Recently I covered the ‘3 pillars’ of building an effective brand for your personal training and coaching business. The reason I did this is because I wanted to lay the groundwork, giving you a solid outline upon which to begin and guide your construction process. Simply put, brand building is no easy task -and that’s especially why the Fortune 500s will hire professional brand ambassadors, graphic designers, psychologists, and survey focus groups to get the job done.
This, of course, is what a company can (and must) do with a multi-million dollar marketing budget; but the interesting part is the fact that they’ve slowly been slipping behind the forefront of the innovation curve. Why? Well, it’s because the tech is cheaper, the web is accessible, and the talent is globally accessible -and the playing field is quickly becoming an even one.
Why Visuals, Style, and Design Can Give You the Edge
The reason why this matters to your fitness and coaching business is one that I find to be intriguing: because of the internet, it’s no longer cost-prohibitive or impossibly difficult to APPEAR as well-established as the world’s most well-known brands. This offers you a stellar opportunity to take advantage of a credibility-boosting business look, especially since your fitness biz is web-centrically marketed. Especially when it comes to brand building, your visual appeal can give you that psychological edge to nudge a client in your direction (and not in the direction of your visually-inferior competitors).
With that said, most people are going to judge the attractiveness of a trainer at first glance, based on the following 4 criteria…
- Credibility (establishment, professionalism, style, tone, brand)
- Fitness Niche (ie: yoga, weight training, cardio, martial arts)
- Pricing vs. Budget (But, remember that CHEAPER doesn’t equate to BETTER.)
- Social Proof (ie: word-of-mouth, social media, reviews)
Notice how #4 can naturally flow right back to #1, creating more of a cyclical hierarchy, than a mere list. The more smoothly a prospective client can cycle through those criteria, easily comparing their wants/needs to what your services can provide, then they’ll more easily gravitate towards your brand if their conclusions are in your favor …and away from those that don’t allow the client to cycle through 1-4 as smoothly as yours does.
Also notice how 2 and 3 are specific elements within your fitness company that were foundationally ingrained into your business model. These can be slightly tweaked to assist in your marketing efforts, but ultimately, your niche and prices aren’t likely going to change much regardless. 1 and 4, however, are your marketing powerhouses, and both depend HEAVILY on visual appeal.
So, here are the 4 C’s of visual brand building to give you that psychological edge, energizing that client criteria cycle, so that your prospective people will start moving their wheels in the direction of your fitness biz.
#1: Cleanliness
The current trend of website design has transitioned to that of cleanliness and minimalism. The primary reason for this is the fact that a clean, lightweight design allows your message, content, and brand’s personality shine through -unburdened by clutter. Hubnest’s post on this says,
“Modern web design trends use elements like colour, typography, and photography to make a website stand out. A clean minimalistic design will further emphasize great content.”
Here are a few tips to consider when designing your website…
- Rather than keeping all the pages elements in a single frame, you should use a descending linear design that can be seen by scrolling.
- Use larger elements, visuals, and fonts.
- The simpler your site is, the better it will look.
#2: Color Scheme
As I discussed in the aforementioned branding post, colors make a notable impact on the way your site will look and feel to your visitors. Essentially, your color scheme won’t have much of an affect on the more complex aspects of your brand -but it will trigger responses from the more basic areas of human psychology. For instance…
“In an appropriately titled study called Impact of Color in Marketing, researchers found that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on color alone (depending on the product). ”
That quote from Help Scout is fantastic in clearing up the myths, while sheds light on the facts, when it comes to using colors for building your personal brand. Be sure to check it out, as they also divulge exactly how colors can be used, which colors can be coordinated for consistency, and what effect they’ll have on a visitor’s psychological response. For instance, if your fitness business’s niche markets more to males, then you’ll want to use brighter colors. For females, they prefer softer, pastel colors.
#3: Convenience
As I said before, using larger elements allows for a more visually stunning, simpler, cleaner, and more minimalistic appearance. However, at the same time, larger elements offer more convenience for navigating your site. ManningDigital.com’s blog states:
“Generally these large images are left wholly unobstructed so that they can be seen clearly. Functional elements are often minimized, like in the case of hidden navigation that is revealed by clicking on the navicon toggle or ghost buttons, outlined rectangles that indicate a clickable field, which put all the emphasis on the visual itself.”
One of the biggest reasons why this becomes crucial for convenient functionality is because of a change in consumer technology. According to Small Business Trends, 60% of this site’s visitors that will read this blog post will be doing so …on a mobile device.
Large page elements logically makes it easier to navigate, especially for those of us with large fingers and smaller screens. For that reason, your website should also be ‘responsive’.
#4: Catchiness
Chuck Frey of the Content Marketing Institute discusses how your personal brand’s uniqueness is massively dependent on its visual appeal, and how this differs from that of its global competition. As I’ve mentioned before, being remarkable is an absolute essential -and this ties in directly to how your website is designed:
“These early adopters believe that creating, refining, and consistently presenting their brand as a core part of their content marketing strategy helps them rise above the tidal wave of noise online.”
The reason why it’s important to watch current trends is because it gives you insight, as to what’s causing these shifts. However, just remember, if you’re not somehow unique within your niche or industry, then you’ll have a tough time leading the pack -since you’ll simply wind up being a card-carrying member of the giant flock. Using catchy visuals is a great way to avoid that scenario and define yourself from the rest of your competition.
Where Brand Building Magic Is Made
If anything, mobile traffic is perhaps the most influential factor in why page elements are getting larger, while the pages themselves are becoming simpler in visual layout. I believe that finding the sweet spot, between what’s trendy and what’s unique, is where brand building magic is made. In order to master this, incorporate the 4 C’s of Visual Brand Building, and your website will achieve comparable online credibility to that of the Fortune 500.
That’s one huge way that small startups become big disruptions in the marketplace.
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