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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.

 

[National Posture Institute] 3 Dishonest Marketing Practices That Every Health & Fitness Professional Should to Avoid

 

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 >>

 
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