Analyzing Gymshark’s Social Media
I have recently started developing a newfound passion for fitness. Since quarantine started, exercise has been the primary way I have maintained my sanity. As I got more serious about fitness, I started following gym clothing brands to look for good clothes for the gym. One of the brands I found was Gymshark, whose social media I will be analyzing.
Gymshark is smart in that they sponsor many influencers, which they call “Gymshark athletes.” These influencers all have sizeable followings, and so it is likely that their followers will at least check out Gymshark through them. Furthermore, almost all of Gymshark’s Instagram posts contain various Gymshark athletes with a workout the influencer does in the post’s caption (see figure 1). This is smart since the workout is free and easy to find, so people may follow Gymshark to follow these exercises. Gymshark’s Twitter posts are another positive and consist of fitness jokes and memes (see figure 2). I believe they know that their target market is on the younger side, so posting memes and gym jokes fit their demographic.
A notable area that Gymshark can improve on is the diversity of the influencers they show in their posts. We live in a society that preaches body positivity, encouraging everyone to feel comfortable in their own skin. However, the fitness influencers Gymshark includes in their posts are extremely fit, and often their bodies are not realistically attainable for most people (see figure 3 and comments on it). As a result, this can push away a large market of consumers who wish to get in shape. This is because when they go on Gymshark’s Instagram page, all they see are incredibly fit and attractive people, which they can’t relate to on any level. While they have started posting women with more attainable bodies, they rarely do so and have yet to do any posts for men (see figure 4 and comments on it). If Gymshark posted more people with attainable physiques, I believe that it would draw in a broader market. Lastly, I noticed that their Twitter account is not as interactive as it could be. None of their posts leave followers with something they can truly engage with, like asking questions. Therefore, one way they can increase engagement is by posting content that can inspire dialogue.
When looking at the other social media sites of Gymshark’s competition, I believe that Gymshark is one of the more prominent fitness brands out there. Brands like Rhone, Oliver’s apparel, and Barbell apparel all have significantly fewer followers than Gymshark. Furthermore, they all focus more on men and follow the same formula by posting very fit people. I would say that one of Gymshark’s biggest competitors is Underarmour, which has more social media followers than Gymshark. Furthermore, they endorse athletes like Tom Brady and Joel Embiid, as well as celebrities like The Rock. I believe this could be a reason why Underarmour has more social media followers than Gymshark. Furthermore, like Gymshark, they use a pretty equal amount of men and women in their posts. However, when comparing the follower engagement on both Twitter and Instagram, Gymshark has more. There are more likes, comments, and shares on Gymshark, which shows that they have better engagement with their audience. I believe this is because Underarmour’s posts focus more on promoting their social media over giving their followers useful content. For Gymshark, this is through giving out workouts and posting jokes and memes.
To conclude, while Gymshark has aspects of their social media content that they can work on, I would say that their overall social media game is pretty strong. They amassed a significant following on their platforms and have a decent level of engagement. They’re definitely on the right path, and with a few small changes, I believe they can grow even faster.