Introduction

Writing an e-newsletter or any form of written electronic communication to your clients takes time and effort.

After putting in the hard work, you want them to actually read it. However the fact is, many just ignore e-newsletters or hit delete.

The open rate of emails is around 20% as an industry standard, meaning 80% of people are not seeing all that amazing content that you are producing.

The good news is that a few simple tactics can make a big difference to email open rates.

The 7 Quick Tips

1. Provoke people’s curiosity:
   • If the subject line of your email gives away its contents, it makes sense that people probably will not bother reading it.
   • Instead, try to spark their curiosity with a subject line that hints at something they do not yet know, or something they need to find out.
   • For instance “The one training mistake you’re probably making” or “How to ramp up your workout results (without spending more time at the gym)”.
2. Mention gifts or discounts:
   • People like gifts, so a subject line like “Open this to receive two free sessions” or “Take this offer up now” works quite well.
3. Use personalisation:
   • Email subscription services often allow you to customise emails with the receiver’s name.
   • This is automated personalisation.
   • For example, if you have a client who has not been to training sessions for months you could set up a subject line like “Hey [insert name], it’s been a while since I’ve seen you”, with the name automatically changing for different people.
4. Keep it short and to the point:
   • A short, concise subject line is more attention-grabbing than a long, waffly one – plus it looks better on a mobile phone screen, which is an important consideration, as around 50% of web users are on mobiles.
   • It is advisable to conduct a test email first to see what the subject line and sub-headline look like before sending it out to your mailing list.
5. Mix up the sender:
   • A lot of people send newsletters from their company name, but my recommendation is to send it from an individual account with an individual’s name on it.
   • If people feel like you are sending them a direct email, there is a higher chance they will open it.
6. Convey a sense of urgency:
   • If you have got a special offer or an initiative that is on for a limited time, write that in the headline to get people’s attention.
7. Segment your database:
   • Often (fitness) businesses will send the same generic email to everyone on their database.
   • A far more effective approach is to segment your database, so that you are tailoring the subject line and content of emails to the particular group of clients you are targeting.
   • If you segment your database you can clearly identify who the person is and what their needs and wants are, and communicate to them more effectively.
   • For example, with inactive clients, you could modify the subject line to read “It’s been a while since we’ve seen you,” which would speak specifically to them as opposed to current clients.