Prepared for International Fitness Academy • June 2026
Digital Marketing Strategy More Qualified Leads. A Brand The Industry Knows.
International Fitness Academy already converts beautifully. HubSpot, phone and SMS turn enquiries into enrolments over a proven four to six week cycle. The constraint sits earlier: lead volume and brand presence. This is a focused Australia and New Zealand plan to fill the top of the funnel and grow a following that matches the category leaders.
AU + NZ
Engagement Focus
$1K to $3K
Average Course Value
70%
Female Enrolment Skew
4 to 6 wks
Proven Sales Cycle
Long-Term
Partnership Fit
Situation Analysis
Where International Fitness Academy Stands Today
Based on the discovery call with Rhys Davies and Peter Billington on 29 May 2026, plus independent competitor research, here is the current landscape for IFA in the Australia and New Zealand market.
“Getting the leads and growing our social presence is our biggest [challenge]. We’ve never nailed that part. A couple of our competitors have got really big followings. We just need that brand exposure and people to know who we are a lot more.”
Rhys Davies, International Fitness Academy
Strengths
Mature HubSpot nurture: automated first-touch into one-to-one phone and SMS follow-up
Strong conversion once a lead lands, on $1,000 to $3,000 courses
Clear hero products: Fast Track is the number one seller, Combined Cert III & IV is second
Commercially mature team that knows its numbers and reads the market well
Established footprint and credibility (33,000+ students, RTO 32433)
Willing to scale spend the moment a campaign proves return
Current Gaps
Brand awareness well behind the leaders: roughly 2,500 Instagram followers versus AIF at about 18,000
No internal capacity for consistent, always-on social posting
Meta lead forms have decayed: the old playbook no longer produces the volume it once did
Spend wasted historically when campaigns ran unmanaged while the team was heads-down
Answer Engine and SEO content opportunity identified but not yet captured
The 70% female enrolment skew is not yet leveraged in positioning or creative
Competitor Benchmark
The three names raised on the call (AIF, AIPT, NHFA) plus the next closest challenger. The headline: the leaders are not winning on a better qualification, they are winning on presence and trust. Both are buildable.
Provider
Established
Instagram
Positioning
Exploitable Weakness
International Fitness Academy
RTO 32433
2,537
Fast, flexible, globally recognised
Low share of voice
Australian Institute of Fitness
1979
~18,000
Category incumbent, Master Trainer brand
Premium price, generic positioning
Australian Institute of Personal Trainers
1999
~9,220
Mentoring-led, instalments from $76/wk
Reviews cite mentor drop-off, dated content
National Health & Fitness Academy
RTO 31894
Mid-tier
Multi-campus, face-to-face footprint
Location-bound, weaker digital story
Fitness Institute
2009
Small
Online from $1,899, value challenger
Price-led, thin brand
Market Opportunity
IFA does not have a product problem. It has a presence problem, and presence is something we build. AIF leads on a 45-year head start and roughly seven times the social reach, not a materially better qualification. AIPT, the second name on the call, is beatable on trust: its own public reviews repeatedly flag mentor drop-off and outdated material, which a “real support, real people” message lands directly against. And the 70% female enrolment skew is an audience the whole category serves with generic, male-coded creative. That is yours to own.
~7x
Awareness Gap To Close (AIF)
70%
Female Enrolments To Own
2
Hero Courses To Scale
AU + NZ
Sharp Single-Market Focus
A realistic 12-month outcome: a materially lower cost-per-lead, a steady pipeline of qualified enrolments into HubSpot, and an Instagram following that closes the gap on AIPT and is chasing AIF. With course value at $1,000 to $3,000 and a proven close rate, the unit economics support scaling spend hard the moment the leads convert. That is the commercial case.
Target Audiences
Two Audiences. Both B2C. Both High-Intent.
IFA has two distinct buyer types, both individuals, with different motivations and decision paths. Our strategy runs two parallel tracks so every ad, post and page speaks clearly to one or the other. Across both, the audience skews 70% female, ages 20 to 40, and females research harder and choose on trust rather than price.
Tier 1 • Career Starters
The primary buyer: people outside the industry looking to get in
Career-changers wanting a flexible, meaningful path into fitness
Ages 20 to 40, skewing strongly female, value-driven and research-led
The Fast Track course is the natural entry point
Primary Channels & Message
Meta: aspiration and transformation creative, lead capture into HubSpot
Google & Answer Engines: “how to become a personal trainer” intent
Tone: encouraging, real, supportive, the opposite of intimidating
Tier 2 • Industry Upskillers
Existing trainers and gym staff seeking further education
Qualified personal trainers staying certified and improving skills
Gym sales managers and club staff building a fitness career
Strong fit for the lower-priced NASM courses as a supplemental offer
Primary Channels & Message
Google Search: specific qualification and CPD intent terms
Meta retargeting & email: broaden the audience cheaply with NASM
Six workstreams built around the actual constraint: top-of-funnel lead volume and brand presence, feeding the conversion engine IFA already runs well. Always-on execution is the centre of gravity, because that is exactly the gap the team cannot fill internally.
1 • Always-On Social Management
Manage Instagram, Facebook and TikTok with a consistent weekly cadence. The presence Rhys flagged as the biggest gap, run continuously so spend and momentum are never wasted to a quiet month.
Core Gap
2 • Paid Lead Generation
Managed Meta and Google campaigns with the Fast Track course as hero and NASM as a low-cost broadener. Modern conversion-led structures, not the decayed lead-form playbook.
Core
3 • Tracking & CRM Feedback Loop
Meta CAPI, Google conversion import and HubSpot lead-quality signals wired back into the ad platforms, so spend optimises toward real enrolments, not just form-fills.
Measurement
4 • Answer Engine & SEO Content
Blog and course content structured to be cited by AI search and to capture “how to become a personal trainer” intent before the incumbents adapt.
Long-Term Moat
5 • Creative & Brand
A distinct brand voice and creative system that leans into the female career-starter story, with reels and short-form video built to grow following and trust.
Growth
6 • Strategy, Reporting & Account Mgmt
Dedicated account manager, monthly performance report against HubSpot outcomes, and monthly strategy review. A direct line to the team doing the work.
Included
Full Marketing Strategy Consultancy
Included In Every Package, Not Charged Extra
Most agencies charge extra for strategy, or skip it. For IFA it is the most important thing we deliver. You are not just buying social posts and ad management, you are buying a partner who thinks about how to close the awareness gap, which courses and audiences to push first, and how to feed lead-quality back into HubSpot so the spend gets smarter every month.
What It Means Practically
Every month a senior strategist works on your marketing, not just in it. You get strategic thinking, competitor intelligence on AIF, AIPT and NHFA, a positioning play around the female-trainer story, and a roadmap that evolves with IFA. No extra fees, no separate engagement.
Monthly Strategy Sessions
Strategic review with Rhys and Peter
Performance against lead volume, cost-per-lead and enrolments
Course prioritisation: which offers to push harder next
New initiative recommendations as the market shifts
Positioning & Messaging
Own the female career-starter story the category ignores
A “real support, real people” angle against AIPT’s review weakness
Distinct tone for career starters versus industry upskillers
A brand voice the social following can actually attach to
Market & Competitor Intel
Ongoing monitoring of AIF, AIPT and NHFA ads and social
Search-intent trends for course and career queries
Answer Engine and AI search shifts as discovery changes
Where the discounters are noise versus a real threat
Funnel & Lead Strategy
Lead-to-enquiry-to-enrolment journey mapping in HubSpot
Landing-page conversion optimisation for the hero courses
Lead-quality signals fed back to Meta and Google
Attribution so we know which channel drives which buyer tier
Campaign Planning
Course-launch campaigns for Fast Track and Combined Cert III & IV
Promotional pushes (for example the Fast Track flash sale) planned properly
NASM broadener campaigns to widen the top of funnel cheaply
Seasonal intake planning aligned to enrolment peaks
Always-On Advisor Access
Direct line to your strategist between meetings
Ad-hoc advice when opportunities or issues arise
Input on offers, pricing tests and promotions
Quick reads on new channels before you commit budget
Why This Matters For IFA
Rhys told us the team has watched thousands wasted when ads ran while everyone was heads-down on other projects. That is the exact problem an always-on managed partner solves.
You already win once a lead lands. The job is to keep the top of the funnel full and the brand visible, every single week, without it falling off when the team gets busy. Full Marketing Strategy Consultancy means senior thinking applied to that problem every month, with competitor intelligence, a sharp positioning play, and a feedback loop into HubSpot that makes the spend smarter over time.
Content Approval Workflow
Nothing Goes Live Without Your Sign-Off
As an RTO, your claims have to be accurate: accredited qualifications, course inclusions and outcomes all carry compliance weight. Our formal approval workflow makes sure every post, ad and page represents IFA properly, matches your voice, and stays compliant before anything is published.
Trigger
121 Group Action
Client Review
Publish
1. Plan
Monthly calendar
2. Draft
Copy + creative
3. Review
Rhys / Peter
4. Approve
One-click sign-off
5. Publish
Scheduled live
Built-In Safeguards
Brand & Voice Guidelines
IFA tone-of-voice captured in a living document: encouraging, credible, supportive of the career-starter journey.
Compliance Accuracy Check
Anything citing accreditation, course outcomes or qualification claims gets your eyes before it goes live.
One-Message Pause
You can pause all scheduled content with a single message if priorities shift or a brand moment arises.
Lead & Enrolment Engine
Turn Spend Into A Predictable Flow Of Enrolments
The old form-fill playbook has decayed. The new model treats each hero course as its own mini-funnel: a conversion-led landing page, modern campaign structures, and a feedback loop that teaches Meta and Google to find buyers, not just clicks. We build it once, then scale what works.
Phase 1 • Month 1
Funnels & Tracking Foundation
Conversion landing pages for Fast Track and Combined Cert III & IV. Meta CAPI, Google conversion import and the HubSpot feedback loop wired up, so every dollar is measured against real enrolments from day one.
Phase 2 • Month 1 to 2
Always-On Paid Live
Managed Meta and Google search live, Fast Track as hero, with structured creative testing. NASM runs as the low-cost broadener to widen the audience cheaply. Lead quality from HubSpot starts feeding the optimisation.
Phase 3 • Month 2 to 3
Content, AEO & Social Amplification
Answer Engine and SEO content cluster published, weekly organic social and community management building the following and trust. Every piece points back to a course funnel.
Phase 4 • Month 3+
Scale On What Works
Pour budget into the campaigns proving out on cost-per-enrolment, layer a brand awareness program over the top, and activate female-trainer creator partnerships. Spend scales from the starting level toward $10,000+ as the numbers justify it.
The Course Funnels We Build
Fast Track Course
Your number one seller becomes the paid-acquisition hero. Highest volume, the clearest career-starter offer.
Combined Cert III & IV
The second-priority offer, positioned for committed career starters wanting the full qualification.
NASM Courses
Lower price point used as a top-of-funnel broadener, cheaply expanding the addressable audience.
Career-Changer Awareness
Upper-funnel brand and social campaigns aimed at people not yet searching, the female career-starter especially.
Upskill & Retargeting
Re-engage existing trainers and warm audiences with CPD and supplemental offers via Google and retargeting.
Plus Future Intakes
The same funnel template scales to any new course or seasonal intake IFA wants to push.
Content Strategy
Five Pillars Driving The Monthly Mix
A content calendar built to close the awareness gap and feed the funnel: inspire the career starter, educate the searcher, prove the outcomes, and show the real people behind IFA. Every post serves a buyer tier and a brand goal.
Pillar 1 • Aspiration & Transformation
Career-change stories, “a day as a personal trainer”, student journeys. Skews to the female career starter and drives the awareness IFA is missing.
35%
Pillar 2 • Course & Career Education
What is accredited, Cert III versus Cert IV, career pathways, FAQs. Answer-Engine friendly and built to capture high-intent search.
25%
Pillar 3 • Proof & Social Trust
Graduate outcomes, reviews, where IFA trainers work now. Trust signals that sell harder than any ad, and a direct counter to competitor review weakness.
20%
Pillar 4 • Behind The Academy
Real trainers, real support staff, the “real people” story. Humanises the brand and lands directly against AIPT’s mentor-drop-off reputation.
10%
Pillar 5 • Industry & Trends
Fitness industry commentary, employer demand, trends. Positions IFA as plugged into the industry its students want to join.
10%
KPIs & Reporting
How We Measure Success
Because your sale closes off-platform over four to six weeks, we report on the metrics that actually move revenue, with HubSpot as the source of truth. Everything upstream (reach, rankings, followers) is optimised toward qualified leads and enrolments.
90-Day Foundation KPIs
Building the demand engine
Tracking live: Meta CAPI, Google conversion import, HubSpot feedback loop
Always-on social cadence hit rate: 100% to calendar
Conversion landing pages live for Fast Track + Combined Cert
Cost-per-lead benchmark set and trending down
First lift in qualified lead volume into HubSpot
Follower growth started across Instagram and Facebook
12-Month Growth KPIs
Pipeline and presence at scale
Steady-state qualified lead volume into HubSpot, month on month
Cost-per-lead down, cost-to-acquire well under the $1K to $3K course value
Instagram following closing the gap on AIPT and chasing AIF
Ranking and AI-search visibility for “become a personal trainer” intent
Spend scaling confidently as ROAS proves out
Brand recall: IFA is a name career starters recognise and trust
Roadmap
From Friday’s Call To Live In Under 2 Weeks
A clear path from alignment to launch, with tracking in place, first campaigns live, and the social engine running inside two weeks of sign-off. You said “yesterday” on timing, and we like keeping momentum too.
Fri 5 June • 10:30am
Strategy Walkthrough
Walk Rhys and Peter through this proposal. Confirm scope, preferred package, and a start date.
Week 1
Agree & Sign
Engagement confirmed. Package, start date and approval workflow set up. Access to ad accounts and HubSpot arranged.
Week 1 to 2
Onboard (5-day sprint)
Brand voice workshop, tracking and CAPI build, HubSpot feedback loop, landing pages for Fast Track and Combined Cert, 30-day launch calendar, audience and keyword research.
Week 2 to 4
Launch
First campaigns and content live inside 10 to 14 days. Weekly social rhythm established. Optimisation against HubSpot lead quality begins.
Day 30
First Performance Report
Lead volume, cost-per-lead, reach and follower growth. An honest read on what is working and what we adjust for month two.
Day 90
Foundation KPI Review
First full strategy review against 90-day KPIs. Scale the channels gaining traction, double down on what converts, and plan the spend increase.
Your Team
Senior Specialists, Dedicated To Your Growth
Every channel is managed by a senior specialist. No offshore outsourcing, no juniors learning on your account. Direct access to the people doing the work, with a team that has run paid acquisition and social growth for education and service brands before.
Adam Ducquet
Managing Director
Engagement oversight
Kate Lawrence
Account Director
Day-to-day partnership lead
Katryn Fremlin
Head of Strategy
Content & pillar strategy
Michael Potts
Paid Social Director
Meta & paid lead generation
Chris Castellano
Senior Growth & SEO Manager
Google, SEO & Answer Engine
Scott Campbell
Head of Design & Development
Landing pages & tracking build
Pip Tyssen
Graphic Designer
Daily social & ad creative
Steven Pythas
Strategic Account Director
Quarterly strategy reviews
Our Commitment To IFA
No lock-in contracts. Month-to-month. Full strategy consultancy contractually included.
We keep your business by delivering results and respecting your brand, not by trapping you in a contract. Most of our clients stay with us for years because they choose to.
Packages
Choose Your Engagement Tier
All packages are management retainers, month-to-month with no lock-in. We have recommended Growth as the best-fit starting point: full paid lead generation across Meta and Google, always-on social, the tracking and HubSpot feedback loop, and the Answer Engine content program.
Media budget sits on top, paid directly to the platforms. Based on your stated range we recommend starting at $5,000 to $10,000 per month across Meta and Google, fully transparent, scaling as cost-per-enrolment proves out. The retainers below cover the work, strategy and management.
Foundation
Get the engine running. Tracking in place, paid live on the hero course, consistent social presence.
