The fitness giant is embracing in-person events and social media content to help its members forge a deeper connection with their favorite trainers
iFIT is on a mission to push connected fitness forward.
The Utah-based company is best known for its large library of digital fitness content, which allows users to stream instructor-led workouts from equipment on IFIT-owned brands like NordicTrack and Freemotion Fitness.
It also wants to be known for pushing the envelope when it comes to how digital fitness consumers engage with their favorite trainers and workout content.
Mark Phillips, iFIT’s chief marketing officer believes it’s time for a new way of approaching connected fitness with the pandemic now in the rearview mirror.
“There’s a unique opportunity at the moment to try new things, to innovate and to create a different user-engagement model from what we’ve seen before,” Phillips told ATN.
In-Person Events Bring Members & Trainers Closer Together
iFIT’s strategy includes finding new ways to connect its more than six million members with the trainers they see on-screen, including through in-person events.
This push began in earnest in 2023, when iFIT sent some of its members to a commercial shoot in Los Angeles where they got to meet their favorite trainers on set.
“The entire crew and set, trainers and members, everybody was in tears,” Phillips recalls. “It’s an incredibly emotional experience when you connect a member with a trainer, because they’ve had such a formative role in these members’ lives.”
Building on the success of that event, iFIT has introduced a series of experiential events built around in-person connections.
Last year, the company partnered with Alex Gregory, an Olympic Gold Medalist and founder of Mind Body Row, to surprise iFIT members with an immersive, five-day rowing experience in Avis, Portugal. At the event, iFIT members got to meet popular iFIT trainers including John Peel, Hannah Eden, and Paulo Barreto, participate in workouts, and attend fireside talks and hiking experiences.
iFIT will also be sending members to the 2025 London Marathon and Boston Marathon, giving them chances to connect with iFIT trainers at the events and through social media initiatives.
iFIT plans to create more in-person events to give as many of its members as possible the chance to meet their favorite trainers. Ideas include more destination trips as well as meet-ups between trainers and members at the iFIT offices in Utah.
“We’re trying to not just put faces to names; we’re trying to build relationships on a much deeper level with our members,” Phillips says.
More Meaningful Social Media Interactions
iFIT is also leveraging social media to create deeper connections between its trainers and members.
Ashley Paulson, an iFIT trainer and professional triathlete with 160,000 followers on Instagram, recently ran in the Great World Race, a global marathon event that takes place on seven continents. iFIT sponsored Paulson’s participation in the event, helping her create social media content that was promoted through iFIT channels.
Like Paulson, many iFIT trainers have large social media followings. Phillips says iFIT works to help its trainers build up their social media presence, viewing this as a win-win for the brand and its trainers.
“One of the joys about our trainer model is that we can support them to do things outside of iFIT as well,” he says. “Social is a fantastic tool for that.”
iFIT also shoots live content from its events for social media, including at the recent Portugal trip.
“That’s going to be a much more important channel as we move forward,” Phillips says of live social content. “In many ways, it’s blurring the lines between the content you consume on our equipment and the content you consume on social media and our other channels.”
Personalization Is Key
At the end of the day, iFIT’s new user-engagement strategy is designed to make fitness more personalized, Phillips says.
iFIT will look to drive personalization through experiential events like in-person meetings, but it will also do so through tech innovations.
Last year, the company launched AI Coach, an artificial intelligence tool that acts as a personalized fitness coach. Currently available in beta mode, AI Coach communicates with members through text messages, offers daily workout plans and gives friendly motivational nudges to work out.
For Phillips, personalization is the key to getting people to actually stick to their fitness routines – and to keeping iFIT members on the platform for the long term.
“The gift of fitness is an incredible thing, but all too often, it’s been promised, and for many reasons, it hasn’t been delivered,” he says. “We now have a unique opportunity to help people be far more effective in their fitness journeys.”
