In January in particular, there is a focus on health and fitness on social media. Christmas excesses are over and people are already starting to think about holidays and looking good for the summer.
These 4 tips will help you to connect with the increasingly influential health-conscious consumer. People want to share their healthy lifestyle with their network of friends and can become influential advocates for a certain brand, product or service that helped them along the way.
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Inspire
One of the most important aspects of social media is the desire for people to share their experiences. No matter which platform you’re using, people are talking to one another or retelling their story. For most, social media isn’t just about sharing their own story but reading others as well.
This is very much the case for the health-conscious consumer. Do they want to know how someone reached their goals? How did they achieve success? How did someone make a difference to their lives through healthy choices?
Think about what your audience is interested in and provide them with a story that fits. Use a before, during and after comparison for weight loss as part of a series of photos on Instagram or a story of how someone trained for a marathon or long term fitness goal on Facebook.
Sharing successes and failures can add a human touch to your brand. Be honest and your audience are much more likely to align themselves with both your brand and your message.
Motivate
The first few days of January are rife with resolutions but by mid-January enthusiasm is starting to fade even for the most hardened health-conscious amongst us. Providing the right and timely motivation to your audience can help you give something back to your followers.
It’s easy to utilise and share existing threads like #motivationalmonday but develop your own motivational content as well. Your audience will thank you if it’s your messages or ideas that keep them going.
The Dry January campaign that is currently running is a great example of this. Their Facebook and Twitter accounts motivate their followers to keep going with stories and countdowns to help keep people on track.
Support
Staying healthy can be challenging. Supporting your audience doesn’t have to be. Waitrose are particularly effective at offering support to their customers on their social media accounts, sharing recipes, ideas, videos and offers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Their January posts focus on health and nutrition because they know that it interests their audience.
Think about the expertise that you have within your business, team or industry. If you have a nutritional expert, run a Q and A about healthy eating. If you have a training expert offer a free plan to help someone focus their effort and achieve their fitness goal or an exercise plan that’s easy to do at home.
Encourage your followers to help one another as well. Post questions and ask your audience to give their advice. This type of engagement is invaluable in building awareness of your brand amongst a health-conscious audience.
The more your followers comment on or share your content the more likely they are to see your future posts. You’re not just increasing your visibility now but potentially for the future as well.
Challenge
Don’t be afraid to challenge your audience – after all, if they’re health-conscious they are likely to be challenging themselves.
Whether it’s just to eat healthier or to train harder or more often, your audience will have a personal challenge so ask them to share them with you on social media.
Set a goal of your own and share it with them or challenge them to beat it.
Share short videos across the different social media platforms and challenge your audience to do something better or quicker and encourage user-generated content to prove it.
