The way personal trainers find clients has changed. Today’s clients expect convenience, flexibility, hybrid training options, and a digital-first experience. Competition is higher than ever, and simply posting on social media or waiting for referrals is no longer enough.
The good news is that personal training client acquisition is a skill you can learn and turn into a repeatable system. Thousands of trainers using ABC Trainerize have grown their client base by pairing strong fundamentals with smart digital tools.
In this guide, we will walk through nine proven ways to get more personal training clients in 2026.
Table of Contents
- #1: Leverage Existing Clients
- #2: Build a Strong Digital Presence
- Bonus: Write for Publications
- #3: Create High-Value, Low-Barrier Entry Offers
- #4: Using Social Media & Content Marketing in 2026
- #5: Offer Hybrid & Online Training Options to Expand Your Reach
- #6: Network & Collaborate — Build Your Local & Digital Partnerships
- #7: Build & Maintain an Email and Lead Nurture System
- #8: Run Group Training or Small-Group Bootcamps (In-Person or Online)
- #9: Use Data, Consistency & Follow-up Systems
- Bonus: Personal Training Marketing Ideas & Tactics for 2025/2026
- Client Acquisition Roadmap and Implementation Checklist
- Boost Client Acquisition with the ABC Trainerize Business Add-On
Strategy #1: Leverage Existing Clients (Upsell, Referrals & Retention Funnels)
Let’s start with what you already have, because your existing clients can bring you both more revenue and new leads. First, create new offerings that your clients want and would be willing to pay for.
Upgrades such as hybrid coaching, online add-ons, habit coaching, or small-group sessions increase your monthly revenue and help grow your personal training business steadily.
Second, build a simple system that captures the interest of people close to your clients. Deliver an outstanding experience, then expand it with bring-a-buddy sessions, small incentives, or referral discounts.
In ABC Trainerize, you can tag referrals, automate thank-you messages, deliver add-on programs, and track who converts.
📝 Read More: How to Generate Sales Leads for Your Fitness Business
Strategy #2: Build a Strong Digital Presence
A strong online presence is part of any fitness business marketing strategy you’ll ever build. Start small with one clean page that explains who you help, what you offer, and how people can book a session.
You can add a single helpful free resource, such as a mini workout plan or a quick assessment, to collect emails from interested leads. From there, set up a short automated sequence that shares tips and invites them to try a starter package.
As you grow, you can add more pages, branding, or content. With ABC Trainerize, you can connect bookings and payments so new clients can sign up in minutes.
When everything is streamlined, from content to booking to onboarding, personal training client acquisition becomes far easier. It also frees up time for you to focus on programming and finding more creative ways to acquire clients.
📝 Read More: How to Create a Great In-App Onboarding Experience for Your Clients
Bonus: Write for Publications
Another lead generation tactic is to write for publications that your target audience reads. If you are targeting local clients, look for places they follow in your area and create collaborative content with those outlets.
If you work online and serve a wider audience, consider fitness, health, or productivity media publishers you can pitch to share your expertise. Focus on helping readers solve the specific problem you coach clients through, and include a link back to your professional website or wherever you convert leads.
📝 Check Out: Elevate Your Fitness Business’ Digital Presence in 7 Easy Steps
Strategy #3: Create High-Value, Low-Barrier Entry Offers (Free Sessions, Trial Periods, Mini-Packages)
Make it easy for people to try what it feels like to work with you. Short trial periods, discounted starter packages, or small hybrid plans help new clients make a low-risk first step.
Once someone signs up, follow up quickly with a welcome message, a short check-in, and a clear next step. Inside ABC Trainerize, you can guide them through onboarding, deliver their trial program, and track their progress so you know exactly when to invite them into a complete plan.
This may feel like extra work at first, but once you automate it, it will be your always-on fitness coach lead generation machine, keeping a steady flow of interested people coming your way.
That means fewer slow seasons and less pressure to search for clients constantly. Since the system is automated, you only need to check in and optimize it occasionally.
📝 Check Out: How to Build and Sell Low-Touch Habit Programs with ABC Trainerize
Strategy #4: Use Social Media & Content Marketing to Attract Online Personal Training Clients in 2026
Social media formats that work best today are the ones that build trust quickly and show personality! Use a mix of content types to reach different kinds of viewers, including:
- Short-form video on Reels or TikTok
- Live Q&A sessions where people can ask you anything
- Transformation stories with context (the goal, the struggle, the process)
- Simple educational tips your ideal clients can apply immediately
- Behind-the-scenes clips that show your coaching style and daily work
- Client spotlights, testimonials, and before and afters (with permission)
The goal is to help potential clients understand what you do, why it works, and how they would benefit from working with you. Tell stories, show results, and always tie your posts back to a specific problem you solve. People follow trainers for value first, entertainment second.
Every piece of content should have a clear next step. This can be a lead magnet, a trial session, a newsletter sign-up, or your booking page. You want people to enjoy your content, then have an easy path to learn more or get started. When that path is streamlined and straightforward, more people feel confident reaching out.
Get all of the latest tips on fitness business marketing strategies for social media here:
Strategy #5: Offer Hybrid & Online Training Options to Expand Your Reach
Clients want flexibility, and the numbers prove it. Subscriptions made up 78.62% of the online fitness market in 2024, while hybrid and freemium coaching models are growing at 38.21% annually.
This shift toward flexibility is driving today’s growth in hybrid personal trainer-client relationships, as more people choose a mix of in-person and online support.
You can offer this in several simple ways:
These formats help clients stay consistent even when they cannot get to the gym.
Platforms like ABC Trainerize make this easy by letting you deliver workouts, run group programs, message clients, track habit check-ins, schedule sessions, and monitor progress in one place. You do not have to be “techy” to run a great hybrid service.
📝 Check Out: 5 Reasons to Add Video Workouts to Your Personal Training Services
Pro tip: When it comes to how to get personal training clients online, the easiest wins come from people who naturally need flexibility. Busy professionals with long work hours, parents juggling unpredictable schedules, remote workers who travel, or clients living farther from your gym are often the quickest to say yes to hybrid or online coaching. These clients want structure and accountability without the pressure of showing up in person every time.
Strategy #6: Network & Collaborate to Build Your Local Partnerships
Partnerships or collabs are having a moment right now. They are one of the most popular and consistently effective personal trainer marketing ideas for getting more clients, because they let you tap into an audience that already trusts someone else.
Start with physiotherapists, nutritionists, massage therapists, wellness coaches, sports clubs, or workplaces that offer wellness programs.
Keep it simple! Run a:
- Small workshop
- Mini-class
- Short online event
- Themed wellness challenge
These collaborations put you in front of niche groups who already care about their health, and when you show up with real value, people naturally become curious about your coaching.
Strategy #7: Build & Maintain an Email and Lead Nurture System
If you have free resources or a free assessment, the next most important step is building and maintaining an email list. Capturing emails matters because these are people who have already shown interest in your coaching.
You can stay in touch with them, automate the delivery of helpful content, and follow up personally when you have time or when you launch a new offer they might care about.
Start with a simple welcome sequence, but do not stop there. Create a few more touchpoints that work in the background. Some email series to build from:
- Welcome emails
- Biweekly newsletter
- Monthly/quarterly personalized check-in
- Promotional series
Your emails should share tips, client stories, small lessons, and clear next steps. Use them to re-engage cold leads, promote new offers, and invite people into trial sessions or starter packages. A consistent email system keeps people warm long after they first discover you.
📝 Check Out: ABC Trainerize Sales Email Generator
Strategy #8: Run Group Training or Small-Group Bootcamps (In-Person or Online)
Group training is one of the easiest ways to grow without adding more one-on-one hours. Clients pay less per session, but you coach more people at once, which increases your total revenue and creates a strong sense of community. You can run these sessions in person, online through live video, or in a hybrid format.
Group programs also work as a funnel. Many participants start with a bootcamp and later upgrade to one-on-one coaching once they build trust with you.
With ABC Trainerize, you can organize groups, deliver the program, track daily check-ins, and keep everyone accountable in one place.
Strategy #9: Use Data, Consistency & Follow-up Systems
Treat client acquisition as a process, not a one-off.
Client acquisition becomes much easier when you treat it as an ongoing system rather than something you do only when you are low on clients.
Start by tracking the basics:
- Where did leads come from?
- Who tried a session?
- Who converted?
- Where do people lose interest?
Knowing and acting on the above are the surest ways to grow your personal training business steadily. Running a business requires such data-driven decision-making.
Create a simple routine you can maintain. This can include checking your dashboards, creating and posting content on social media informed by past content performance, checking in with leads, updating your programs, or sending value emails.
Consider this your marketing and sales routine, also a must when you’re running a business.
📝 Read More: 7 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track as a Personal Trainer
Bonus: Personal Training Marketing Ideas & Tactics for 2026
A few trends are shaping how clients discover trainers today, and using even one or two of these can make your marketing much more effective.
#1: Short-form video is still one of the quickest ways to build trust. Reels, TikTok clips, and even short live workouts help people see your coaching style and personality instantly.
#2: Online challenges work well, too. A 30-day fitness or habit challenge gives people an easy entry point and lets them experience your guidance without committing long-term. Especially if there’s a free entry, and your programming is to be trusted.
#3: Hybrid and remote offerings continue to grow. Simple remote onboarding, virtual check-ins, and digital progress tracking make coaching accessible to people who cannot always train in person. These formats take less of your time, which means you can offer lower prices, reduce barriers to entry, and diversify your income.
#4: Micro-niching also matters more than ever. Focus on a specific group, like busy professionals, parents, remote workers, older adults, or clients recovering from injury.
Client Acquisition Roadmap and Implementation Checklist
Just a note: shipping matters more than perfecting things you have already invested time into. Many personal trainers get stuck tweaking programs, rewriting their ICP, or overthinking content ideas instead of putting their work in front of real people.
The more time you spend polishing, the slower you move. Growth comes from shipping often: more programs, more on-demand workouts, more simple resources, more touchpoints.
When you release work quickly, you learn faster, improve faster, and give clients more ways to engage with you.
Week 1
- Define the ideal client profile and niche
- Set up a professional website and booking funnel
Week 2
- Build your free resource
- Set up email capture + a simple nurture sequence
Week 3
- Create your social media content calendar
- Launch referral program + track referrals
Week 4
- Package and offer your free sessions, trial periods, or starter packages
Week 5
- Reach out to potential partners (local businesses, wellness pros)
Week 6
- Plan and launch group training or a bootcamp
Weeks 7–8
- Track leads, conversions, follow-ups, and analyse results
- Adjust your plan based on what worked and what didn’t
Boost Client Acquisition with the ABC Trainerize Business Add-On
ABC Trainerize Business supercharges client acquisition through built-in prospect management and referral tools. You can drive leads via your custom booking page or Trainerize.me profile, and track them through the funnel.
Referral features let happy clients share your services via in-app banners and links, making it effortless to grow your client base – and referrals convert better and stick longer.
Learn more about ABC Trainerize Business, the all-in-one business management software for trainers here.
