During the coronavirus (COVID-19), pandemic, health, and wellness were more important than ever. Fitbit, a fitness tracking system like Fitbit, has had a long history as the market for wearable technology became more competitive. Find out how Fitbit’s strategy and journey has changed over time.

Fitbit is a leading wearable tech company because it has been able to adapt its product and marketing strategy to find niches in a competitive market.

Fitbit excels in executing a particularly successful type of branding strategy: Marketing the Fitbit strategy to niche audiences.

This pivot made it competitive, until Google’s acquisition in 2021.

The company’s strategy and its journey show how a company can survive as a wearable technology company, or any other type of company that is not dominated by household names.

How Fitbit’s Strategy Keeps You Longevity

•  Fitbit’s Origin Story
•  Fitbit competes with Apple and Samsung
•  Fitbit’s Evolution in Unprecedented Times

Who invented Fitbit?

Although Fitbit is a recognized app development pioneer in fitness technology, the concept of fitness tracking has a much longer history.

In 1965, the first pedometer, “Manpo-Kei,” was created. It encouraged Japanese citizens to walk 10,000 steps daily.

However, pedometers weren’t widely accepted in the U.S., until one digital entrepreneur became fed up with his sedentary life and decided to change it.

Over the past three years, I worked like a mad person at startup companies and never stopped working. This allowed me to get in shape.

James Park, the co-founder of Fitbit, explains why he invented Fitbit.

Park and Eric Friedman created the Fitbit, the first wearable fitness monitor, in 2008.

It was exactly what America needed to get up and get moving.

Fitbit rode the rise of wearable devices and mobile app development in just four years. It owned 67% of the activity-tracking market at one time. By 2015, Fitbit had 21.4 million devices sold.

The release of the Apple Smart Watch in April 2015 meant that Fitbit’s dominance was a temporary one.

How Fitbit Competed with Apple and Samsung

Fitbit remained competitive in the wearable fitness tracker industry through niche marketing strategies.

The company started focusing its efforts on technology that offers exceptional medical features in its fitness trackers. Fitbit also launched its smartwatch in the same year to compete with Samsung and Apple.

Fitbit’s strategy goes beyond just tracking steps and working out.

Fitbit now caters to hospitals and patients by addressing the following four conditions:

• Sleep disorders, including sleep apnea
• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular health
• Mental health

Fitbit’s recent findings suggest that early signs of coronavirus can be detected by their devices.

The study showed that Fitbit could identify “… physiological signs of disease simultaneously with participants reporting symptoms. In some cases, Fitbit even detected them before the participants reported the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Our study revealed that nearly half of COVID-19 cases can be detected one day before symptoms appear. This is with a 70% accuracy.

Fitbit’s marketing strategy is based on building relationships and creating a niche in the medical industry.

Its online presence is a reflection of this. Their website offers inspiration and ideas for improving your wellness.

Fitbit’s marketing strategy is focused on creating a niche and reaching an audience that matches it.

James Clarks, Fitbit’s founder, and CEO, insists that the company is not being affected by its competitors. Park spoke with CNBC and stated that the company has more than 50 million registered users, which positions the company as a strong contender in the industry.

Fitbit continues to grow

Developing custom software was the driving force behind Fitbit’s growth.

The company, for example, integrated Amazon’s Alexa so that it could provide features such as:

• Monitor your heart rate 24/7
• Sleep scores
• Additional apps

Many companies would be out of business if they tried to compete directly with Samsung and Apple. More than 80% of people use mass merchants as their preferred shopping app.

Fitbit sought to find a niche where it could compete against the competition and created a marketing strategy that targeted people who were interested in improving their health.

How can businesses succeed in a crowd-sourced market?

Fitbit’s story can teach many lessons to marketers, brand consultants, and developers.

• Be aware of trends and follow them, as Fitbit did in 2017 with its smartwatch release.

• Your marketing strategy should be tailored to a narrow market in a particular industry

• Create the best product possible for your target audience        

Fitbit’s medical technology is not the same as Apple’s ever-growing list of features. Instead, it competes with and sometimes outperforms what Samsung and Apple have to offer.

They encouraged users to participate in activities and provided support. This created a community eager to learn about new features and releases.

Many B2B businesses can take inspiration from Fitbit’s strategy when developing their app development projects.