Thursday 3rd September Business Briefing how to successfully launch or relaunch fitness classes, courses and online programmes in September

This briefing focuses on how to successfully launch or relaunch fitness classes, courses and online programmes in September, with practical marketing and content ideas.

Define the offer

• Be completely clear about what you’re launching.
• Identify exactly who it is for.
• Decide whether it’s face-to-face, online or hybrid.
• Create a strong, simple description explaining the benefits.
• September is competitive, so your offer needs to cut through local and online noise.

Marketing message

• Explain who you are, what you teach, why you teach it and who you help.
• Reintroduce yourself now because September brings renewed interest in fitness.
• Use relatable benefits such as:
• Getting stronger
• Staying fit and healthy
• Longevity
• Mobility and flexibility
• Confidence and independence
• Ask questions that make your target customer recognise themselves, e.g. “Do you struggle getting down to the floor?”

Social media content

• Use bright, authentic photos of yourself.
• Presenter currently favours real Canva graphics over heavily AI-generated images.
• Talking-to-camera videos are strongly recommended.
• Show people what the class actually looks like with 10–30 second exercise clips.
• Use split-screen videos to demonstrate different exercises or ability levels.
• Examples include beginner vs advanced, seated vs standing, or four different Lift Lean exercises.
• Keep messaging simple and visually clear.

Launch campaign

• Create a mixture of long-form informational posts and shorter promotional content.
• Use carousels, Reels, Stories and Facebook posts.
• Create a Facebook Event for local launches.
• Repurpose launch information into website/blog content.
• Add relevant content to Google Business Profile.
• Run a countdown: 5 days → 4 → 3 → 2 → 1 → launch.
• Make booking extremely easy.
• Follow up personally with people who engage.
• Use WhatsApp messages and voice notes where appropriate.

Offline marketing

• Don’t rely entirely on social media.
• Use flyers and business cards.
• Visit local cafés and businesses.
• Have conversations with potential customers.
• Look for opportunities to speak to community groups.
• Combine traditional local marketing with digital promotion.

Relaunching old online content

• Don’t automatically discard workouts recorded during lockdown or previous years.
• View your existing video library as a valuable business asset.
• Review older videos and remove poor introductions/endings if necessary.
• Technical quality may matter less to customers than instructors assume.
• Use archived workouts as bonuses rather than constantly creating new content.

Bonus-content ideas

• Join a Pilates course and receive 10 home workouts.
• Join a live Lift Lean programme and receive additional recorded workouts.
• Give paying customers access to a bonus WhatsApp content group.
• Repackage existing videos into a structured library.
• Change YouTube videos between private, unlisted and public depending on how you want to distribute them.

Key takeaway

• September launches require a temporary increase in visibility and repetition.
• Clearly communicate what it is + who it’s for + benefits + what it looks like + how to book.
• Authentic personal content, short exercise demonstrations, local promotion and existing video assets can all support the launch.
• New ideas often take time to gain traction—consistent promotion is essential rather than abandoning an offer too quickly.