5 Types Of Email Every Fitness Business Needs For Max Sales

Email marketing is a powerful strategy for fitness businesses. With the right approach, it’ll consistently generate high-quality leads and convert them into paying customers. It can also keep them loyal and engaged which drives repeat business, secondary spend, and aids retention.

In this article, we outline the 5 types of email that every fitness business needs to send to maximize leads and sign-ups.

We’re a specialist fitness marketing agency with 15+ years of industry experience. We’ve helped gyms, fitness studios, and personal trainers nail their email marketing so it generates consistent leads and revenue for their businesses. Learn more about our email templates or marketing services.

Some business owners find email marketing overwhelming so we’ve boiled it down to the essentials. Five types of email drive the best results for fitness businesses like gyms, studios, and online trainers. So work through the following list, note any emails that are missing from your sales funnel, and then add one at a time.

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Intro Email

Every fitness business should be sending an intro email to new subscribers when they join. This is the first email they’ll receive after downloading a lead magnet (like a free workout program or checklist) so it needs to make the best possible first impression.

The first email you send typically has the highest open rate too. People have just joined your list and are keen to hear from you. So make the most of this captive audience while you have their attention.

In the initial intro email, you need to:

• Reinforce that it was a good decision to join your list (this minimizes unsubscribes)
• Deliver any freebies you promised (like the lead magnet they signed up for)
• Tell them a little about your business and how you help people like them
• Tease your paid offer (most people will need warming up before buying something but a few will be ready to purchase immediately so make it easy for them)
• Let them know what to expect next (will you be sending a series of emails, weekly newsletter, etc?)

If you don’t send an intro email when people first join your list, then it’s harder to warm them up to your offering. We’ve found that clients who jump straight into sending them a newsletter (or worse still, don’t send them anything for a few weeks) have lower sales conversions and higher unsubscribe rates than those who send intro emails initially.

Top tip: Use the intro email to segment your subscribers by including a poll. By asking them about their fitness goals or workout preferences, you can tailor your follow-up emails to address their specific needs. Email platforms like Kit have built-in poll and segmentation functions which lead to higher conversion rates.

Offer Emails

Offer emails are essential for driving sales revenue for a fitness business. These are the emails where you pitch your product or service and persuade people to buy them.

Your offer email needs to clearly outline what you offer, how it helps people, and why they need to sign up immediately. Including a limited-time bonus or other deadline will maximize the number of people who take action.

Ideally, you’ll have sent a nurture sequence before the offer email that educates people about the benefits, shares client success stories, and addresses common objections. But the offer email is the most important one because it’s where you actually ask for the sale! Some business owners feel uncomfortable sending these ‘sales’ emails but they’re vital for converting subscribers into paying clients.

Follow-up Sales Emails

Don’t stop after you’ve sent one offer email. If people don’t buy, follow up proactively. They might have forgotten or got busy so just need one extra nudge…

If you’ve sent an offer email and haven’t heard back after two days, send a follow-up. We’re not suggesting high-pressure sales tactics, just a friendly check-in to see where they’re at and what they’re thinking.

If you still haven’t heard back, send another email reminding them of the offer deadline. Keep checking in to see how they are and whether they’re ready to sign up.

Research shows that 80% of sales require 5 follow-ups, so don’t stop after just one or two emails.

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Most businesses aren’t persistent enough with follow-ups. They’re worried about the client feeling pressurised so just leave it. But there are friendly and relaxed ways to follow up that don’t put pressure on people while still converting more sales. Check out our lead follow-up email templates if you need a guide…

Onboarding Emails

When a gym member or training client does sign up, make sure you send them an onboarding email (or better yet a welcome sequence). This helps create a smooth experience for the customer by giving them all the info they need to get started.

• Gyms & fitness studios – send an email explaining how they access your facility, what they need to bring, your opening times, etc.
• Personal trainers – send an email explaining how they book their induction, schedule sessions, what to wear, etc.
• Online fitness businesses – send an email explaining how they access your online programs or digital downloads, where to find different resources, etc.

Onboarding emails should make it really clear how the customer gets access to what they paid for. It’s also an ideal opportunity to reassure them that signing up was a good decision (and avoid buyer’s remorse). This can reduce cancellations and refunds, resulting in more revenue for your fitness business.

Loyalty & Upsell Emails

The last type of email every fitness business needs is the loyalty and upsell email. These are often neglected but they’re the most profitable and have the highest ROI.

It’s cheaper and easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to find and sell to new ones. Research shows that recruiting new members costs five times as much as retaining current ones.

Existing clients already know, like, and trust you. They already come to your gym or fitness studio or have a login for your online training platform.

Now you need to keep them loyal and drive repeat revenue. Much of this will be down to the experience you deliver through your products and services. But email can play a key role in keeping people engaged and educating them about other offerings.

• Loyalty – email newsletters are an easy way to provide extra value to members, share news, and promote social events or community-building challenges.
• Upsells – you can use automated email sequences to upsell add-ons like personal training, spa services, 6-week boot camps, or the next offering on your product ladder.

80% of businesses say email marketing is their most important customer retention tool.

Optin Monster

Use emails to keep your most loyal clients engaged and encourage them to purchase other services. If you’ve segmented them based on interests (our top tip for intro emails), then it’ll be easy to align your offer and messaging with what they need. This leads to much higher conversions and additional revenue for your fitness business.

Learn more… Here’s how Life Time Fitness used email segmentation to drive $600k extra revenue.

Don’t be worried about people unsubscribing. This is how you weed out potential customers from those who are ‘just browsing’. It’s a natural part of email marketing and helps keep your list clean so that it drives high-quality leads.

Email Marketing For Fitness Businesses

We offer email marketing services and DIY solutions for fitness businesses. You can hire us to create your email strategy, set up automated sequences, and write impactful email content (get in touch here). Or you can purchase our Email Marketing Kit which is packed with pre-written templates, guides, and done-for-you lead magnets.

The fitness email marketing templates and resources make it easy to generate leads and sales revenue. They include a step-by-step playbook, done-for-you email templates, and resources to help you get results. From coming up with the perfect lead magnet and growing your list, to sending effective emails that help you sell more, this kit has it all.