10 great emails fitness studios should be sending now

Hello, fitness studio brands. How have you been?

It’s a strange and challenging time for businesses, especially those that rely on brick-and-mortar spaces and face-to-face interactions. The fitness industry has taken some hard hits, yet their members remain resilient. 

Right now, the reality is that leaning on online initiatives will likely be the safest course of action for now – while at the same time, there’s still hope of reopening.

So, in this situation, how do you stay connected with customers? How can your business be relevant when everyone’s at home? 

It’s simple: Use email marketing, and your email marketing software, to its full advantage.

In this article, we’ll discuss the types of emails fitness studios should be sending during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How can fitness studios benefit from using email marketing software?

Because the pandemic is redefining how we communicate and how our society operates, businesses must discover and explore new ways to connect and show up for their customers and communities.

Email marketing has always been an important channel, but especially now, email marketing shines as an essential tool for fitness brands. It’s the ideal way to communicate important information on closures, adjusted schedules, sanitation procedures, and more. 

Many of you already send out email marketing campaigns. However, with more than 280 billion emails sent daily worldwide, it can be challenging to stand out from every other brand vying for attention in consumers’ inboxes.

Look for email marketing software built with the fitness industry in mind. You’ll want tools that give you complete control over the top-level aspects of your brand’s marketing efforts, but also the capability to let individual locations customize campaigns to their specific needs. 

Here are 10 emails fitness studios should be sending to their subscribers in the time of COVID-19

Email marketing campaigns are now instrumental in building and maintaining close connections with customers. Marketers should focus on promoting virtual offerings and sharing helpful content. Adjusting brand voice and tone to recognize the reality of the times is key, too.

Below is a look at 10 types of emails fitness studios should be sending right now, along with some helpful examples.

1. Compassionate user account and membership updates

Many fitness studios are between a rock and a hard place: wanting to keep their customers safe and sound but also needing to survive. With many companies’ physical spaces remaining closed, subscription-based customers of fitness studios may wonder about the status of their memberships. 

By keeping in touch through email, fitness studios can keep members updated.
 

Source: Really Good Emails

The ClassPass email above is a no-nonsense, bare-bones letter that tells their clients where the company stands. Though the brand has suffered from gym closures and canceled classes, they’ve put their customers first by offering flexible options: waiving cancellation fees, accepting paused subscriptions, and even reminding clients of their audio and video classes online.

2. Welcome emails that acknowledge current events

Most brands take advantage of modern technology by creating an automated email series. If your welcome emails were set up and crafted before the pandemic, you should edit them now. 

To engage new subscribers, marketers now have to do so much more than adding touches of personalization and writing brilliant copy. You need to show empathy and understanding. Even a simple mention of COVID-19 and a matter-of-fact press release regarding your brand’s response may not be enough.

Always ask: Could this email possibly be an emotional trigger? Marketing campaigns need to walk the fine line between acknowledging facts and considering feelings.

3. Important information for these unprecedented times

Creating content like this takes time and effort, so you should consider making the most out of it. You may redirect subscribers to social media posts on your brand’s accounts, or simply reuse the assets in a marketing campaign delivered through email.

Source: Milled

The Urban Sports Club email above addresses two common quarantine questions: 

• How useful is a face mask for sports?

• How can you get your partner to work out with you?

For both queries, the brand brought in experts to discuss the topic at length. The latter question ties into a live Q&A session hosted over at Urban Sports Club’s Instagram account.

4. Videos and other engaging multimedia content

Did you know that you can increase an email’s click-through rate by up to 40% just by placing the word “video” in the subject line? 

Actually using videos in email marketing can improve your campaign’s return on investment (ROI). Video content in email can boost click-through rates by up to 300% and reduce unsubscribes by more than 25%. 

It’s a good thing that many email marketing software products make it easy to insert videos in your email design. However, you shouldn’t rely on videos to act as your core content. Imagery and multimedia work best as a way to highlight or further discuss something mentioned in the copy. Marketers should also consider accessibility options, such as the quality of video captions and transcripts.

5. Company changes brought on by COVID-19

Sometimes, changes within your company are so immense that they necessitate a whole marketing email to disseminate the information to your customers. 

Tone is important, no matter what. Even if you’re relaying bad news, messages that only contain negative content aren’t emails fitness studios should be sending. Marketers should be extra sensitive nowadays as COVID-19 – and everything that comes with it – has resulted in concurrent physical and mental health crises.
 

Source: Milled
 

The YogaVibes email above is an example of how to share good news. This brand specializes in streaming yoga classes from instructors all over the world. They’re currently partnering with several physical studios that have chosen to close their doors and instead offer classes through their platform. One of them, Synergy Yoga, is the subject of this message.

6. Newsletters with a revitalized format

As business landscapes continue to reshape and redefine their parameters, the trusted and age-old newsletter format can adapt to serve them.

You may have thrown yourself into curating and reporting on COVID-19 news. Perhaps you’re a fitness studio that’s finding a new niche in home-based blogging. Whatever the case may be, creating a newsletter template to track your new interests is an excellent way to invite customers to engage with your brand.

Remember: Consider the frequency of your emails, particularly if you have automated campaigns and triggered messages running in the background. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with your enthusiasm and seem overbearing.

7. Details regarding class schedules and gym reopenings

While some people are getting by with virtual classes, others find that working out at home isn’t quite as fulfilling or motivating.

Sending emails with details about selected gym reopenings or classes with social distancing measures may cause an influx of in-person customers, so make sure you’ve prepared for that beforehand.

Source: Milled
 

The Bamford Wellness Spa email above doesn’t make a big deal out of their decision to reopen. The email design features a minimalist feel, small fonts, and a lot of white space. It’s a polite and sensitive way to get on with business operations.

8. Holistic and physical fitness-adjacent topics

Put your expertise to work. Talk about healthy recipes, recovery and cooldown routines, or even workable household substitutes for fitness equipment. If long-form content isn’t in your wheelhouse, consider visual aids or explainer videos. You may also link to a set of curated resources within your email. 

You can even get your audience involved by using storytelling. This is done by sharing your personal fitness experiences before asking them to contribute theirs.

9. Alternative workout options for those staying home

If you haven’t already, set up online classes or other similar options online. Your clients can then continue to support you and your trainers through this new continual revenue source. 

In conjunction with that initiative, you can create a marketing campaign to promote your virtual fitness offerings.

Source: Milled
 

The Hitch Fit email above is an example of a quick and easy weekly email highlighting the fitness studio’s online offerings. 

What this email lacks in design, it makes up for in quality copy. The text is conversational, motivating, and inviting – something you could imagine your gym trainer saying in person. 

10. Fitness studio safety measures and sanitation policies

Did you know that two in three Americans say they would return to their fitness studios within the first month of their reopening? However, many people still have concerns about sanitation routines and indoor class sizes.

Managing a fitness studio in 2020 is difficult, but this type of email is a no-brainer. Transparency about new improvements and policies to keep your customers safe is crucial. It makes for great email content, too. By all means, tell your audiences about hand sanitizers, disposable wipes, markers designating social distancing measurement, and more.

Wrap up

So much of the fitness industry lives in the physical world. However, many fitness studios and gyms have adapted to a mostly online, and email-rich, new normal. 

Here are the types of emails fitness studios should be sending in 2020: 

• Compassionate user account and membership updates

• Welcome emails that acknowledge current events

• Important information for these unprecedented times

• Videos and other engaging multimedia content

• Company changes brought on by COVID-19

• Newsletters with a revitalized format

• Details regarding class schedules and gym reopenings

• Holistic and physical fitness-adjacent topics

• Alternative workout options for those staying home

• Fitness studio safety measures and policies

Looking to level up your email game? Our email marketing software will help you speak directly to your subscribers through dynamic content – schedule your demo with us today.