Marketing to Active Agers: Real Talk to Grow Your Gym

Let’s bust some outdated assumptions. In this solo episode, I share exactly how to market your gym or studio to today’s 50+ clients — who are active, discerning, and ready to invest in their health.

You’ll learn communication strategies that build trust and help your content actually land with this high-value audience.

📌 Actionable for: gym owners, studio managers, and fitpros over 40

What you’ll learn:

• What NOT to say to this demographic
• How to create relatable blog, email, and social content
• Why this market has strong BS detectors — and how to earn their trust
• Whether TikTok or email marketing makes more sense for your business

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: [e-mail]

Thanks for listening!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All those people out there.
They're busy, leaving their ownlives.
They don't read everything thatyou send them.
They don't remember everythingthat you send them.
They might not even check theiremail every day, let alone read
and remember everything theysee.
They're just not that focusedon you.
Trust me, until the time comesthat they want to join a gym or

(00:21):
a studio and by then it's toolate by then you should already
be top of mind.
They should already know thatthey like you and want to do
business with you, and thatcomes from when they see you
showing up in their inboxregularly.
Hi everybody, I'm Jay Croft andwelcome to the Optimal Aging
Podcast, where we discuss thebusiness of exercise, healthy

(00:42):
living and well-being for people50 and over.
Each week, we explore whathealthy living means for
millions of people over age 50and what's coming next, with a
focus on communications, contentand making powerful connections
.
I've been recording thispodcast for a few years now and

(01:03):
I've had the chance to talk witha lot of smart gym owners and
fitness professionals who arebuilding their businesses by
focusing on the over 50 market.
Between this and my mainbusiness, Prime Fit Content,
I've talked with hundreds Idon't know, maybe thousands of
fitness professionals, aboutusing content marketing to serve

(01:23):
more people in this demographic, those with the time and the
money and the motivation tobecome long-term high-ticket
clients for you.
I've heard a lot of the samequestions from many of those gym
owners, and so today I thoughtit'd be fun to answer a few FAQs
or frequently asked questions,and who knows, maybe, if this
goes well, I'll do anotherinstallment later.

(01:45):
So send in your questions ifyou have any.
Question number one do I reallyneed a blog on my website?
Nobody reads blogs anymore,right?
Yes, you do need a blog, and no, blogs are not dead, especially
not for the over 50 crowd, andthat's because people over 50 or
active agers, as I might callthem, sometimes tend to do more

(02:08):
research online before making abig decision like joining a gym.
They want to know who you are,they want to know what you stand
for and whether they can trustyou with their time, their money
and their health.
And that's what a blog does.
It shows your values and yourpersonality, gives you a voice,
lets prospects get to know youbefore they walk through the

(02:29):
door, builds trust, which is thefoundation of conversions.
A blog also keeps your websitefresh, which is super important
for SEO.
Google rewards websites thatare regularly updated with
helpful, human-written content.
I don't know how they can tellif it's good content, but they

(02:50):
can.
Posting junk every once in awhile sends all the wrong
signals to the algorithms and toyour prospects.
Now I also get asked a lot if Istuff my content with lots of
keywords for your blog posts,and the answer is simple no.
I do not believe keywordstuffing is effective or
necessary for small localbusinesses.

(03:11):
Google's a lot smarter thanthat.
They're looking for good stuff,not for keywords.
I also get asked by some gymowners if there's a reason to
not use my content becauseanother gym owner I provided to
will use it as well and thatcould hurt their SEO somehow.
And that's really not a concern.

(03:33):
Again, with a small localbusiness.
If you're, say, in ColoradoSprings, you're not competing
with gyms in Austin, Texas oreven Denver because you're
competing with gyms in your zipcode.
Now another thing about blogposts is I've actually had
clients tell me that they getpositive feedback about their

(03:55):
blog posts from prospects andclients that those blog posts
helped the client the prospectfeel like they were making the
right decision in joining thatgym.
The client, the prospect, feellike they were making the right
decision in joining that gym.
Okay, question two what's theone thing I can do this week to
improve my marketing?
And that depends on what you'renot doing.
If you're not sending out twoemails a week, start.

(04:16):
If you're not posting justabout every day on Facebook and
Instagram, start.
If you're not producing staffbios, member profiles, start
there.
Consistency is the name of thegame and, with so many
communications channels outthere, you want to be focusing
regularly on providing highquality, relevant content via

(04:38):
emails, social media and yourblog, and you can and should do
other things from time to time,like speaking at community
events or collaborating withother businesses in your
neighborhood, Day in and day out.
Those are the three legs ofyour bar stool, so to speak.
Don't overthink what you'remissing.
Just pick the thing that you'rereally not doing and commit to

(05:02):
trying it for 30 days.
See how it goes.
Conversely, if you're doingsomething that works, Do more of
it.
Probably a good idea, right.
When you're a PrimeFit contentsubscriber, I send you five
pieces every week that you canplug and play across your blog,
your emails, your social mediaaccounts, and you can add your

(05:24):
own stuff to it about changes inyour schedule or local events
coming up, whatever you want.
I also recommend that you marktime on your calendar every week
to do your content marketingand plan your posts so that
you're not scrambling allthroughout the week to make time
for it.
Question number three do I needto be on TikTok?

(05:45):
My answer is no, you do notneed to bother with TikTok.
That is because your audiencepeople over 50, is mostly on
Facebook and some are onInstagram, especially those in
their 50s, as more people ageinto our demographic.
But they're probably notspending a lot of time on TikTok
.
So I don't think you need to bedoing that either, unless you

(06:08):
have some special reason to.
There's nothing inherentlywrong with TikTok.
It can just be a waste of timeto try to learn every new social
media channel that comes along.
So you really want to focusyour time and energy for the
greatest ROI.
So you want to stick to one ortwo communications platforms,
learn to do them well enough andthat's it.

(06:29):
You don't need to be on all ofthem.
You don't need to have apodcast.
You don't need to launch aYouTube channel all at once If
you're doing some of thosethings and you're having a good
time with them and you're goodat them and they're bringing
good results, then that's great,but there's just no shame in
focusing on what's going tobring you the returns that you

(06:49):
would need.
Number four how often should Iemail my list?
Because I don't want to annoypeople.
This one comes up a lot and Iunderstand nobody wants to be a
spammer, but here's the truth.
Once a month is just not enough.
That's basically the same asnothing.
Once a week is not enoughbecause I'll tell you something
I learned very early in mycareer as a professional

(07:12):
communicator to mass audiencesAll those people out there,
they're busy living their ownlives.
They don't read everything thatyou send them.
They don't remember everythingthat you send them.
They might not even check theiremail every day, let alone read
and remember everything theysee.
They're just not that focusedon you.
Trust me, until time comes thatthey want to join a gym or a

(07:36):
studio and by then it's too lateby then you should already be
top of mind.
They should already know thatthey like you and want to do
business with you, and thatcomes from when they see you
showing up in their inboxregularly, when they see the
same key messages from you overand over again, and a lot of
those key messages about activeaging, about staying fit later

(07:58):
in life.
Those aren't common for a lotof people in this demographic.
I'll tell you what I mean.
I'm 61 myself and I canremember very well what life was
like, what the culture was likebefore fitness became part of
everyday life for most people.
It wasn't like that in the 70s.
It kind of became that way inthe early 80s, and so people my

(08:19):
age and older they might notknow that they need to be
working out regularly.
They might not know that theyneed strength training later in
life.
You need to hit them with thesemessages consistently in a way
that is relevant to them, toshow them why it matters to
their life, why it's not justabout young boys wanting big
muscles.
Okay, and remember this Anyonewho's on your email list signed

(08:43):
up to be on your email list.
They asked to hear from you andthey can unsubscribe at any
time.
The secret to avoiding spam isnot to avoid sending email.
The secret is to send betteremails.
Send relevant content, andpeople will associate your
business with value, not noise.

(09:03):
Okay, question five, the lastone how do I come up with ideas
for content.
I feel like I've saideverything already.
Well, look, everybody repeatsthemselves over and over, not
because they're lazy oruncreative, but because it's
good communications practice.
You need to repeat thesemessages over and over to a lot

(09:24):
of people a lot of times, over along period of time.
In fact, I wrote an article formy blog post years ago that I
use frequently, about how tomethodically come up with ideas.
The key thing to do, the firstkey thing, is to jot ideas down
whenever you get them, so thatyou have a list events and

(09:48):
themes.
Ask your clients what's ontheir mind, what they want to
know about.
Follow the news, Follow popculture.
Tie your messaging to bigevents like the Super Bowl,
holidays, local festivals,Curate a list of your favorite
podcasts, links, resources, etc.
I could go on and on.

(10:09):
But the point is there's not amuse.
This isn't art, this isbusiness.
So when you treat it like justanother part of your business,
it can shift your thinking in away that is really critical.
Okay, there's one bonus question.
I said there were five, I gaveyou five.
Now there's one bonus question,and here it is.
What's the best way to showthat I really do get people over

(10:33):
50?
And this is my favorite,because it shows that you're
really thinking beyond juststating things right, Beyond
just saying we specialize inolder people, which, believe me,
you need to say over and overagain all the time If, in fact,
you do specialize in trainingolder people, you need to be
clear about it, because mostgyms don't.
But more than just saying it,you need to show it, and that

(10:53):
comes in the types of thingsthat you put in your content, in
the words that you choose, inthe images that you choose.
You want to use photos of actualolder adults.
You want to write about thingsthat they care about, like their
independence, being able tofunction day-to-day, being able
to enjoy the activities thatthey enjoy.
You want to avoid terms likegolden or elderly, and please

(11:20):
don't ever refer to a prospectas a little old lady.
I had someone do that at a gymwhere I was consulting.
She referred to a couple ofwomen who walked in the day
before as little old ladies andI said how old were they?
She said I don't know 50.
And I said hey, I'm 61.
Would you call me a little oldman?

(11:40):
You said no, but you don't lookold.
Well, look, nobody at 50 feelsold and nobody at any age
deserves to be dismissed likethat, especially if you're
trying to get their businessright.
So use photos of people in thedemographic that you're trying
to reach.
Speak to them in ways thatresonate with them.
Make cultural references thatmean something Think Springsteen

(12:04):
, not Benson Boone, right, andif you're not sure about
something, ask them, talk tothem, listen to them.
They're happy to talk to you,and if they're not, that's okay,
but at least you've done yourpart.
You ask with respect and anopen mind about what's important
to them, so you don't have tocome up with everything all on
your own.
You can reach out to otherpeople, including me, and if

(12:26):
anything I've said here hasclicked with you, be in touch
with me.
My contact information comes upat the end of this episode and
I'd love to hear from you.
You need to be out there.
You need to show people thatyou want their business and that
you can give them the resultsand experience that they're
looking for, and I'm here tohelp, Thanks.
Thank you for listening to theOptimal Aging Podcast.

(12:47):
I'm your host, Jay Croft, ofPrimeFit Content.
I hope you enjoyed it and Ihope you'll subscribe, review
and tell a friend.
All of that helps me grow myaudience.
I hope you'll share anycomments you have with me,
including suggestions aboutpeople I should interview and
topics I should cover.
You can learn more about mynewsletter and content business

(13:09):
at primefitcontentcom and writeme at jay J-A-Y at
primefitcontentcom and I'm onall the social channels.
Again, thanks for listening.
Join me next time.
Thank you for listening to theOptimal Aging Podcast.
I'm your host, Jay Croft ofPrimeFit Content.
I hope you enjoyed it and Ihope you'll subscribe, review

(13:31):
and tell a friend.
All of that helps me grow myaudience.
I hope you'll share anycomments you have with me,
including suggestions aboutpeople I should interview and
topics I should cover.
You can learn more about mynewsletter and content business
at primefitcontentcom and writeme at jay J-A-Y at
primefitcontentcom.

(13:52):
Again, thanks for listening.
Join me next time.