TikTok ads for fitness gyms is the perfect advertising platform to get more customers to sign up for your fitness gym. In this article, we provide a step-by-step guide on how to create TikTok ads for your fitness gym. We also discuss how creating engagement and increasing online presence with TikTok ads can help bring you more potential new customers for your business.
1. Why TikTok Ads for Fitness Gyms?
TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms to date, because of its ability to reach a much wider audience, its high levels of engagement, and its addictive quality making TikTok the world’s most downloaded social media app for short-form videos. This is the reason why so many businesses continue to advertise through TikTok ads, making it easier for them to connect with influencers, create trending or viral content, tap into a new audience, and overall help their businesses grow.
TikTok ads is also one of the most affordable ways you can advertise and promote your fitness gym, whilst being able to increase brand awareness and drive sales by posting fitness-related videos in your gym. You will need to optimize your TikTok ads for fitness gyms to ensure that TikTok categorizes your videos, and this way your videos will constantly be shown to TikTok users who have engaged in any fitness gym-related videos (like liking, saving, sharing, or commenting on your fitness gym video).
Because your TikTok Ads for fitness gyms will be “interrupting” users as they scroll on the app, you will need to put extra effort into making an impression and nurturing these potential customers, to motivate them to convert.
2. CRM for TikTok Ads for Fitness Gyms
Customer Relationship Management or CRM process will be essential when implementing TikTok Ads for fitness gyms as part of your online advertising strategy. Your sales or receptionist will need to be tracked and audited on how fast they call back leads, and these will need to be managed to ensure that your receptionist calls back colder leads who browse on TikTok, to avoid losing potential new customers.
If you don’t have an effective CRM process in place, your TikTok ads will be ineffective for your fitness gym. If this is the case, we recommend using Google Ads for your fitness gyms instead, because Google ads will target people who are actively searching for fitness gyms. These would be higher quality leads, and easier to convert to customers. Learn more about how Google Ads for Fitness Businesses can help your fitness gym, and How We Got A Fitness Training Studio An Extra 38 Appointments In One Month Through Google Ads.
3. TikTok Video Example for Fitness Gyms
Here is an example TikTok video for a fitness gym, which uses the perspective of a customer. The TikTok video example showcases the journey of the customer and how he was able to achieve his fitness goals with the support of the fitness gym. It also uses a testimonial in the caption to include keywords in this post, along with the hashtags for fitness gym-related videos, such as #gymtok and #successmotivation.
@anytimefitness “The first step is just showing up and being present.” For Luis, that first step happened almost a year and half ago. Now, he’s 75 lbs. lighter and shows no signs of slowing down. His incredible journey inspires others at Anytime Fitness of Temple Terrace, Florida, and the team there is so proud of all he’s accomplished! 👏👏 #gymtok #successmotivation
Key elements are used in this TikTok video example to help keep the attention of its viewers, such as background music, editing techniques, and captions in the video itself.
Want to create TikTok Ads for your Fitness Gym?
4. How To Make a Good TikTok Video Ad
Because TikTok is a social media app mainly used for short-form videos, you will need to create a good TikTok video that will attract and retain your target audience. For your TikTok ads for fitness gyms to be effective, it will need to be engaging, informative, and visually entertaining. It should also highlight the key benefits of your fitness gym, to help you stand out from your local competitors, and it should also include key elements such as trending sounds, text in the video, and quality audio.
When creating your TikTok ad videos, use either your own footage (filming with your smartphone is good enough) or use stock images or videos, to showcase the best products and services your fitness gym offers. You can also choose to offer a sign-up promo for new customers which will help catch the attention of your target audience, or even customized programs with personal instructors that will help them achieve their target goals (like weight loss or muscle gain).
4.1 Key Elements for Effective TikTok Video Ads for Fitness Gyms
Consider these additional key elements to make effective TikTok video ads for your fitness gym, to increase engagement, click-through rate, and chances of conversion from potential new customers:
- Capture the attention of your target audience in the first 3 seconds.
- Abide by TikTok’s image and video specs.
- Switch your ads every 7 days to “avoid ad fatigue”.
- Use the TikTok ad library or TikTok Creative Center to discover trends and get insights on keywords, top hashtags, and more.
- Prioritize vertical videos to avoid your ads getting cut off at the margins.
- Limit the video length to 9 and 15 seconds.
- Center all important elements in your video, like your CTA and fitness gym name.
- Add background music (TikTok requires audio settings to be turned on).
- Use auto-captions on the video.
- Include a compelling Call to Action where your leads can convert to customers for your fitness gym.
Don’t have the time to create effective TikTok video ads for your fitness gym?
5. Creating your TikTok Business Account
To create your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, you first need to have a TikTok account. The TikTok App is available for Android and iOS so simply download the app from Apple Store or Google Play Store. You can also create an account through TikTok’s desktop website.
If you already have a TikTok account, simply “Log in”
Switch your TikTok account to a Business Account.
Now that you have created your TikTok account, access TikTok Ads Manager and select “Get Started”
Log in to TikTok Ads Manager with your TikTok account, then authorize your account for TikTok for Business.
Select Confirm to link your TikTok account.
Then enter your fitness gym business details and select “continue”.
To finish off setting up your Tiktok account for Tiktok ads manager, set up your billing information. Choose “Manual payment” then select “Go to Ads Manager”.
Too busy to create and manage your TikTok Ads?
6. Creating TikTok Ads for Fitness Gyms
You will then be redirected to the TikTok ads manager dashboard. At the top of your screen, go to “Campaign” and then select “Create” to start creating your TikTok ads for fitness gyms.
Choose “Custom mode“ when creating your TikTok ads. This will allow you to have more control over your ad settings.
6.1 Campaign Settings
For your advertising objective, choose “Lead Generation” so that your TikTok ads will focus on bringing you more new customers for your fitness gym business.
Enter your campaign name. For this example, we will name this campaign “Fitness Gym Services” and then skip the remaining setting sections.
Enter your ad group name, for example, “Fitness Gym Membership“. Use an ad group name to organize your ad groups. For example, using the ad group name in the example will allow you to organize any TikTok ads you create for membership sign-ups. For more specific ad groups, you can create multiple ads for either training programs or fitness gym services.
Optimization location is where you will want to drive more leads from your TikTok ads for fitness gyms. Keeping this in mind, you may want to select “Instant Form” instead of “Website” as your optimization location settings, because users of social media apps, like TikTok, will usually prefer to have everything accessible within the app.
For your placement settings, keep all options enabled to encourage more impressions and conversions from your TikTok ads for fitness gyms.
Skip the audience targeting section and focus on the demographic settings instead by clicking on “Bulk upload”.
Enter your location settings. You want to include the specific geographic locations where your fitness gyms operate. This will allow users searching for “fitness gym in Irvine” or “fitness gym near me” to find your ad, so long as they are within your chosen target demographics, increasing the click-through rate.
Select the language you want your TikTok ads for fitness gyms to appear in. For this campaign example, we will choose “English“.
Then select “All” for your operating system and connection type settings.
Do you want to focus on website or app conversions instead of lead generation?
6.2 Budget and Schedule
Start with a daily budget of $30 for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms. Avoid entering a lower daily budget amount, since it may risk your ads not getting enough leads for your fitness gym business.
For your schedule settings, you can choose to run your TikTok ads all day every day, or you can choose to run on specific days only, such as Monday to Friday during business hours.
6.3 Bidding and Optimization
Next, you will want to select “Maximum Delivery” as your bid strategy. This way, your TikTok Ads for fitness gyms will focus on maximizing getting as many leads as possible.
7. Creating Your Ad Text for Fitness Gyms
Now you can start setting up the creative ad text for your TikTok ads. Enter your first ad name, for example, “Fitness Gym Services”
Then create a custom identity. This is what users will see and use to identify your TikTok ads account. You can use your fitness gym name as your custom identity, but for this example, we will use “@IrvineFitnessGym” and then select “Create“.
Next, add your video by selecting “+Upload” or “+From library”.
If you don’t already have a video ready for your TikTok ads, you can click on “+Create” instead, we strongly recommend having a video already edited and ready to post. You can even use video footage of transformation videos from previous customers who achieved their goals thanks to the personal training offered by your fitness gym.
After adding your TikTok video, enter your ad text. Add text that will address your target audience’s fears and solutions or use the right keywords that will grab the attention of your target audience. Most importantly, your ad text should encourage the viewer to take a conversion action.
For your TikTok ads for Fitness Gyms, you can use something like “24 Hour Fitness Gym Irvine” or “Achieve your weight loss goals with our Personal Trainer Program!” and then skip the “Smart Text” because it can provide inaccurate suggestions.
Do you need help creating your ad text for your TikTok campaign?
7.1 Call To Action Settings
Call-to-action settings are critical to add for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms campaign, to convert potential new leads. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, your TikTok ads will require more effort to nurture and convert your leads because it will take a longer sales and follow-up process. Adding CTAs will reinforce the text in your ads and encourage conversion.
Choose between “Dynamic” and “Standard” CTA settings. Using the “Dynamic” CTA settings will automatically show a different CTA text for each user.
If you choose the Dynamic option, make sure to only select the text options that apply to your fitness gym.
For the “Standard” CTA, it will only show one CTA text. For your fitness gym business, you can select “Sign up” to encourage new leads to sign up as new members of your fitness gym.
7.2 Interactive Add-Ons
A TikTok exclusive you could offer for your target audience on TikTok is a 15% discount on a 12-month membership, supported with a “sign up” call to action button, just like in the example below. When you are done adding your display card, select “Confirm”.
7.3 Instant Form Settings
After setting up your interactive add-ons, you will need to create your instant page. This feature on TikTok ads manager can help your target audience learn more about your fitness gym, and it will allow them to directly sign up from the instant page form.
Select “Classic form”.
Name your classic form, then select your form language and form type. For this campaign example, we will select “English” as the language, and “More Volume” as the form type.
Selecting “More Volume” will help your TikTok ads for fitness gyms focus on prioritizing getting as many leads as possible for your fitness gym campaign.
If you want to prioritize Higher Intent searches for your fitness gym business, we recommend Google Ads for Fitness Businesses instead.
Skip the introduction settings. Make sure these are set as disabled.
Enter the reason why you’re collecting user information under “Purpose statement” then select which personal information you will need from your target audience, such as Name, Phone Number, and Email.
Apart from collecting personal information, you can also create custom questions to better understand your leads, such as setting up a multiple-choice questionnaire or scheduling an appointment for a fitness consultation.
With your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, you will need to provide information under privacy policy settings, such as your company name and privacy policy link.
Lastly, include a “Thank you screen” in your classic form. Enter a headline, such as “Thank you for signing up!”, and then include a description to encourage the viewer to click on your “Free Fitness Consultation” CTA button. A description you could include is “Tap the button to learn more about our Training Programs and claim your Free Fitness Consultation”
Don’t forget you will also need to include your website URL
Once you are done entering all the information needed for your classic form, click “Complete”
Want to further optimize your instant page settings to increase your conversion rates?
7.4 Payment Settings
For your payment settings, you will need to enter a balance amount for your TikTok account, since we selected “manual payment” as the payment method. Then click “Next“.
Select your payment method and enter additional details, then click “Make Payment”.
Before you finish setting up your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, you will need to enter your business registration details. Once you set this up, you are finally done setting up your TikTok ads!
8. Understanding Different Types of TikTok Ads
It’s important to understand that not all TikTok ads are equal. There are different types of TikTok Ads available and understanding how each works will help you choose the best or most efficient ad type for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms:
- In Feed Ads appear within the For You pages, and they are created using TikTok Ads Manager. These will usually include a prominent CTA button.
- Spark Ads work by boosting organic content and don’t disappear once you stop paying to promote them.
- TikTok Image Ads are still images that should include your fitness gym brand, both in name and in the ad text.
- Playable Ads focus on creating engagement with simple mini-games.
- Shopping Ads combine all the main functions of previous ad types: video shopping ads, catalog listing ads, and live shopping ads.
- Topview Ads are similar to PPC (Pay-per-click) but keep in mind that these types of TikTok Ads will need also to be managed by a TikTok sales representative. They appear as a full-screen video ad takeover which lasts between 5-60 seconds when a user opens the TikTok app.
9. Best Practices for TikTok Ads for Fitness Gyms
9.1 Ad Groups
When creating TikTok ads for Fitness Gyms, your TikTok ads will be in a structure that can help you better understand how your ads work. The structure will consist of the TikTok Ad itself, the Ad Groups (these could be one or a few), and the ad groups will be organized inside your TikTok Campaign.
We recommend creating multiple ad groups for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, with each specific ad group targeting different goals to help you reach a wider audience and drive more traffic toward your fitness gym business. Having different ad groups will also allow you to customize your goals for target audiences, demographics, ad spending, ad placements, optimization settings, and target bids. This will help you figure out which ads are your best-performing ones when you analyze your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) so that you can further optimize your ads to help drive better results for your fitness gym.
Unsure how to add multiple optimized add groups with effective CTAs to ensure high-quality leads?
9.2 Pre-Production
Prior to creating your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, you will need to plan ahead to make it easier when creating your video content. As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, you will need to incorporate key elements in your videos to make an effective TikTok video ad for your fitness gym. It is also critical that you understand that you need to grab the attention of your target audience within 3 seconds to avoid being scrolled down, and losing potential new customers. You can do this by using a hook at the beginning of your videos to trigger a personal response from the viewer.
This is why pre-production or planning ahead for your video ads will be important because all these key elements will work seamlessly to help you create an effective TikTok video ad that will bring you more new customers. During your pre-production stage, do keyword research so that you can write up short scripts for your video ads that target the right keywords being searched by users on TikTok. You will want to include these in your captions, text, hashtags, and the title of your video.
Consider preparing a few scripts with different hooks for your TikTok ads. For example, you could have one short script for weight loss, another for building muscle mass, and a third for a customized program with a personal trainer. Adding hooks at the beginning of your video and using the right keywords increases the chances of the viewer making an action, for instance, signing up to your fitness gym or availing of a TikTok exclusive offer.
9.3 Video Footage and Editing
As we mentioned earlier, you can choose to film your video footage with your smartphone. So long as your content is not blurry, the audio is of good enough quality, and you abide by TikTok’s image and video specs, your videos will be good enough for TikTok ads. When filming for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms, focus on what your fitness gym can offer. You can also mention your expertise and credentials, and you can also showcase the many people you have helped with their fitness journey.
Focus on driving ad memorability with your TikTok ads for fitness gyms to make a lasting impression on your target audience, and to retain their attention. You can do this by using different editing techniques and adding music and text to the video. Making your TikTok video ads leave an impression on your target audience encourages any form of engagement, such as sharing, liking, commenting, or even saving the video, and this will increase the chances of these viewers becoming leads, bringing you more new customers for your fitness business.
9.4 Email Sequence
Email sequencing can be a great strategy to include for your TikTok ads for fitness gyms. This is because when you create an automated series of emails for your fitness gym, it will help to promote your business and increase sales. Additionally, it will also help increase customer retention and engagement.
You can include email sequences when you set up your instant forms or instant pages in your TikTok ad settings. Offering discounts through these email sequences will encourage your target audience to go back to your fitness gym website and finish the conversion process.
Different Email Sequences:
- Abandoned cart email sequence
- Welcome email sequence
- Re-engagement email sequence
- Upsell & cross-sell email sequence
- Lead nurturing email sequence
- Onboarding email sequence
- Feedback email sequence
Some of the email sequences we recommend for your fitness gym business would be welcome email sequence and lead nurturing email sequence. Your welcome email sequence will be perfect for new subscribers, to introduce them to your fitness gym and your products and services, whilst lead nurturing email sequence will be ideal to nurture your leads and convert them into paying customers. Additionally, you could also implement upsell & cross-sell email sequence to market similar or more expensive products or services for your fitness gym customers
10. Conclusion
TikTok ads for fitness gyms is the marketing strategy you need for your business if you want a more affordable way to advertise on the digital platform.
Implementing the key elements and best practices for your TikTok Ads discussed in this blog post will definitely drive more sales and sign-ups to your fitness gym by reaching a wider target audience and encouraging engagement.
If you need assistance in creating and managing your TikTok Ads for Fitness Gyms, feel free to book an appointment with our team of experts, to help bring more new customers to your fitness gym.
