Okay, so you’ve been put in charge of your club’s social media accounts. Where do you start?

As someone who spends their day-to-day managing social media channels, I know a thing or two about the space. If you’re ready to take your cali club’s Facebook/Instagram to the next level, buckle up, because I’m about to spill the beans on the secrets of killer social media marketing that goes beyond ‘post and pray’.

The Basics: Social Media Marketing Unveiled

Contrary to common belief, social media marketing is more than just random posts on your business accounts. It’s a strategic game that involves planning, optimization, and engagement.

Your first step is to work out exactly who your target audience is. Where is the gap in your club? Do you need more Tinies or perhaps Seniors? This will affect the kind of content you want to create.

Make sure to have your location and contact information in your bio so people know where you are located, and how to get more information. Have an up-to-date logo as your profile picture, and make sure the circle isn’t cropping any important bits.

For calisthenics, I would stick to Facebook, Instagram, and potentially a YouTube channel if you have videos to share. TikTok is great for awareness, but it’s hard to target local areas and you are less likely to gain members by marketing on TikTok.

Pro Tips for Success: Best Practices Unleashed

Ready to turn heads on social media? Learn the best practices used by leading brands to thrive online. From diverse content creation to consistent branding, engaging conversations to analytics mastery – we’ve got your roadmap to social media success right here!

For Instagram feed posts, you want to make sure you’re posting square or portrait images (4:3 aspect ratio). You can crop an image directly in the app to the right size!

Instagram Reels are great if you have video content you would like to share. Instagram automatically uploads videos as reels, so you want to make sure any video you post is filmed vertically, approximately the same size as your phone screen. Again, the app will crop this for you, you’ll just have to make sure the good bits of your video don’t get cropped off!

Time-Saving Hacks: Templates and Systems

Unfortunately calisthenics clubs don’t really have the resources to hire a design team. Allow me to introduce you to my FAVOURITE app in the world: Canva. Created by Australian Melanie Perkins (who is now Australia’s youngest female billionaire), Canva is like Photoshop simplified.

Save time using templates on Canva, some of which are free to use. You can store images, videos, logos, and so much more, and use thousands of royalty-free graphics built-in to the website to elevate your content to the next level.

I personally recommend using the Pro version, which comes at a price but allows you to do SO much more, like remove a background with a single click, unlock access to thousands of extra templates, graphics, and fonts, and even play with their built-in AI functionality (which, in my experience, is better than Photoshop’s generative AI).

New to Canva or want to upgrade to Pro? Sign up here.

Connect on a Personal Level: Behind-the-Scenes and Nostalgia Marketing

I’ll let you in on a secret – people are NOSY. Everyone wants to feel like they’re part of something exclusive, and you can do this through the power of social media. Humanize your brand by showcasing the real, unfiltered aspects of your club.

Take your audience behind the scenes at concerts and events. Build genuine connections by having your coaches and members chat on-camera about the club and what they’re doing. Share videos of people achieving new things.

Has your club been around for a while? Another great tip is to evoke nostalgia for a stronger local identity. Find old photos or videos and post them (with permission of course!). This is so powerful and can increase engagement almost instantly.

Boost Engagement: Interactive Polls and Quizzes

Engage your audience with interactive content like polls and quizzes.

Instagram and Facebook have built-in poll functionality, and so much interaction on Stories, which are posts that are available for 24 hours only. Do a poll of the week, ask your audience questions about cali, or play a game with them in the comments. The more you call out for participation, the more engaged your audience will be, and the better your content will perform. It’s not just about posting – it’s about creating a dynamic conversation with your followers.

Stay Relevant by Staying Consistent

Social media never sleeps, and neither should your brand. Stay relevant by maintaining a consistent posting schedule. You don’t have to post every day, but make sure you’re posting a couple of times a week to keep your page fresh. There are so many great websites that can help you schedule your content in advance, so you can set it and forget it!

One of my favourite tools is Later, which allows you to schedule posts, stories, and even gives you insights to how well your content is performing! It’s a simple tool for when you’re only managing one account on each social media platform. There is a free version, but the paid service gives you much more freedom to schedule your content exactly how you want it.

Sign up for Later’s Scheduling Tool now.

Branding: Elevate Your Feed Aesthetic

Did you know Aesthetic doesn’t always refer to the item with the skirts? In marketing, aesthetic refers to the feeling that your brand portrays online. To create a consistent aesthetic across all social media platforms, use elements that make your brand stand out from the rest. Choose two or three colours (usually the colours of your logo) and two fonts (a fancy and a regular), that complement each other. Then, use them on everything. Any piece of marketing or branding you put out should have the same fonts and colours, in order to build a cohesive and visually appealing Instagram feed.

You don’t need to have text or graphics on every post, though. If you have a photo that is WOW, leave it alone and let the image speak for itself. It really is true; a picture says a thousand words.

Captions: The Cherry on Top

Your social caption is there to provide context and allow you to expand on the information you are trying to give out. However, if your image isn’t stopping a user from scrolling, they’re not going to read it! Don’t think too hard about the caption. Say what you need to say and leave it at that. Simple is best here.

One last tip: DON’T put links into your Instagram caption! You can’t click on them, and copying and pasting into Google also doesn’t work. I suggest a ‘link in bio’ system, personalised to your club. You can add all the important links in one spot in your profile bio, and change them up when needed. Get one for free here at LinkTree.

There’s so much that goes into social media, and this is just an overview. I’m always happy to help clubs with their strategies and content – comment below or send me an email: hello@thecalisthenics.blog. Follow this ultimate guide, implement these killer strategies, and watch your cali club soar to new heights!