New Year, New Me: Navigating the January Fitness Frenzy

January is by far the busiest time of the year for health and wellness PR, Account Executive Tom Horn explains how to navigate the fitness frenzy.

It’s January, and so begins the traditional donning of trainers, buying of lettuce and declarations of ‘new year, new me’, only for most of us to slip back into our old ways within a few short days.

Why do we have this sudden burst of energy every year without fail?

One of the main reasons is the post-Christmas bombardment of our TV shows and social media feeds with special offers and stirring stories about the latest wellness products set to transform your life.

This frenzy pushes more and more of us onto the fitness bandwagon every year. More people join a gym in January than any other month, which breeds yet more competition in the sector.

For higher end companies in health and fitness tech, trying to be heard over the rabble of more sensationalist companies can be difficult. But with such a large audience looking for health and fitness content, is it worth launching a January campaign regardless?    

More Opportunities, More Reach

Our collective focus on wellness in January means more demand from readers and viewers for health stories, which leads to publications of all creeds running such stories, even if they wouldn’t at any other time of year.

This is a win-win for companies, with more eyeballs on health stories and more spaces to publish them in.   

While there is a huge amount of competition for these slots and for reader attention, the new opportunities January brings aren’t available at any other time of year and are not to be dismissed.

This doesn’t just apply to glossy consumer magazines, the same goes for B2B publications too. Trade magazines often choose a theme to focus on each month. Healthcare, wellness and fitness are very often the focus of January issues, meaning plenty of space to showcase your products and expertise in this area.

While there may be many opportunities, don’t hesitate to seize them: trade publications often have deadlines weeks or even months before publication, and getting a slot is always highly competitive. Try to pick the publication which best fits the area you cover for the best chance of being published.  

Stand Out or Say Nothing   

The only way to fully utilise the opportunities January brings the wellness industry is to have something genuinely distinctive to say or show.

In a crowded field, standing out isn’t optional, it’s a necessity. Without something interesting or insightful to contribute to a topic, your announcement is likely to pale into insignificance once placed alongside more vibrant stories from other companies.    

Plan for January far in advance, and if possible save your biggest and best announcements for then. This will maximise your star quality and allow you to shine brightly in a crowded field.

The Balance for Health Tech Companies

So, how do you navigate the frenzy?

For fit-tech companies, the solution is more straight forward than for others.

The decision to buy expensive health tech equipment is unlikely to be taken on a whim, so noisy tactics like flash sales and glitzy marketing campaigns are unlikely to have a big impact.

More appropriate ways to take advantage of the fitness frenzy include case studies and raising brand awareness.

For high end technology companies, building awareness and credibility with potential customers is the most important role of a communications strategy. January is a good time to build this with a new audience through stories explaining clearly and concisely what you do and why it’s useful to them.

Such stories prove your worth to future customers, raise brand awareness, increase loyalty and push them further along the pathway to a purchase.

This approach may be indirect compared to more aggressive tactics, but it’s just as likely to pay off for companies of this type.

January is the gateway to year-round success, if you can get customers push the gate open.