It’s official – summer is over and winter is coming!
Winter is great for many reasons, one being the significant dates it holds; from Halloween to Thanksgiving, Bonfire Night to Christmas – it’s jam packed with celebrations!
As much as we love the celebratory season and the lead up to the New Year, it can sometimes have a detrimental effect on fit pros and their businesses.
Even if there’s no dip in enthusiasm, most people struggle to get up in the morning once winter arrives; so there’s a good chance putting off exercise in favour of staying indoors may cross your client’s minds.
Does this sound familiar? Are you concerned about loss of income, due to clients putting off exercise, as it gets colder? Good, because you should be. But being worried about it is a good thing – it means, unlike others, you’re not blind to the issue and have realised a solution is needed.
A great way to overcome the issue of losing clients over winter and having empty studios is through email campaigns. Yes the solution really is that simple. But to be a success and get maximum impact, your email campaigns need to draw attention.
Therefore, we’ve drummed up 8 ways to ensure your email campaigns get noticed and, more importantly get opened!
Email Campaigns
Email campaigns (or E-shots) aren’t exactly new, however using them effectively is an entirely different problem which we see every day, in part because you don’t want to spam or tarnish their business brand – which is completely understandable.
What we find in fact is that your customers may actually want to hear from you and something an e-shot is a great way of doing that. Let’s face it, the worse case scenario would be no reaction from your contact, but that’s not too bad – you’ll still be in their mind should they decide to buy at a later date.
With an ever increasing influx of festive messages about to begin flooding your customers’ inboxes, creating Christmas marketing messages that not only meet your customers’ needs, but also stands out in their inbox is key to creating a successful campaign.
Subject Lines and what works:
Questions can be the answer!
Questions in subject lines are compelling as they ignite our curiosity. Just seeing a question mark stimulates our brain.
The best questions will instantly grab the reader’s attention and often have them look upon personal experiences to find the answer. This will also spark a sense of curiosity for them to learn more about the subject, resulting in opening the email.
Here are some good examples:
– Do you cringe at last year’s Xmas Photos?
– Want to turn heads at this year’s Xmas Party?
These subject lines work because the reader can relate to them emotionally. They’re also drawn to click-through, due to curiosity, and possibly learn more on how they actually can ‘turn heads at this year’s Xmas party’.
Use the ‘how to’ line
A lot of advertising writers swear that you can’t write a bad headline if it starts with the words ‘How to’. We agree.
The ‘How to’ subject line formula works incredibly well. It forces you to be straight to the point with the email subject and clearly describe the content. Take these 3 subject lines for example:
– How to look incredible at your Xmas party!
– How to lose 14lbs before Xmas with Yoga!
– How to tone your legs for that Christmas dress!
By reading these subject lines, you know exactly what you are going to learn from opening the email.
The key to success with this subject line formula is focusing on the benefit. The actual process will grab not many people’s attention; it’s the result at the end that they desire.
So make sure, when using ‘How to’ subject lines, you focus on the benefits and not the process itself.
The scarcity line
This has caught us all out at some point before. When we are told something is in short supply, our fear of missing out kicks in and we are compelled to act with immediate effect. This is why ‘One Day Sale’ events are so popular.
Limiting time or availability encourages readers to open your email and act before it’s too late. For example:
– Only 2 days left to get 50% off our bootcamp.
– Hurry! Only 3 PT spots left.
– Get a free gym bag if you book today.
Scarcity subject lines can be extremely beneficial if you can get them right.
Make an announcement
We often use the announcement subject line. When readers see words like “Introducing” and “New”, they instantly believe your email contains new information or a new product they haven’t seen yet.
Examples of this formula in action include:
– Introducing Active Blueprint: A better way to be online
– Check out my homepage!
– See our new gym apparel!
By using phrases like ‘check out’ and ‘New’ in the subject line, you are telling people that your email contains new information they most likely haven’t seen yet. Open rates on announcement lines can be huge, when done right!
The number subject line
Using numbers in your email subject lines provide a clean structure for the content of your email. People also enjoy the simplicity of the content that’s inside.
So where possible, use numbers to make your subject line more specific. For example:
– 30 ways to chisel your abs this winter
– 3 steps to fitting in that Xmas Dress
– 10 offers you must see for the festive season
Pay close attention to the numbers you use. For instance, if you are talking about steps in a process, low numbers work better as it suggests the process is quicker and simple to follow.
However, if you are providing value to the reader – for instance; ways on gaining more clients, then a higher number will be more successful as it increases the reader’s perception of the value your email will provide them.
The curiosity gap subject line
This term was created by Professor George Loewenstein to describe the gap between what we know and what we want to know.
When we notice a gap in our knowledge, the feeling of deprivation prompts us to go looking for that piece of missing information in order to feed the deprived hunger.
Sounds quite scientific doesn’t it? But it’s actually simple and has been used to build many empires online, including popular news website ‘BuzzFeed’.
Just remember, we are not curious about something we know absolutely nothing about – for instance, are you curious about… electromagnetic waves? Most likely not. You need to choose a subject that readers are interested in. Their curiosity will then rocket and they will click to learn more about this.
Leave a small curiosity gap in your subject lines to encourage opens. For example:
– The simple fat burning workout that nobody pays attention to
– This little-known workout trick will give you a toned butt before Christmas Eve.
As you can see, these subject lines leave just enough information to spark your curiosity. By doing this you compel them to open the email to learn more.
Surprise!
Surprises play a big part in our lives. From an early age we are given surprise parties or surprise gifts. Usually surprises are a good thing.
Using a surprise in your subject line, which will benefit the reader, causes them to pause while scanning through their inbox and usually their curiosity will prompt them to open the email.
Some examples include:
– Warning: Your Xmas dress requires squats!
– What Christmas can teach you about deadlifts.
The key here is not so much to use a specific formula, but just to surprise the reader with something they wouldn’t expect.
Make it personal
This is a classic when it comes to subject lines and it still works just as good as it did 10 years ago. Yes, the personal touch of adding your subscriber’s name into the subject line is one of the most successful ways in grabbing their attention.
Not only does this grab attention, it also builds a sense of sincerity.
Combine this with some of the other formulas and you will get maximum impact. For example:
– Amy, are you in shape for the Xmas party?
– Amy, check out our new website!
– Amy, there’s only 2 days left to get 50% off our PT sessions.
By adding their name, readers feel that you’re speaking directly to them and only them. They automatically treat your email as personal and this encourages them to open it.
Look at the results
After you have sent the e-shot, you need to keep an eye on the stats and reports. This will then allow you to see how your subject lines are working and if you need to change or edit anything for future campaigns.
This information is also useful when you are looking to send a follow up email. For example, if you link to a landing page in your e-shot and see it’s been clicked by someone, why not email them asking what they thought?
Overall, e-shots are essential when it comes to marketing for winter period. It’s a process that should be used, and when done correctly, can significantly change your winter revenue for the better!
Don’t be worried that you’re spamming people. You’re offering your readers hints and tips, and they’ll look forward to your e-shots every time they come through.
