Your gym or fitness studio should target the market of people over 50, a rapidly growing demographic with money and the willingness to spend on health and fitness.

6 Compelling Reasons to Market Your Business to Active Agers

With the growing need for people to stay fit and healthy as they age, savvy fitness businesses are targeting people over 50. It’s a huge and growing source of revenue, providing lots of opportunities for gyms and fitness studios to profit.

Not convinced? Here are six reasons why you should prioritize the active agers in your fitness business.

1. People over 50 have huge spending power

People over 50 have high disposable income and significant spending power. This demographic has a wide range of interests and, as they are not as tied to work, they are more likely to spend money on non-essential services.

Research has found that over-50-year-olds in the United States have a higher disposable income than people in their 20s. There are many reasons for this, but mostly because:

• Their children have grown and flown
• Their mortgage payments are low, or their mortgage has been repaid
• They are largely debt-free
• At the lower end of this demographic, people are earning at their peak

Just how much disposable income does the average over-50-year-old have? 

In the age group of 55 to 64 years, $81,865 per year is the average. Compare that to the average disposable income across all age groups of just $45,284, and you begin to see why this market can be extremely lucrative for fitness studios and gyms.

2. People over 50 are a growing market in the United States

It’s not only the spending power of this population that makes it such an attractive target market. It’s a huge market that is growing quickly. 

Research shows that people over 50 are a market that is growing at an exponential rate. According to AARP’s Longevity Economy report:

• There are more than 117 million Americans who are now aged 50 and older
• This number is forecast to increase to 132 million over the next decade
• By 2050 it will reach 157 million

This age group is driving economic activity in the United States. AARP’s report shows that people over 50 contributed more than $9 trillion in economic and unpaid activity in 2018. By 2030, this will have grown to almost $13 trillion. And by 2050? $28.2 trillion.

As the AARP report says, targeting people over 50 is an “economic juggernaut.”

The market for products and services targeted at this demographic will increase dramatically, too. If your gym targets people over 50,  it’s targeting a rapidly growing demographic with huge spending power.

3. They’re health conscious and willing to spend on fitness

Older adults are health conscious and willing to spend on fitness.

They have bucket lists they want to fulfill. Things they want to do. Places they want to see. Grandchildren they want to play with. They realize they need to be healthy and certainly have the desire to maintain their fitness. Welcome to the active agers.

Active agers also have the maturity to know they are not invincible or immortal. They have an increasing list of goals and a decreasing amount of time to achieve them. No wonder one of the most repeated mantras in this demographic is “health is more important than wealth.”

In a study completed by The New York Times in 2016, people who were asked about their attitudes towards exercise were shown a series of images that featured different age groups. Older adults responded more favorably to the images that featured older people than they did the images with younger people. This highlighted how older people may automatically have a positive association with exercising and fitness because it is viewed as something that is important for them and important for society.

4. People over 50 tend to be more loyal to businesses than younger people

People over 50 tend to be more loyal to businesses than younger people. They believe in the concept of loyalty and value it more. 

A lot of mature adults would rather spend their time and money with a business they trust and who they know will take care of them. They visit the same restaurants regularly, for instance, and always use the same shops.

An active ager who believes you’re providing great care and service will stick with you. They’ll tell their friends about it, too. They’ll share their wonderful experiences, and encourage others to join.

This loyalty translates into a huge advantage for your fitness business. Younger people are much more likely to change their preferences more frequently and much less likely to share positive experiences. 

5. People over 50 are an underserved market

Throughout my life, I have always maintained my fitness by going to a gym. It didn’t matter where I was, I’d find a gym to visit. But when I hit 50, I noticed something. Gyms didn’t seem to want me anymore. All their marketing and advertising were aimed at elite athletes or people younger than me. It was like I ceased to exist.

So, you’ve got this huge and lucrative market – people with money and time to visit a gym – and almost no one in the fitness world is marketing to them. It’s a huge market that is hugely underserved.

6. People over 50 are easy to market to

The active agers market is:

• Huge and growing fast 
• Awash with disposable income
• Health-conscious, with a desire to be fit
• Fiercely loyal to companies who provide great service
• Massively underserved 

The only question you must now answer is, how do you market to these active agers?

Forget what you hear about people over 50 being hard to market to. They are tech-savvy, and most are fully immersed in the digital world. They are happy to be marketed to by email. They read all manner of blogs and online articles. You’ll find they are active on social media.

With the right content, you can reach out to this enormous potential from a keyboard on your desk. With entertaining and engaging content, you’ll soon have your gym filled with active agers. And there’s the catch. You don’t have the experience or time to produce the content that will capture the active aging market for your gym.

We should talk. You know the opportunity exists, and if it’s content you need to take advantage of this, look no further. We create the content you need. Best of all, you can get started immediately – just click this link: