Did these influencers successfully grow their social media followings?

This is a follow-up to a December 2022 article, “Tis the Season of Fitness Influencers’ Month-Long Challenges.”

Last month, I wrote about how two fitness influencers, Robin Arzón and Adriene Mishler, use month-long fitness challenges around the New Year to grow their social media followings.

The size of an influencer’s social media following is not just a vanity metric. It directly affects the amount the influencer can charge for sponsored social media posts, for product sponsorships, and for speaking engagements. The bigger the following, the easier it is for influencers to monetize that following by selling products directly to fans.

In December, Robin Arzón (Instagram @RobinNYC) launched the second year of her #3for31 fitness challenge. Robin asked followers to run 3 miles or do 30 minutes of exercise every day during the month of December.

In January, Adriene Mishler (Instagram @AdrieneLouise) launched her eighth (8th!) 30-Day Yoga Journey. Each year since 2015, Adriene has created a new, free yoga course for her fans. She releases one new class every day in January.

Let’s talk numbers.

At the end of my original piece, I showed that Robin’s previous #3for31 challenge hadn’t provided her with a follower boost. Adriene’s courses, however, gave her a consistent follower increase every year.

Robin’s Results This Year

Robin’s #3for31 challenge did not provide her with a follower boost this year either, as the graph below (source) shows.

Part of Robin’s efforts in this year’s #3for31 challenge was to get more followers for her new “lifestyle membership club in Web3,” Swagger Society. That account’s Twitter following has almost doubled since mid-December, from 1,307 followers to 2,575.

When we look at that as a percentage increase (almost 100%), it seems great. But in absolute numbers, it’s not. Robin has over 1 million Instagram followers and over 72,000 Twitter followers. She’s been promoting the Swagger Society Twitter account across all of her platforms, but nobody’s biting.

Robin’s existing followers love her for her fitness instruction and leadership, and clearly are not interested in Web3.

Adriene’s Results This Year

Adriene’s Instagram following is already getting a boost, as the graph below (source) shows.

The upward trajectory is already apparent, and will become only more apparent in the coming months. If she follows trends in the past two years, Adriene will get her only big follower boost at this time of the year and will flatline until January 2024.

This year, Adriene has promoted the course more heavily in her Instagram feed posts. She has posted about the course 13 out of 31 days, compared to 4 out of 31 days last year. These posts get high engagement relative to her other feed posts — a sign that her followers are taking the course and like the associated content about it.

Maybe next year, Adriene will post about the course every day in January!

What can we learn from Robin and Adriene?

For aspiring (or existing!) fitness influencers, the key to successful long-term audience engagement is to create more original classes. Giving people options to do their own exercise within certain parameters (eg, run 30 minutes every day) doesn’t produce good audience retention.

For all influencers, find a voice and style that is true to you. Robin and Adriene use very different approaches, but they both have 1 million followers (and counting!) on Instagram. There isn’t a single path to a large following: ultimately, it’s about showcasing your personality in a way that clicks with an audience.

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