Have a question? The NASM Social Media Influencer certification is a great fitness specialization for trainers who want to up their game on social media and grow their business by becoming a fitness influencer.
NASM is a top name in fitness, and they are ahead of the game when it comes to making sure their certified trainers can stay on top of the fitness trends while achieving continuing education units.
In the fitness world currently, you must stay in the social media game and have a good base for growing your clientele, especially if online training is one of your primary personal training methods.
That is where this course comes in for becoming the best social media fitness influencer that you can be and growing your clientele base to its maximum potential.
I based this review on my 12+ years in the fitness industry, coaching clients in a variety of settings and helping thousands of trainers select the best certifications and specializations for their careers, including growing a substantial following on social media after earning my NASM Social Media Fitness Influencer certification.
I also consulted with my expert personal training team at PT Pioneer for further insights on the usefulness of the NASM SMI.
In the NASM SMI review, I will cover these aspects:
- Is the NASM Worth it?
- NASM SMI Cost, Pricing, and Materials
- NASM Certification Content Review
- The Pros and Cons of the NASM SMI
I have been in the fitness industry for a long time and studied the majority of NASM certifications, like this NASM SMI cert.
Let’s dive in and see what this organization and course entails for its learners.
What is the NASM Social Media Influencer Course?
The NASM Social Media Influencer specialization course is designed to teach fitness professionals the most effective ways to increase their audience in social media, which will transfer over to the growth of your client base.
The course also teaches professionals how social media influencing and managing other people’s accounts could be a useful side job in the fitness industry.
The specialization course is similar to other specialization courses in the industry, like NASM’s Behavioral Change Specialist, Certified Sports Nutrition Coach, Stretching and Flexibility Coach, and more.
NASM Social Media Fitness Influencer
- Course cost: $299
- Study material cost: Included with the program
- Prerequisites: None
- Exam passing score: 70%
- Exam pass rate: Not known
- Average completion time: 2 – 3 weeks
Organization Credibility and Reputation
The NASM is a well-respected organization that sits atop the fitness industry with the likes of ISSA, ACE, and more, which collectively offer some of the best personal training certifications in the fitness industry.
One of the aspects that make the NASM a respected fitness organization with a voice in the certification realm is the NCCA-accredited NASM Personal Trainer Certification, alongside other NCCA programs from NASM.
NCCA Accreditation means that the programs that are accredited offer the most up-to-date and verified information possible, which allows learners to know that the information they are getting can be trusted.
With the name NASM on your certification, you can rest assured that employers will find your certification reputable.
Is becoming a NASM Social Media Influencer worth it?
Whether the NASM Social Media Influencer certification is worth it or not is up to you and your preferences, but as an organization, they are universally liked.
When it comes to the specific course, being worth it depends on a few factors, like whether you need continuing education units, if you can benefit from a growing social media presence for your personal training or fitness business, and if you find the course contents sufficient.
Some of the Pros and Cons of this course are:
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- Solid Information to Boost Your Brand
- Inside Information into Pay Scales and a New Innovative Approach to Becoming an Influencer
- In-depth Research into Social Media
- Pricing High Compared to Other CEU Courses
- May Not Have a Use for People Already Having A Strong Influence in Social Media
From my experience, a Personal Trainer needs to know how to keep up with the times, and social media is a major part of the business world, especially on the fitness side of things.
In my opinion, any amount of advice and information that can further increase your reach and potential while also giving you continuing education credits is going to be worth your time.
NASM SMI vs Other Social Media Specializations
The NASM Social Media Influencer certification course stands out as it is the only certification course of its own kind among the big names in the fitness industry, but they will most likely follow suit in the near future and offer very similar certifications.
The current health and fitness professional landscape requires these skills to be learned in order to really maximize your ability to reach your intended audience.
All in all, NASM is a pioneer in social media specializations for fitness professionals, but in the future, we are likely to see more certifications and courses in this area.
Who is the NASM Social Media Influencer meant for?
This NASM social media fitness influencer certification is meant for personal trainers and other fitness professionals who wish to improve upon their outreach using social media and other avenues.
The hardest part of getting started in the fitness industry is building up your client base, and one of the best ways to get this going is to enhance your social media presence and use proper protocols for gaining clients via social media.
The primary audience for the NASM SMI certification course is new personal trainers who need continuing education units and would like to enhance their client base through more modern online methods.
The NASM SMI will also benefit established personal trainers and fitness professionals in the same way; they just aren’t the primary target audience for the course. Anyone will benefit, but someone without a strong social media background will benefit the most.
Currently, many people find personal trainers and simply communicate with others through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and more. A lot of times just having a strong social media presence and being tagged within the gym’s own social media account will lead to followers, which leads to clients.
Through this course, you will learn the most efficient ways to give information to clients about yourself and your training through the many platforms available. You will learn to increase engagement with your followers and build up your follower base, altogether furthering your total audience with the outlined approaches to technologies.
One last type of person this course could be for would be a person who wants to help manage the social media accounts of other trainers and fitness professionals. This could even extend outside of fitness into standard social media influence.
So, this course is built for new trainers who want to improve their own social media and need CEU credits, established trainers looking to improve their outreach, and even standalone new job opportunities for managing other people’s social media accounts.
Let’s dive into the more objective parts of the certification, starting with the cost of the program.
NASM Social Media Influencer Cost
The NASM SMI course is priced very similarly to the other specialization courses from NASM and top companies like ISSA and NSCA.
The base price is $299 for the course directly from the NASM website, with the option to pay for the program in monthly payments of $21 a month for 11 payments with a down payment of $25.
This is a good price for the 0.7 NASM CEU credit value associated with the course.
Considering that this could give you a boost in your pay rate and earning potential with a potential side job as a social media influencer for others, this is a good price, in my opinion.
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There is no bundle for this specialization that gets it with other certifications or courses to bring the cost down like there is with the ISSA Elite Trainer bundles, but perhaps that will come in the future.
Let’s dive into the content coverage with this specialization course.
NASM SMI review – content coverage
The NASM SMI content is all found through the NASM online portal and taught in a similar format to all NASM certifications.
The course is broken down into logical sections that make it easy for learners to organize their studies and get through the materials.
Firstly, you will learn the differences between people who just “post” as compared to those who have an actual well-formed strategy based on social media research.
Next, you will discover the importance and techniques with which you will target and engage your followers, which is building your brand and community.
From there, you will move on to the section where the typical technologies, software, and media of today’s day and age are discussed in great detail. Perhaps there is only one that you would like to target, so you should know the differences and similarities between the various places of engagement.
The second to last section will help with the business aspects, specifically the pay rates for social media influencing and how it can help you.
Lastly, the content will go over the ideas behind boosting your brand, the reach of the industry, and income, wrapping up the pay rate section previously discussed.
Altogether, the social media fitness influencer course is designed to cover the exact content one would expect in a certification course such as this.
It is a solid base and one that ISSA and ACE will likely look to join in on in the near future.
NASM SMI Requirements
The NASM SMI does not have any requirements restricting people from taking their course, but due to it being a fitness specialization course, there are some basic needs to pass.
It is very basic, but generally, the main requirements for fitness certifications are three main things. These requirements are:
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Have a high school diploma
- Have a current CPR and AED certification
These are the standard requirements for passing the certification, and generally speaking, all fitness professionals attempting this course will likely have these accomplished, as this is a specialization course.
NASM Social Media Influencer Salary
The Salary for this specialization course depends on the purpose you may have for this course.
If someone wants to supplement their current fitness salary, then they can expect to add to their client base by implementing the things learned in this course.
This is a tough number to estimate compared to personal trainer certificate salaries, but typically, you should be able to expect an increase of $5,000 to $15,000 annually. This will vary widely depending on what the original intention was at the start of this course.
If someone was already well established in their client base, then naturally, they would have less to gain and would likely be on the lower end of the estimate.
If it is a newer fitness professional and the professional has yet to establish a large base, then they would be able to build up more than the other type of fitness professional.
Lastly, there are people who can see this course as a new career entry to social media influencing and managing the accounts of others, to which they can expect a substantial salary after they build up clients and manage many channels.
NASM SMI Final Exam
The exam to pass and achieve the specialization is not a very challenging one, and it only requires you to show proof of mastery of the knowledge within the course.
Passing the course and getting your credits will likely not be too challenging, similar to other continuing education credits.
Still, you will need to pay attention to the contents within the course and make sure that you have read the information within.
The actual implementation of the information will be the tougher part of the certification. But, if you pass the cert and actively use its information, you will definitely benefit from the contents within.
NASM SMI Continuing Education & Recertification
This course is a specialization certification, and it will not have a recertification fee or a recertification period.
You can take this course for credits when you need CEU credits for your main certification renewal, but you cannot take it multiple times within a period of recertification.
In total, you can earn 0.7 credits for the recertification with NASM or another company that you are certified with, like ISSA or NSCA, to name a few.
That is a total of 7 credit hours, which is a good amount for the price of the certification course.
Other NASM Offerings
NASM has more certifications and specializations offerings than most other certifying companies. They also bring a high level of quality to the table, so you know you are getting great value and useful information.
Some of these NASM specializations include:
- NASM Group Exercise Instructor (AFAA-GEI)
- NASM Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC)
- NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES)
- NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES)
- NASM Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT)
- NASM Certified Wellness Coach (NASM-CWC)
- NASM Virtual Coaching Specialization (NASM-VCS)
- NASM Youth Exercise Specialization
- NASM Golf Fitness Specialization
- NASM Senior Fitness Specialization
- NASM Group Personal Training Specialization
- NASM Stretching and Flexibility
All of these courses are highly valued certifications and specializations that will offer CEU credits similar to this NASM SMI if that is the reason you are pursuing the program. If not, they are still all excellent certifications to add to your resume and experience.
NASM Social Media Influencer Overall Rating
I give the NASM Social Media Fitness Influencer specialization course a 4 / 5.
The course is good, and it gives knowledge within a unique category of fitness that is often left for trainers to figure out on their own.
In addition, the course is at a great price point compared to the rest of the offerings in the industry, especially considering it gives 0.7 CEU credits.
NASM SMI: All in all, this NASM SMI certification can be a great CEU option for fitness professionals to strive for. It can allow for substantial growth of your business through the ever-growing world of social media.
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NASM SMI FAQs
What is the NASM SMI Certification?
What does a Social Media Fitness Influencer do?
What is taught in this course?
What other Specializations do you recommend?
How do I find NASM-certified fitness influencers on social media?
How often do NASM-certified fitness influencers post on social media?
References
- Li W, Ding H, Xu G, Yang J. The Impact of Fitness Influencers on a Social Media Platform on Exercise Intention during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parasocial Relationships. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023;20(2):1113. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021113
- Tricás-Vidal HJ, Vidal-Peracho MC, Lucha-López MO, et al. Impact of Fitness Influencers on the Level of Physical Activity Performed by Instagram Users in the United States of America: Analytical Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(21):14258. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114258
Tyler Read
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