Gymshark grew from a garage in Solihull into one of the best known fitness brands in the world largely through social media. Instead of buying billboards, it sent clothes to the fitness YouTubers its founder already watched, then built a community around them that now spans Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, its own training app and real world meet ups.

The Gymshark marketing strategy is often summed up as “influencers”, but that undersells it. The real lesson for small businesses is that Gymshark picked a tight community it understood, showed up where that community already spent its time, and kept treating customers as members rather than buyers. Here is how it did it, and how you can apply the same thinking on a small budget.

The brand started with a founder who was the customer

Ben Francis started Gymshark in 2012, aged 19, from his parents’ garage in Solihull, near Birmingham. Forbes reports that he began with his friend Lewis Morgan selling supplements online, then bought a screen printer and a sewing machine and started making gym clothing himself while studying at Aston University and delivering pizzas.

Francis was a gym goer making the clothes he could not find. That matters because he did not need market research to know what his customers watched, where they hung out or what they wanted. He was one of them.

What to copy: the closer you are to your customer, the easier social media becomes. If you are not your own customer, spend time where they are. Read the comments on the accounts they follow, join the groups they are in and notice the language they use.

YouTubers, not adverts, carried the early growth

“All my heroes were YouTubers, so I’d send them products,” Francis told Forbes. Gymshark gave its clothing to fitness creators, who wore it in their training videos. Forbes also reports that the brand’s first big break came in 2013 at BodyPower, a large bodybuilding expo, where it sold out its stock.

This was early, before influencer marketing was a mainstream budget line. Gymshark was not paying for a single sponsored post. It was building long running relationships with people whose audiences trusted them, and its clothes appeared again and again in genuine content.

Speaking to Marketing Beat in 2022, Gymshark’s chief branding officer Noel Mack said the brand now looks for athletes with “unique stories” rather than people who all look the same, which is how it started out. That shift is useful for any business working with creators: personality and authenticity travel further than a perfect physique or a big follower count.

How to apply this to a small business

• Start with micro creators. Local or niche creators with a few thousand engaged followers are often more affordable and more trusted than big names.
• Think relationships, not one-off posts. A creator who uses your product for a year is more believable than one who mentions it once.
• Choose people who already fit. The best partners are customers or fans already.
• Label it properly. Gifted or paid content must be clearly marked as advertising. The ASA’s influencers’ guide explains what UK rules require.

Community is the strategy, social is where it lives

“The brand is a community and it just so happens that communities are all on social media,” Mack told Marketing Beat. He described Gymshark’s marketing as a feedback cycle, where the brand talks with customers through its posts and learns from what comes back. He also said Gymshark will show up wherever its communities are, including forums and public meet ups.

When the business took investment in 2020, Francis said, “We are nothing without our community,” according to Retail Gazette. That line was not just a soundbite. Gymshark has long used in person meet ups and events, and when it opened its first flagship store on London’s Regent Street in 2022, Francis described it as a space to “cultivate the Gymshark community”, with room for events and social gatherings as well as shopping.

Related reading: Why you should look for Instagram Influencers for your business

For a small business, community can be simpler than it sounds:

• A running club that starts from your shop on Saturday mornings
• A private Facebook or WhatsApp group for regular customers
• Customer photos shared (with permission) on your feed every week
• A yearly event, open evening or workshop that people look forward to

Gymshark moved early on TikTok

Gymshark is a good example of the advantage of turning up early on a new platform. Mack told Marketing Beat in 2022 that Gymshark had 1.5 million TikTok followers before Nike joined the platform, and that the #Gymshark hashtag had passed eight billion views. He put that down to being agile and quick to market.

Small businesses can often move faster than big brands because there is no sign off process. If your audience is starting to use a platform, test it before your competitors do. You do not have to stay forever. Give it three months of regular posting, look at what it brings in and decide.

Challenges give people a reason to keep coming back

One of Gymshark’s long running social ideas is Gymshark66, a challenge built around the idea that it takes 66 days to form a habit. Gymshark’s blog post on the challenge was first published in 2019. In the 2026 version, participants pick three daily habits on 1 January and tick them off in the Gymshark Training App for 66 days, sharing progress with the #Gymshark66 hashtag. According to Gymshark’s help centre, completing habits earns in app rewards, and people who signed up on 1 January could enter a competition to become a Gymshark athlete.

Why it works as marketing:

• It is about the customer’s goals, not the product
• It lasts long enough to build a habit of opening the app
• It creates a stream of user generated posts with a shared hashtag
• It returns every January, when people are already thinking about fitness

A personal trainer could run a 30 day step challenge. A bakery could run a “bake along” each Sunday in Lent. A garden centre could run a “grow your own” challenge from March to June. Keep it simple, give it a hashtag and share the best entries.

Growth on this scale comes with trade offs

Gymshark’s social first approach has built a large business. In 2020, investor General Atlantic took a 21% stake that valued the company at over £1 billion, according to Retail Gazette. FashionUnited reports that revenue reached £646 million in the year to 31 July 2025, up from £603 million the year before, although profit before tax fell to £7 million as the business invested in stores and its brand.

The lesson is that social media and influencers can create demand fast, but you still need the rest of the business to keep up: stock, delivery, customer service and margins. Plan for success as well as for attention.

What small businesses can copy from the Gymshark marketing strategy

1. Know your community deeply. Pick a specific group and learn their language.
2. Work with creators who already love what you do. Long term beats one-off.
3. Bring people together offline. Events and meet ups turn followers into fans.
4. Test new platforms early. Being early is one of the few advantages a small business can have over a big one.
5. Run a repeatable challenge. Give people a reason to take part and post.
6. Support organic with paid. Once you know which creator content performs, put a small budget behind it. Our paid social service can run creator content as ads on Meta and TikTok.

Frequently asked questions

How did Gymshark use influencers?

Gymshark sent its clothing to fitness YouTubers early on and built long term relationships with them, so its products appeared in their training content. It later formalised this into a roster of Gymshark athletes chosen for their stories as well as their training.

Who founded Gymshark?

Ben Francis founded Gymshark in 2012 in Solihull, near Birmingham, starting out with his friend Lewis Morgan. Francis is the company’s chief executive.

What is Gymshark66?

Gymshark66 is a 66 day habit challenge. Participants choose daily habits linked to training, health or mindset, track them in the Gymshark Training App and share progress with the #Gymshark66 hashtag.

Can a small business do influencer marketing on a small budget?

Yes. Start with local or niche creators who already like your product, offer a fair exchange, label content clearly and focus on a few long term partnerships rather than lots of one-off posts.

Build your community with Delivered Social

You do not need millions of followers to make social media work. You need the right community and a plan to keep showing up for them. Our team helps small businesses across Surrey, Hampshire and beyond plan content, find the right creators and grow engaged audiences. Take a look at our social media management service, or get in touch to talk about your brand.