How to Find Your Target Audience (For Health & Fitness Experts)

Be Specific About Your Audience

Let me give you an example of what not to do, using an example from my own online business.

Just in case you don’t know, I’ve been in business online at YuriElkaim.com for almost 11 years. We’ve helped over half a million people and we’ve done very well. But over the years, I’ve also made a lot of mistakes that I’ve learned from.

In that business, our goal is to make healthy and fit simple again.

Now, one of the things that I didn’t do when starting out was think about my target market. I created a lot of content – in fact there are more than 800 videos on my YouTube health and fitness channel – but I didn’t think about anyone specific that I wanted to target.

Instead, my attitude was: I’m going to help everyone get healthy and fit.

My mission is help 100 million people by 2040 – and 10 million people by 2018 – achieve those very goals.

The dilemma with that is I’ve gone super broad. People know me as the energy guy and the fat loss guy, but again we do a lot of stuff around natural healing, awesome recipes, bodyweight workouts, and losing belly fat.

Those are a few of things in our wheelhouse. The dilemma with that is that, again, it’s fairly broad.

What Is a Well-Defined Audience?

Let me give you some contrast to that with my friend Dr. Alan Christianson (aka. the smartest man on the planet).

He is known for being an endocrine expert – specializing in the thyroid and adrenal glands. And that’s what he’s built his online platform around.

He’s obviously very well versed in other things, but that’s what he specializes in.

Or how about my friend Dr. Izabella Wentz, who is known as a Hashimoto’s expert. That’s another example of a targeted audience.

And there’s also my buddy Vince Del Monte. You may have seen him on YouTube – he’s the Skinny Guy Savior, who helps skinny guys build muscle.

Those are a few examples of what I’m talking about. You are better off if you find a very specific audience and go deep and narrow with them. Because you will very soon – assuming you provide great content and have excellent solutions for them – become the sought-after leader in that specific marketplace.

That’s a lot easier than the road I’ve gone down – as in, ”Hey, I’m the guy who’s going to help you get healthy.” We’ve done very well, but it’s a tougher road to go down.

How to Find Your Target Audience

I’m going to walk you through my 4W framework to help you identify your target audience

1. Who

Now, you don’t have to overcomplicate this. Get out a notebook or open a document on your computer and write down your thoughts.

Ask yourself this question:

”Who do I want to be a hero to? Who do I want to serve? Who do I want to help?” 

Just think about that and write down some ideas.

Maybe you’re deeply connected to something. Maybe you had a family member who had type 2 diabetes and you want to help type 2 diabetics.

Try not to say, “I want to help women lose weight.”

Why?

Because that’s very broad, and you want to go deeper and more narrow. Maybe, you want to help post-menopausal women get back to feeling their best again.

Really think about this. It matters – a lot.

And with that first W, I want you to ask yourself another question.

Once you identify that market or potential audience, then ask:

“Is this a starving crowd? Is there a massive need or big problem that needs to be solved there?”

Because not all markets have a massive amount of pain associated with them.

For instance, somebody who has stage 4 cancer has a great degree of pain, versus somebody who is in their mid-20s and not really conscious about their health.

You want to look at what that audience is starving need for.

Let me use that example of the mid-20s again.

For instance a lot of people on YouTube have done very well showing younger guys how to look great and build muscle. It’s not that they’re doing that necessarily from a health perspective.

I’ll be honest with you, because I’ve worked with a lot of these guys as well, their pain – their desire – is to be more attractive to women. That is their main pain point.

And that takes me into the second question.

2. What

What is their #1 pain point – the big problem they want solved or the big desire they want to meet?

You have to identify that – it’s really important.

If you don’t what your audience wants how can you ever deliver it to them?

3. Where

The third W is “where are they hanging out?”

Are they on specific Facebook pages or Facebook groups? Are they subscribed to certain YouTube channels, personalities or brands? What type of products are they buying?

If they’re into yoga, are they hanging out on Lululemon’s pages or Gaiam or related pages?

If they’re into running, maybe they’re using Nike Running, or iPod Plus. You want to think about what ancillary products this audience is likely already purchasing.

When you know this information, it provides you with the opportunity to get in front of them and in a meaningful way if you know their “what”.

For instance, if you know your target audience is hanging out on XYZ page on Facebook, you’re able to target those individuals with specific Facebook ads.

Assuming you’re providing value to them, you’re much more likely to appeal to them then if you were targeting a much more general or broad audience.

4. What²

The final W in this 4W framework is a second “what.”

Now that you’ve identified who they are, what their pain point is, and where they are, think about what you can give them for free to help solve that number one pain or desire.

This FREE thing should really give them a BIG WIN right out of the gate.

This free offer could be a lead magnet: a checklist, blueprint, or some type of template to help them reach their goal.

Maybe it’s a quick workout, a recipe guide, or maybe it’s a smoothie printable to make the best possible smoothie.

The idea here is that it needs to be:

• short and easy to consume
• quick to apply, and
• very outcome-driven.

They should be able to apply your “lead magnet” and as soon as they’re done – say in 5 or 10 minutes – they can achieve a specific result.

What that’s going to do is that’s going to build a massive amount of confidence in you, because now they’ve gotten a big win for them. You’ve shown them that you can help them by actually helping them.

They’d likely say to themselves:

“Holy cow, this is amazing! I did this, and I got this. Just imagine what else I could get from this individual.”

Start your relationship with some of your best stuff . It doesn’t have to be 300 pages long. It literally could be only one to two pages, as long as it’s something super helpful.

Offer them tangible results.

Remember, as a their trusted advisor you want to show them the FASTER route to the results they’re after. Make it simple and easy-to-follow. Don’t complicate their lives any further.

4W Recap

Let’s recap the 4W Framework:

1. Who do you want to serve?
2. What is their #1 pain point or desire?
3. Where are they hanging out?
4. What can you offer them for free to solve their pain or desire?

This framework will help you find your target audience and truly serve them.  It’s straightforward and helps hone your thinking about who you want to help and how you can best serve them.

Remember, content marketing should be a major piece of your puzzle as a health and fitness professional looking to stand out in a crowded marketplace. After all, if you’re not producing epic content then how exactly are you adding value to your audience?

Targeting the right people with that marketing will help grow your business so you can serve even more people.

Here’s What to Do Next…

The 4th “W” in the above framework is all about figuring out what you can offer your audience – for FREE – that would be massively valuable to them. Other than great content, the most important thing you can offer them is a free Lead Magnet, which they would get in exchange for their email.

That way, you can start building a relationship with these prospects while delivering great value to them in the process. Email is still the most effective way to do so and that’s why building your email is critical to your online success.

So with that said, how would you like to easily create irresistible and high-converting lead magnets that turn more of your website visitors into email subscribers? Yeah, that’s what I thought. So, download my FREE Lead Magnet Generator below to help you do just that…