Fitness ads are everywhere: when you search for a healthy lifestyle, scroll through social media, or even walk past your local gym. Some are genuinely inspiring, while others? Let’s just say they stretch the truth.
With the health and fitness club market projected to exceed $125 billion by 2030, the competition is more intense than ever. Brands keep vying for attention, but the only way to truly stand out in the market is through an exceptional ad.
So if you’re an advertiser or business owner looking to promote fitness products and services, this blog is for you. We’ll break down what fitness ads really are, explore the best-performing ad formats, and show you how to create campaigns that actually work.
What are Fitness Ads?
Fitness ads are promotional materials specifically designed to market health and wellness-related products, services, and experiences. These can include gyms, personal training programs, fitness apps, workout gear, supplements, and even lifestyle brands that promote an active lifestyle.
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Earlier, fitness and gym advertising used to be all about showing quick transformations, exaggerated claims, and aggressive promotions. However, this has now evolved into more subtle and genuine promotions. Customers prefer ads that inspire and motivate viewers, instead of talking down to them.
What Makes Fitness Advertising a Challenge?
Fitness advertising is a challenge for tons of reasons, and that’s what divides it into fitness ads that perform and ones that don’t.
- It’s highly competitive, with thousands of trainers, health clubs, gyms, apps, and other products and services vying for attention.
- The audience is diverse, each with their own pain points, goals, and desires. Crafting a message for each segment can be quite complex.
- Many customers are skeptical about fitness products and services, finding it hard to trust new brands without solid credibility.
- Regulations on what can be claimed with fitness and health ads are yet another challenge.
The Best Ad Formats to Engage Fitness Enthusiasts
Engaging fitness enthusiasts is not that easy. You need to work with formats like banners, videos, and native ads, which show real results. Here’s how they can come in handy:
Banner Ads
Banner ads are image-based ads that can be displayed in multiple places on a web page. They come in various sizes, each with ample space to convey the message effectively.
Since the fitness industry is so visual, banner ads are particularly effective. Eye-catching images of fit people, workout gear, or healthy food quickly grab attention. These ads are great for introducing special deals, new products, and programs, along with gaining brand recognition.
You can also try using animated or interactive fitness banner ads for improved engagement.
Video Ads
Video ads are short promotional videos used to advertise a brand on web pages, social media platforms, and streaming platforms. Visuals, sound, and motion capture attention better than anything else.
In fitness ads, you can use it to demonstrate workouts, transformations, or equipment in action. It’s a great medium for storytelling, like the classic before-and-after fitness journey. Just make sure that your ads are engaging and appealing, use high-quality footage and trending music, and end with a clear CTA.
Native Ads
Native ads are designed to blend seamlessly with the surrounding content on websites or apps. Since they don’t resemble obvious ads, people think of them as more trustworthy and credible.
This ad format centers on providing valuable content, such as workout tips, nutrition advice, or success stories, while subtly promoting the brand.
Fitness native ads can show up in places where users seek inspiration, guidance, and success stories.
Note: We have only mentioned the top ad formats that have proven to work extremely well for this niche. You can use any other ad format, such as text, interstitial, popunder, etc., to promote your fitness business.
How to Create Engaging Fitness Ads Creatives
You cannot put a random headline and image together and call it an ad. That’s the recipe for a poor-performing ad, and we don’t want to go there. Instead, we are going to work behind the scenes and see what steps to take to come up with an ad that actually makes a difference.
Understand Your Audience
The first and foremost thing to promote fitness products is to understand your audience. Get into their shoes and think. Who they are, what their pain points are, and what goals they want to achieve.
Research about them by conducting surveys, having one-on-one conversations, connecting in focus groups, and checking your own analytics. Since fitness audiences are driven by their own motivations and lifestyles, it gets complex to understand them.
You can segment and create buyer personas on the basis of:
- Demographics: Age, gender, income, fitness level.
- Goals: Weight loss, muscle gain, endurance, mental wellness, etc.
- Pain Points: Lack of time, motivation, guidance, and results.
- Behaviors: Consistent, inconsistent, habitual, etc.
- Location: Local areas, city, state, country.
Read more on how audience segmentation works.
Craft an Ad Copy
Creating fitness ads isn’t just about bluffing; it’s about speaking directly to your audience and conveying a message they want to hear. You’re not just selling a product here, but a better lifestyle.
Take a look at this ad from Lululemon, the popular fitness and athleisure wear brand.
The ad copy is minimal yet engaging, drawing attention by highlighting the experience one can take from wearing the brand. It’s concise enough to read in one go, and speaks the tone of the target audience, which is young adults.
You can also connect with their pain points and desires, and build a more emotional experience through storytelling.
Get Your Visuals Ready
Visuals are the first thing users see when they come across your ad. And in an industry as crowded as fitness, first impressions really matter.
You need to be relatable and real. The best-performing fitness ads visuals don’t just show perfect bodies; they show stories, energy, and progress.
To make your visuals stand out:
- Align it with the story that your ad copy tells.
- Show real people and authentic moments rather than stock images.
- Keep things bold, clean, and easy to understand.
Transformation photos, moments of effort, and glimpses into someone’s fitness journey can really build trust. People don’t just want to see what you do. They want to see what’s possible with you.
Think of a CTA
You’ve managed to grab attention, but what’s next? Don’t leave the user hanging just there.
CTAs, or call-to-actions, are prompts that encourage users to take a specific action, such as buy now, learn more, sign up, etc. You need to define your CTA clearly and place it cleverly for maximum impact.
Most brands like Nike and Adidas like to keep things minimal and get straight to the point.
However, you can also choose to do things a little differently with a CTA like ‘Ready to Sweat? Join our Community Today!’
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Fitness Ads
Now, how can you ensure that your ads have the most impact? Here are a few tips and strategies to help you maximize your ROI.
Personalize Your Offers
People always have their own definitions of being fit. Some relate it to living a physically fit life, while others consider it to be a healthy mind.
Personalization helps you to meet your audience where they actually are. You can tailor your offers by audience segments, conveying different messages with the same underlying meaning.
For example, messages like ‘Ready to bulk up?’ and ‘Want to shed a few pounds?’ may seem contrasting but have the same underlying message: to hit the gym.
Read our blog on weight-loss advertising to see how it works.
Put Benefits over Features
When it comes to health and fitness, people like to picture themselves with the outcomes.
A fitness ad for a protein powder that says ‘Highly digestible and hypoallergenic’ won’t get as much attention as ‘More energy, less fatigue, and fewer stomach problems’.
Highlighting benefits in this way helps people understand what they can expect from their purchase. It answers why your product or service even matters.
Highlight Your USP
What makes you unique? How are you better than the competitors? Why should anyone buy from you? Those are the questions your USP, or unique selling proposition, answers.
Highlighting your USP can help people better understand what your brand is all about. It conveys a central part of the brand’s identity, making it more resonant and memorable.
Use Emotional Storytelling
How do you build a narrative that actually resonates with your audience? It’s through emotional storytelling. You find an emotional trigger that drives your target audience’s purchase motivation and create content aligned with it.
The most common emotional triggers among fitness enthusiasts include:
- The desire for recognition and aesthetic appeal
- Long-term health and stress relief
- To cure a disease and aim for better long-term health
- Mobility and control over physical and mental health
- Endorphin rush, visible pump, and post-workout high
- Make use of UGC
UGC, or user-generated content, refers to content created by real users of a brand. The brand picks this up to include in their promotions, instead of creating something of their own.
Since UGC often reflects the everyday struggles and progress of real people, they are more resonant with your potential audience. Also, it makes your brand gain more trust and credibility in the eyes of the user.
Test Multiple Variations
Your first fitness advertising campaign won’t be your best. Even if it generated results, there are still chances for further improvement. A/B testing allows you to get there. You create multiple variations of the same ad by changing a single element and putting them to the test. One that outperforms the other in terms of performance is your best version for now.
You can test with ad copies, visuals, CTAs, targeting, and landing pages.
A/B testing becomes increasingly essential as trends and user preferences shift.
Why 7Search PPC is a Game-Changer for Your Fitness Ads
If you’re in the fitness advertising industry, you know that creating your ads is only the first step. The next step is to get your brand in front of the right people. 7Search PPC offers you a cost-effective way to do just that. Over the years, we have helped multiple fitness businesses reach their audience without breaking the bank.
Whether you’re promoting memberships, personal training, health products, or anything related to the fitness and health industry, 7Search PPC gives you the tools to stand out in the crowded market.
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Here’s what you can expect:
- Precise audience targeting: Reach fitness enthusiasts based on location, mobile device, and OS type.
- Flexible campaigns: Unlike other platforms, 7Search PPC enables you to set a budget that suits your needs while delivering high-quality results.
- Easy to use: We offer a simple interface, meaning you don’t have to be a marketing expert to run your campaigns.
- Multiple ad formats: 5 available ad formats (text, banner, native, popunder, and in-page push) to help you drive capable organic traffic.
- Local focus: If you run a local business, 7Search PPC’s localized targeting ensures you connect with potential clients near you.
- 24/7 Support: Our client support executives are available 24*7 to assist you quickly.
You can read more on how we have helped businesses grow through our case studies.
Wrapping Up
Fitness advertising is more than just picking a format and adding ad copy and visuals randomly. It’s about ensuring your fitness ads connect with your audience. Whether it’s through static banners, engaging videos, or subtle native ads, the goal is to speak to their fitness journey and what motivates them.
Keep things real, keep things fresh, and always make sure it’s something they’d want to engage with. Get the balance right, and you’ll see results in no time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to make fitness ads?
Ans. To make effective fitness ads, focus on understanding your target audience, create compelling ad copy, use real visuals, and add a motivational CTA that encourages users to take action.
What should a personal training advertisement focus on?
Ans. A personalized training ad should focus on personalized fitness goals, expert guidance, and visible results to attract clients. The ads should focus more on highlighting outcomes and incorporating emotional appeal.
How can I increase the performance of my fitness ads?
Ans. To increase the performance of your ads, highlight your USP and benefits, use emotional storytelling, personalize your approach, and A/B test multiple variations to understand what’s working.
What are the best ad formats for fitness advertising?
Ans. Some of the best ad formats for fitness advertising include banner, video, and native. These can help you present your offer in a way that is much more impactful.
Which is the best fitness ads network?
Ans. 7Search PPC offers precise targeting and affordable bids, making it one of the best fitness ads networks out there.
