leads over time. And you probably ALREADY have hundreds–if not thousands–of people in your pipeline who have shown interest. But you’re not warming THEM up…why add more people to that list?
Before I move on from the “cold audiences” and “warm audiences” point, here’s another illustration:
This is a “temperature chart” for custom audiences that you can create on Facebook.
These aren’t all the audiences you can sell to, however. We teach Affinity Marketing, which starts with your own clients–the people who already love you; their families; and their friends. We’d call the top of THIS list (a Facebook audience made from people on your email list) stage FIVE of a good marketing plan. That means there are four levels of people–dozens, maybe hundreds–of others who are more likely to want your service; be able to afford it; and fit in with your best clients.
The reason we don’t teach Facebook Marketing in the Incubator? It’s not the fastest way to get new clients, make more money, or take more time off. It’s NOT what gym owners actually need.
Want proof? Here it is:
When we accept a new gym owner into the Incubator, I’m making a big bet on them. Our 100% ROI guarantee says that if I can’t show you how to earn your $2499 back, we’ll put you in Growth Stage until we DO. That means I’m SO sure that you’re missing easy opportunities that I’m willing to bet your registration fee on it. And I make this bet around 20 times every month.
After the Incubator, when your process flows smoothly; when you have time to rest and think and plan; when you have staff in place to handle multiple revenue streams; when your clients are being helped optimally–sure, use Facebook Ads. We have the largest and best course in the WORLD to help you.
But many of our gym owners don’t use them at all–because they don’t NEED to.
Why don’t I use them at my gym anymore? Because I don’t need to. I signed up to coach, not to be a FB Marketing expert. In fact, the biggest lesson I learned over the last 15 months of building a FB marketing course is: I don’t like doing it! Haha.
Now, some people DO like setting up ads, tweaking one word at a time, and waiting patiently for days while the algorithm does its job before tweaking the next word. I prefer direct and effective action that will have an immediate impact. And that’s why we tell people to “F Your Funnel” — at least for awhile — because they’re usually making sales and growth more confusing than it has to be.
The Facebook Marketing course is now FREE in Growth Stage. It’s hours long, with templates, video walk-throughs and sample data. It will teach you everything you need to know. Luckily, you don’t have to be great at social media marketing to be great in the fitness business.
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