3 Dishonest Marketing Practices That Every Health & Fitness Professional Should to Avoid
It's important that you learn how to market to your ideal audience. Every fitness & health professional needs some form of a marketing plan; a plan helps organize and give focus, and it forces you to select your audience and craft a strategy that will best result in success. What's equally necessary is that this marketing plan be as ethical and honest as possible.
It's no secret that
there are members in this industry that give the rest of us a bad name.
They're doing deplorable things and getting away with them. It's
horrible and it's just not fair. You probably know a few people who
commit such acts and it grinds your gears at some point. How do they
sleep at night doing what they're doing?
While you can't
occupy your mental space with all their dishonest behavior, you can't
help but think about it. The same is true for marketing; professionals
do everything in their power to attract clients, but while it's
understood that we're all doing what we do to make a living it's not
cool when someone is making a living at the expense of others or cutting
corners.
Here are 5 practices,
among so many others, that health & fitness professionals need to
avoid if they want to remain ethical:
1. Sabotaging other professionals in order to detract their clients
We're all in this
game together whether we like it or not. However, there's something to
be said about that professional who spreads rumors or tries to sabotage
another's efforts. Some do this subtly while others are open. Some
professionals have approached other clients with the intention to
attract them to their services, expressing how they could perform better
than their predecessor. Nothing good comes from these practices and if
not cautious, defamation, if it’s being used, could lead to litigation.
2. Lying to clients about results
Lying is highly
offensive on its own, but it's worse when you're doing it to your
clients. Professionals in this industry are caught red handed lying
about what their products and services do. If a professional is selling a
product or service and they're aware that it can't actually do what it
says, then they're lying about it. It's not cool and it needs to stop.
3. Shamelessly advertising on competitor's site
Yes, shamelessly
posting ads or other content on a competitor’s social media page so
their clients will see the service is desperate. It's become a trend
for representatives of companies to go on various social media outlets
and suggest people follow them instead. Sometimes they're slick about it
and try to hold a conversation with the paragraph ending with their
product; others just blatantly post it and leave. If a professional
needs clients they need to ramp up their marketing and stay away from
doing so on their competitor’s page.
4. Exploiting client's emotions to get them to buy
It's a well-known
practice to guilt trip someone into purchasing a service, but some
professionals take it the next step; they go deep. While this one may
seem a little controversial, it's unacceptable to prey on a client's
life in order to convince them to buy a product or service. It's good
practice to approach your target market with the intention of solving
their issues, but sensitivity is a must. If a professional is digging to
play on their client's emotions so they can buy their product or
service, it raises an ethical red flag.
5. False advertising
It’s been said by
many a marketing professional that the kiss of death in marketing is to
over promise and under deliver. If a professional is falsely advertising
their products and services by exaggerating or making false claims it’s
just wrong. It happens more often than not; a product or supplement
that’s supposed to cure cancer but has never done so and can’t prove
itself. What’s worse are the people who sell the product and know this,
but continue doing it.
Don’t be the person
that resorts to unethical practices to sell yourself or products. Stop
yourself if you ever feel convinced to indulge any of these practices.
If you’re struggling it’s going to be tough, but there’s always a better
way to stay in the game.
Do you need support building your marketing plan and avoiding unethical behavior? Check out our friends, Educational Fitness Solutions. Their Online Personal Training Program will teach you how to market yourself and avoid problems like the ones
mentioned above. You’ll also walk away a qualified personal trainer, but
you’ll have to find out more to see how this all happens.
Click the link to access the program and find out now >> |