How Gymshark got its users

Gymshark never asks for an ad. The gear is on the body during the set, so the athlete films the workout they were doing anyway and the product stays in frame the whole time. Before you contact anyone, write down the one shot where your product is visible inside content the creator already makes. If it only appears as a screen recording they have to stop and explain, you do not have a creator format, you have a demo request.

done whenName the exact shot in a creator's normal upload where your product is visible without narration. If a voiceover is needed for anyone to notice it, rework the format before you send a single DM.

Pay in kit before you pay in cash. The package Gymshark lists for its athletes is apparel, a photoshoot, a gym membership and a place at LIFT, not a fee. Send your product to ten creators whose audience looks like your buyers: the physical item in their size and colour, or the paid plan switched on, with no post required and no deadline. Ask one thing back, what would you change. The posts come from whoever kept using it.

done whenCount how many of the last ten people you seeded still use the product a month later without a reminder. Under three, the problem is the product, not the creator list.

Do not build an application form. Gymshark's support page says plainly there is no email and no form for sponsorship: the Partnerships Team scouts, judging content quality, brand alignment and how a creator talks back to their audience rather than follower count. Make one hashtag your inbox. Search it weekly, reply as the brand under posts you like, and DM the people whose comment sections read like a room instead of a number.

done whenDo you have one hashtag or search term you check every week that surfaces people already using your product? If that search returns nothing, you have a seeding problem, not a scouting problem.

Run the Gymshark66 structure: a dated challenge with a public brief on your own site. One pledge post inside an opening window, one main feed post per week for the run, one final post, every post carrying your handle and one hashtag. Judged on creativity, on actually forming the habit, and on showing up when life got in the way. The prize is status plus kit. You get weeks of content from people who wanted the badge, and no invoice.

done whenRead your brief as a stranger: are the start date, the end date, the posting cadence and the exact hashtag all in one place? If someone has to ask what to post, rewrite it before launch.

Give the ones who stayed a surface on your own domain. Gymshark sells an Athlete Top Picks collection built from what its athletes wear, and puts a creator's name on the product itself: Adapt X Whitney sits on the homepage. Your version is a named preset pack, template or bundle at yoursite.com/theirname. Then put them on stage, the way LIFT hands athletes meet and greets, PR cages and athlete led sessions.

done whenDoes any creator have a page on your domain with their name in the URL? If your best advocate cannot link to something of yours that is partly theirs, you are renting attention instead of building a roster.