How to create the perfect email campaign message for your fitness business.

by Maritsa Harry, Certified Personal Trainer 12 August 2022

We’ve discussed the benefits of using email marketing in the previous article. Now that you’ve picked one of the various Email Service Providers (ESP) like Mail Chimp, you now have to design your message. There are a few things to consider before you can create the perfect email campaign. First keep in mind the objectives of your email campaign which can be some or all of the following:

To create engagement
To promote new offers
To entice and attract new customers
To communicate and create awareness

As a personal trainer or gym manager, you know there is more to your business than just coaching clients. There is a marketing element which you must grasp if you want to be successful and with email marketing, it is no exception. There are a few tips which can mean the difference between a shoddy and a successful email campaign:

1. Broad brushing your clients

We spoke about segmenting your audience in the previous article and this is why. Sending out a generic email to all your clients is like firing an arrow blindfolded into an open field. There is no focus on a target. You may not reach the audience you want with a general, out-of-focus message. Your emails should offer value to each segment of clients. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and ask what would a client who is already part of my client base need to hear as opposed to someone who has not started their fitness journey? Tailor messages to each segment of clients. A personalized message would be more well-received than a general email.

2. Space out your messages

Flooding your email listing with the same repetitive message is a sure-fire way to end up in the spam folder. Clients are paying for your emails with their time and attention so you want this transaction to be worthwhile for both you and your client.

Sending out frequent messages will cause reader fatigue and boredom. You may even see a reduction in open rate of your emails and an unread message is the antithesis of an email campaign. Once a week or even once a month is fine as long as you remain consistent. Make them actually look forward to opening your emails.

3. Key words

Use effective keywords to pique your clients’ interest. Again put yourself into your customer’s shoes and tap into the person’s pain point. This pain point is a person’s motivation for wanting to start or continue their fitness journey, and varies according to the person’s motivation (wanting to feel more confident, wanting to be healthier due to a family member’s passing, etc.). Describing a person’s motivation can prompt them to act.

4. Use a professional email

People shop with their eyes first. A professional email will entice a new-comer to buy into your brand just because of its presentation. You can get a professional email from your domain, if you don't have your own domain name as yet, you can get started right here. Using a professional email makes you look more serious as a business owner rather than a personal email address. It is not a deal breaker but having a professional email also has less chance of going straight into the spam folder.

So now that you have this guideline at the back of your mind, you are one step closer to creating the perfect email marketing message. A good email will have three main parts:

An Opener
The body
A Call to Action

1. The Opener

The opener is the appetizer to your offer, it is the emotional puller, the hook of your message. The opener should be short and simple. In this example, we are taking advantage of approaching carnival season to hook the lead into purchasing a 3 week shred program.

Hey [FIRSTNAME]

It’s T- 3 months for the greatest show on the planet and we don’t want to just look the absolute best on the road but we want to be fit for the road as well!

Use an atractive image to promote the 3 week shred program.

2. The Body:

The body of the email is where you put the ‘meat’ of your offer. Keep in mind that you’ll create many different templates for different purposes, but you still need to leave room for personalizing the content where you can. We’ll carry on from the example we started above. The email message below is targeting those who want to play carnival and want to get in shape for the season. This campaign is tugging on one’s desire to look their best for the carnival season, and promoting body confidence by getting fit and shredded.

With the Shredded package, you are guaranteed to get into the best shape of your life. Get ready to make those abs show and glutes grow!

With the shredded package:

Lose fat and build muscle with our brand-new workout routine (no two routines are the same!)
Get a personalized meal plan to help you reach your goals

In addition:

Learn how to stay consistent with your nutrition and training
Create new habits and make them stick
Boost your emotional and mental health

3. The Call to Action:

The Call-to-Action is the direct message that prompts the customer into closing the deal. This prompt can lead to several actions from the customer such as making a purchase or learning more from the website.

It’s been two plus years of pent-up energy for the road and we want this to be your best year yet! What better way to masquerade than with the body you have always dreamed of?

GET STARTED NOW

How to know if your campaign is successful?

Take full advantage of the features from your ESP's platform. It will have a simple dashboard of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which will display KPIs such as open rate engagement and bounce rate of emails. These are a good measure of what is working from what is not working.