The Optimal Aging Podcast
Millions of people over age 50 represent the biggest consumer market in history for fitness, nutrition, travel, recreation and more. But most businesses don't know how to market to them. We'll interview entrepreneurs, business leaders and innovators to discuss this exciting opportunity.
The Optimal Aging Podcast
Content Lessons from a YouTube Newbie: Know Your Audience when Marketing Your Fitness Business
How do your clients and prospects want to receive communications from you? Do you know? And are you meeting them where they are -- or expecting them to come to you?
On this week's Optimal Aging, I'm sharing a lesson I've learned about my business, and how I communicate with people I want to be in my audience.
I started recording my podcast on video and posting the episodes on YouTube, after avoiding it for years. It's expanding my audience and helping me reach new people, including prospective customers.
See, I just didn't want to bother with YouTube because I don't like watching podcasts on YouTube -- so why would anyone else? Just like some of you don't like emails or Facebook, or don't know what to make of ChatGPT. And with new communications channels popping all the time, you need to know where your folks are and reach out to them there. It's about their preferences, not yours.
Connect with Jay Croft here:
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primefitcontent
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/croftjay/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaycroft
For more tips reaching the over-50 fitness market, subscribe to The Optimal Aging Podcast or visit www.primefitcontent.com.
Email: jay@primefitcontent.com
Thanks for listening!
Know your audience. Where are they? How do they like to hear from you? If you're working with people over 50, they're probably on Facebook. That means you need to be on Facebook. They probably read email. It means you need to be sending them email. They're probably not on TikTok yet, thankfully, so you don't have to waste your time chasing them all over the internet. Focus on where your people are, not where you want to be.
Speaker 1:Hi everybody, I'm Jay Croft, and welcome to the Optimal Aging Podcast, where we discuss the business of exercise, healthy living and well-being for people 50 and over. Each week, we explore what healthy living means for millions of people over age 50, and what's coming next, with a focus on communications, content and making powerful connections. Today, I want to talk about something that's been on my mind lately, something that has humbled me in a good way, and I'm betting that it will resonate with you too. It's the kind of thing that we've all done, I imagine. It's about how we, as business owners and as communicators, need to stay open-minded, about how we deliver our messages and how it's not about us, our preferences, our comfort zones, but about the people we're trying to reach, especially if your audience includes people over 50, and it probably does then this might be particularly relevant. And if you've ever said or even thought, I don't want to do social media, or I don't like emails, or I'm not techie enough to figure out Facebook, or even if you're feeling unsure or scared about AI, then stick with me because we're going to dive into all of this. Today. I have conversations all the time with gym owners, personal trainers, physical therapists, you name it who tell me things like I don't send emails because I don't like reading emails, I'm not on social media because I don't like social media, I'm not doing video because I don't watch YouTube, and I can't imagine why anybody would want to watch me on YouTube. That was my problem, and more and more I'm hearing things like oh, I'm not going anywhere near AI because it's just too scary, or the flip side I'll just let AI do everything for me, solve all my problems, and I get it.
Speaker 1:We've all done this. We've all fallen victim to our own preferences, because we all have preferences about information and content and how we want to receive it and distribute it, and we base those on our own likes and dislikes. But the people you want to serve may want something different, and it's their preferences that matter. So if we, as business owners, refuse to show up in ways that work for them, we're missing out, we're leaving people out and we're leaving opportunity on the table. But and here's the nuance that often gets lost because a lot of people get hung up on it you don't need to show up everywhere.
Speaker 1:You don't need to be on every social media platform. You don't need to jump on every trend or chase after every shiny new tool, squirrel, yeah. Remember that. What you do need to do is you need to go where your audience already is and communicate in ways that make sense for them, because that's what makes sense for your business. For example, if you work with people over 50, you probably don't need to learn how to do TikTok, but you do need to get comfortable with Facebook, probably even Instagram, definitely email newsletters and, yes, possibly YouTube videos. The key here is alignment between where your audience spends time, how they like to engage and how you can show up effectively for them.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying you have to go on YouTube. I'm saying I learned that I had to go on YouTube. It leads us to this humbling experience I had with YouTube recently. My audience is gym owners and trainers. Your audience is people in your community. You want to come join your gym. So it's a little bit different.
Speaker 1:But I've been doing this podcast for four or five years now and until recently it was audio only, and I think that's because I'm comfortable with audio, with the written and spoken word, because I'm a writer and that's my sweet spot. And for years I would tell people why should I do a video version of my podcast? It's just me and someone else talking. I don't want to watch that. Why would anybody want to watch me talking to somebody? Guess what they do? Right? And YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet after Google. So, sure, I had my resistance, I had my reasons, but those reasons were about me, not about my audience of gym owners and fitness professionals and people in the health and well-being industry that I wanted to reach.
Speaker 1:So somebody convinced me of all of this to give it a try recently and I began video recording my podcast episodes for YouTube. And what happened? Well, you know what? People found me New people, different people, people who weren't listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts but who were looking for content similar to what I provide. They were looking for content like this podcast on YouTube. They like video. They wanted to see my face, they wanted to feel the kind of connection that YouTube can provide. And it really hit me very clearly that just because I don't watch podcasts on YouTube doesn't mean they don't that my potential customers don't.
Speaker 1:I was making it about me and I needed to make it about them, and it's just a little ironic because I'm always saying this to gym owners out there who tell me the same thing about emails and Facebook, and some people have similar problems with AI that it's going to replace them or it's going to do all the work. But really it can just help. It can help you organize your thoughts, can help you come up with ideas and help you draft things that you can make your own, and it's important that AI doesn't do all the work for you. It's not a magic fix. You can't turn on chat GPT and tell it to solve all your communications needs. You can use it for a lot of good ideas to work on your newsletter, get some ideas or outline a blog post or write a good headline for Facebook or somewhere else, and your clients might not be asking about AI-driven content creation, but they're probably starting to hear about AI-driven fitness programming, nutritional plans, health tools. Some of them are curious, some are skeptical. Some are already using these tools and wondering if they're right for them, and they're wondering if you're aware of what's going on with them and if you have some value that you can bring to them.
Speaker 1:And whether you are gung-ho about AI or YouTube or any of these things, it helps to stay informed and to have a little experience on your own gives you more to talk about, shows that you're engaged, that you're really paying attention to how you can get your message out there the most. Hey, are you a fitness professional trying to grow your business with people over 50? If you are, then you need to know how to communicate with them, how to market to them and how to get them to trust you with their fitness, well-being and money. We're talking about millions of people who are a little older than the typical market that the fitness industry usually pursues. They have more money, more time and better motivation to make the best long-term fitness consumers you'll find anywhere. If you're not focusing on them, you should be. Prime Fit Content is the only content marketing company designed specifically to help you engage people in this group and to help you distinguish yourself from competitors in your community. It's effective, affordable and super easy to use. Check it out at primefitcontentcom. That's prime like prime of your life, fitcontentcom. Back to the show.
Speaker 1:Now I'll tell you what this reminds me of. A few years ago there was a movie called the King's Speech. It was about the King of England who stuttered and stammered and when world war ii looming, he had to overcome his stutter and his fear of speaking on the radio, which was a relatively new technology back then, before television. Of course he didn't want to go on radio. He was embarrassed, he was uncomfortable, but with hitler about to attack, he knew that it wasn't about him. It was about his country and his people and he had to rally them and get the information out to them, as only he could do, as the king.
Speaker 1:And I think that that's where we are, on a much smaller scale, with some of these new technologies. They're the modern radios, with more coming all the time, just like television and cable and streaming followed radio. So I'm not saying you need to use all of them by any means. I'm not saying you even need to use YouTube. I'm just saying that this is what prompted the conversation here, that I realized I was being resistant to the technology. I thought that if I just put my material out there, that that would be good enough.
Speaker 1:But you know, sounds nice in Field of Dreams, but the real world is not that simple, is it? Ai won't speak for you, but it might help you organize your thoughts. Social media won't build relationships, but it can open the door to one. And YouTube won't create trust, but it can give window into who you are in a different way. Show your values, show what you are all about. The tools themselves are neutral. How we use them that matters the most.
Speaker 1:So what do you need to do with all of this? Well, I want to leave you with three things to think about today. Number one I want you to get curious. If there's a communications channel or a new technology and you've been resisting it, ask yourself why. You might have a perfectly good reason. You know that's fine, but if it's because you're just, you know not comfortable with it, even though you think it might be good for your audience, rethink that.
Speaker 1:Number two know your audience. Where are they? How do they like to hear from you? You're working with people over 50. They're probably on facebook. That means you need to be on facebook. They probably read email means you need to be sending them email. They're probably on Facebook. That means you need to be on Facebook. They probably read email. It means you need to be sending them email. They're probably not on TikTok yet, thankfully, so you don't have to waste your time chasing them all over the internet. Focus on where your people are, not where you want to be. And number three start small if you need to, but do smart. You don't have to become a YouTube influencer. You don't have to become an AI programmer. You don't have to become a full-time writer.
Speaker 1:But communications is super important. You need to get your key messages and your value proposition out there to your prospects, your members, your community, over and over, through clear statements, through storytelling, through all kinds of ways, and make these points over and over again in social media, in email newsletters, in real life, in networking, in all kinds of ways, because that's how people get media these days. It's not just through one thing. And your message is really important and I can help you with that with Prime Fit content, because my content helps you spread the word about how much better life is when you're fit later in life, when you have strength and agility and endurance. You have higher quality of life. You have greater autonomy. The work you do is super important. Not enough people in your community know about it. That's why I stress this communications aspect so much. So I want you to keep an open mind and remember that your mission is more important than your personal preferences.
Speaker 1:I guess that's what I've learned here today or in the last few weeks since I started recording the podcast for YouTube is that I was just resisting it because I didn't like it. But you know what? It's kind of fun now that I'm doing it and a lot more people are getting my message. It's growing my business, and isn't that the point of the whole thing? So there we are.
Speaker 1:Listen, thanks for listening. Please subscribe and leave a review and tell a friend about the podcast. It helps me grow my audience and check out the video on YouTube on the Optimal Aging Podcast channel. That's their search engine on YouTube. A lot of good material there with fascinating leaders from fitness and health and well-being. Thank you, you. Thank you for listening to the Optimal Aging Podcast. I'm your host, jay Croft of Prime Fit Content. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll subscribe, review and tell a friend. All of that helps me grow my audience. I hope you'll share any comments you have with me, including suggestions about people I should interview and topics I should cover. You can learn more about my newsletter and content business at primefitcontentcom and write me at jay at primefitcontentcom. Again, thanks for listening. Join me next time.
