Muscle Talk

Let’s start with some interesting Instagram numbers:
• 6 in every 10 online adults use Instagram
• Over 600 million people use Instagram worldwide
• 15 million registered businesses use Instagram business profiles
• In 2017, 70.7% of U.S. companies will use Instagram for marketing

Though the numbers speak for themselves, the moral of the story is that Instagram is huge, and getting even bigger. You want to separate yourself in an industry that’s pretty much already saturated. Do a hashtag search for “fitness model” and you end up with 24.7 million posts. “#GirlsWhoLift” garners 17.9 million results. So how can you stand out? How do you market yourself to a world that seems to have “Been there, done that” already?

“A commodity is a failure of marketing innovation. Don’t be like a piece of meat.”

—Eric Lifson, co-founder of Skrumble (communications technology company trusted by Fortune 500 companies and leading tech firms)

Pick a niche, but be smart about it. In the fitness industry, it’s okay to pigeonhole yourself. I, for example, am the “eating disorder” expert or the “smiley, happy, fit chick.” And this is great with me, because it’s authentic. In real life, I’m genuinely always smiling, so I never have to pretend to be something I’m not. Even through smoke, mirrors, and filters, people can tell if you’re full of bullshit. In person, I come across as easygoing and down-to-earth, so why pretend to be some badass, hardcore competitor online? That isn’t my brand. If you are badass and hardcore, great! Power to you! Then rock that persona online, and don’t start posting sappy crap about love and light. Stick to what you know.

“Brands are not specific to companies. Brands are both feelings and ideas you communicate every single day whether as a person or an organization. Your brand is your reputation. The best way to protect your brand is to stay true to the vision in all that you do, in all that you communicate. Once you get off message, you risk damaging your brand. It’s hard to make anyone change their mind about you once you’ve gone too far off track and you are struggling to get back to the vision.” 

—Anna Wilder, BFA in Graphic Design, MA in Design Management.

The following are questions are ones you need to ask yourself as you set yourself up as a brand instead of just an individual:
• What is my brand purpose and its values?
• What do we stand for?
• Who is my core target market?
• What are their demographic characteristics (age, sex, location, income, cultural characteristics)?
• What are their psychographic characteristics (attitudes, interests and opinions); for example, if you represent a clothing company, what’s with all the memes on your IG page? Are the quotes appropriate for your target market, or are they too hardcore/softcore/irrelevant?

In the movie Concussion, Will Smith (as Dr. Bennet Omalu) says, “You have to be the best version of yourself. If you don’t know what that is, you pick something and fake it.” If you don’t know who you are, then pick something you want to be. Just remember to stick to that something for the duration; don’t flip-flop. Be consistent. Use these tips and do some research. Then, create your market and #Grind!