Squats for breakfast, burpees for lunch, and lunges for dinner.
Welcome to Instagram.
If you haven’t noticed, there’s been a bit of a fitness craze on Instagram in the past couple of years.
Just look around you, everyone is in active wear, drinking kale smoothies and uploading their progress pictures and workouts to Instagram.
When you scroll through Instagram there are thousands of personal accounts dedicated to health and fitness with over 4 million followers for some of the huge names who are dedicating themselves to sharing their tips and progress to a huge social media fan base.
But more than this drinking dirt thing, there’s an even bigger craze.
I’m talking about the fitness communities that are taking place on Instagram.
Basically Instagram has served as the perfect platform for these communities. It allows users to interact, motivate and encourage each other
There’s a reason why these communities work when it comes to fostering a relationship between the brand and its followers. It makes the followers feel a part of the brand, and a part of something big…… so a cult? (I’m joking!……not).
But the communities clearly work, for example Kayla Itsiness has 4.7 million followers on Instagram, and FitGirlsGuide has 5.5 million followers.
So what happens in this “community” ?
Well, every couple weeks there will be progress photos, and you can cheer on that person and use their progress as motivation. There is usually recipes ideas and shopping lists. And, then there will be cute and funny tidbits from everyone’s day.
This creates a feeling of unity and a sense that everyone is going through the fitness challenge together.
And the successful fitness bloggers and fitness companies having utilised this knowledge.
Not everyone has access to a local, in-person support group. There are those who live in small communities where such groups don’t exist. Others have difficulty finding a local tribe of like-minded individuals. And, often group meetings don’t mesh with work and family schedules.
That’s where online fitness communities come in.
They allow people to connect with other like-minded people both near and far.
It’s having the right circle of friends at your finger tips.
You can check in when it’s convenient or you need some extra encouragement and support.
And you don’t even need to leave the house. BONUS!
So for anyone thinking to become the next Kayla Itsiness, don’t just give your subscribers a bunch of PDF meal plans and exercises. Its important that you interact with your followers and make them feel a part of the brand.
The implications for the digital marketers would be the same, and to create a hub that makes the followers feel welcome and encouraged to upload their own content. Because at the end of the day those progress pictures, are proof that your fitness plan works (the ultimate testimonial).
What do you think? Do you follow any fitness influencers? Can you see yourself joining an online fitness community?
SpaceBarr 
Fantastic post!! So interesting that there are these communities being created on platforms like insta with such positive effects 🙂 do you think there are any negative sides to them?
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Thanks for the comment!
I think the negative side to them, is that sometimes the community is a public page, and you can get some pretty nasty comments coming through.
I haven’t seen negative comments, so it means that if there any , the admins are doing a great job of getting rid of them. However, maybe the pages should be private? It also might be daunting for some women or men who are trying to lose weight, and they have to upload a photo of themselves on to a public forum….. I know if it was me, i would be very hesitant. So again, i think the “community” should be a members-only community.
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I 100% agree on this whole ‘fitspiration’ trend that has been blowing up the past few years – and I have no clue as to whether or not it’s helped me in the slightest… I follow quite a lot ‘fitspo’ pages, Kayla Itsines included, and I see all her posts, as well as all the #BBGcommunity posts, and I feel inspired and motivated for as long as it takes me to read the post… Then I scroll past and go on about my day, so in my opinion, I feel like it doesn’t necessarily work. When I used to be more fit and actually committed to a healthy lifestyle (note the ‘used to’ lol), I hardly looked on Instagram to be motivated BUT it did make me feel more inclined to motivate others with my personal progress. So I understand the big boom within the fitness community, but I think because of the massive influx of a lot of people posting progress shots, meal prep ideas etc – inadvertently desensitises us from actually wanting to be fit because in a way you think “oh I try that next time” but actually don’t.
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I think that maybe its more motivating for the people that post the photo, rather than the people scrolling through.
Maybe by you posting a photo of your progress, it makes you feel more committed to your fitness journey, so you can keep getting the positive encouragement, and you might feel you have to keep doing it for your “fans”?
I follow these communities, just because the photos of meal prep and progress shots are always fun to look at, but not because I’m on a journey myself….. However if I was, i would feel more motivated if i knew i had to submit a progress photo every 2 months….
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Interesting post. I was not aware of that such support groups online existed. I am wondering if these groups actually achieve the results they set out to achieve.
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I think the point of these groups is to create a sense of belonging, and to motivate individuals from all over the globe, that they are a part of something huge.
I think though that even though there are these communities and support groups, at the end of the day some individuals are more motivated than others. It comes down to personal responsibility as well.
These communities are also a big marketing opportunity for the brands, it shows to “passerby’s” that their community is a safe, fun and loving place where you can lose weight and make friends.
So i guess it depends what the main goal of the community is, to advertise? to motivate and encourage? If they can do both, then that would be the ideal 🙂
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Good read! I think fitness communities like Kayla Itsiness are 100% in the right direction, especially when its being able to interact with consumers on a more personal level. The fitness community is seen as your helping friend, who is trying to help you achieve your fitness goals along thousands and thousands of other people. It reminds you that you can achieve your challenges, and by posting results of other followers it really is the biggest testimonial, like you said. So when the brand is advertising a product, you don’t view it as a marketing ploy with half ass results, its viewed as a genuine recommendation from the community that delivers results!
As for me, I don’t follow any fitness communities, some fitness influencers though. The problem with some fitness influencers is that they are advertising healthy products just for the money… when its clear they lifestyle doesn’t rotate with a healthy regime! So in some ways that can definitely damage the brand.
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I think thats why the brands realise that perhaps fitness communities might be better than a fitness influencer. The fitness community is made up of REAL people, who have lives that revolve around other things than just fitness and healthy eating.
As you said, sometimes the influencer might not have a lifestyle aligned with what the brand wants to portray. So its important that the brand does some research before choosing their influencer.
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Great post! It’s an interesting aspect, and full credit to the successful users because there are many different accounts on Instagram, so the competition would be high. It’s a smart use of digital marketing, and the reasons you point out are exactly why there are so many accounts!
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Thanks for the comment!
I agree, i think its a smart use of digital marketing, and there are always new and evolving ways for marketers to target online users, and make use of the new social media platforms.
Its kind of a cleaner and fresher version of a Facebook group.
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