The Unsung Hero of Studio Marketing: Email

I always have a chuckle when I hear people say that “email is dead.” In my own studio business, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I lovingly refer to email as my “golden goose.” Whenever I want to sell quickly, it’s my go-to strategy. The “why” is really simple: your email list is a group of customers that you already have a relationship with.

I always have a chuckle when I hear people say that “email is dead.” In my own studio business, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, I lovingly refer to email as my “golden goose.” Whenever I want to sell quickly, it’s my go-to strategy. The “why” is really simple: your email list is a group of customers that you already have a relationship with. You don’t need to spend as much time building the ever-important “know, like and trust” factor — for the most part, your email list already knows, likes and trusts you. Unlike social media, customers are searching their inboxes for things to buy. The journey to the sale is much, much shorter.

One of the most powerful email strategies you can adopt is segmentation. It’s exactly what it sounds like: dividing your large email list into smaller chunks based on behavior (package holders vs. members, for example) or interests (beginners vs. vinyasa-flow lovers). It works so well because you can target customers with the type of messaging you know they want to hear from you. It effectively increases the potency of your marketing, since you’re sharing content that feels like it was made for the reader.

A few tips to keep your email marketing magical:

Lead with value

Every marketing email should have a clear Call to Action (more on that later) but it should still be fun to read. Always open with valuable content. Have a few tips or a recipe to share with your audience? How about a quick video posture demo? Perhaps you have a bit of video content laying around that can be repurposed into something fun to watch. Customers in 2021 are savvy: they want you to prove that you can help them by actually helping them. You need to earn the right to ask for the sale - you can do that by packing your messages with value.

Put the client first

Personal story has its time and place (like in the first email of your welcome sequence, ahem), but everyone has the same favorite topic: themselves. Instead of talking about your own experience, position your customer as the hero of your messaging. Tell a story about a client who transformed in your care, or better yet - have the client do it. The more you talk about the results you can help your clients achieve, the more powerful your messaging will be.

Break up the copy

Your high school English teacher will cringe, but it’s important that your reader doesn’t open your message and find a wall of text.

Instead of writing long, traditional paragraphs, try breaking up your copy. Two or three lines will do.

And don’t be afraid to throw caution to the wind and play around with sentence structure. We want your emails to sound professional, but there are a few grammar rules we can throw out the window. It’s important that your tone feel conversational and easy-to-read.

You can even start a sentence with “and.” See what I did there?

Deliver a strong Call to Action

Yes, you’re leading with value and yes, you’re telling a story, but we’re still talking about marketing emails. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made it all the way to the end of an email, only to say to myself, “What do they want me to do?” Make it easy for your readers to say “yes.” Your Call to Action - or the button you ask your readers to push should be as clear as day. If at all possible, reduce the number of clicks it takes for your reader to get to the sale. The easier, the better.

Leverage automation

Software that automates email and text message marketing is the one tech tool I’m constantly pushing on my clients. I realize it can seem like yet another expense, but this one is important. A software that finds clients with expiring packages, sends targeted messaging to new students, sends brand new leads through a funnel, and touches base with lapsed students will pay for itself in no time. And who doesn’t want to create more space in their day for tasks they love that fall within their “Zone of Genius?”

There I go starting a sentence with “and” again.

If you’d like to learn more about email marketing and automation, check out our latest Studionomics podcast episode: Email is (not) Dead with Barton Haddad from Brandbot.