These five essential holiday marketing emails boost revenue for health clubs, wellness centers, and other health and wellness businesses by inspiring purchases across the entire spectrum of gift-giving possibilities.
They’re listed in the order that we recommend you send them:
1. The “What’s New” email
Send an early email highlighting the products, programs and services your health club, wellness center or yoga studio has added over the last year. Position it as “new gift ideas” for the holiday season.
For example, if you’ve added new Level 1 and 2 yoga classes, point out that these make great gifts for daughters, granddaughters or stressed-out coworkers.
(Didn’t add anything new this year? You’re heading towards rocky water.)
2. The “Wishlist” email
Send an email formatted as a holiday-themed checklist of the ten most popular programs, products or services that your fitness center or wellness center offers.
Your customers can print this list, check off their faves, and then “accidentally” leave it where their loved ones will get the hint.
Pro tip: if you can tie specific offers to specific dates and “get-ready” marketing for an external event, so much the better.
For instance, many cities have “Turkey Trot” runs, Christmas Day runs, and New Year’s Eve / Day runs. If your member’s gift recipient is a runner, your printable wish lists should mention run training for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Day runs. Similarly, open water swim season usually starts in mid- to late spring, and if your clients are buying for triathletes, the winter holidays are the perfect time to get in some one-on one and small group swim training with a coach / trainer at your pool, and later in the season, a nearby lake.
Winter is the best time to start your email list subscribers thinking about how to get ready for physical activity they want to do in the Spring!
3. The “Mix and Match” email
Link your products and services to the recipients that your customers are likeliest to buy for: boyfriend, wife or partner, parents, kids, best friends, or close coworkers.
You may be thinking “Why do we need to do this? We already have generic multipurpose gift certificates.” Well, some people think generic gift certificates are boring, lazy or impersonal.
So in addition to your generic certificates, promote “productized” certificates that entitle the recipient to participation in a specific program or service selected just for them.
For example, one of our health club clients packages massage, personal training and an assortment of energy foods into a “Runners Recovery Package.” (Get more gift card marketing tips here!)
Even better: let your customers create their own package by picking from a menu of similarly-priced products and services — in psychology, this picking process is called “prizing behavior”, and it binds the customer more strongly to their purchase, since their own heart and mind went into creating it.
4. The “Happy Holidays” email
The usual group photo titled “Happy Holidays” doesn’t really score much goodwill. Frankly, it’s a yawner.
Use this opportunity to give your nutrition, yoga and fitness clients some lagniappe – that’s Cajun for an unexpected and delightful freebie!
We’ve seen a free holiday recipes PDF offered by a healthy lifestyles program, a free 30-minute massage coupon from a chiropractic practice, and a family-oriented open-house sponsored by a health club.
If you can truly afford to give it away in small bits, freebies help create a perception of up-front received value and a sense of obligation to pursue the opportunity further.
5. The “Last Minute” email
There’s nothing like urgency. Especially when it involves running out of class slots or inventory at a given price level.
Send an email reminding customers that your wellness center, yoga studio or clinic has convenient gifts at all price levels, ready to go, but that they’re going to be gone after the holidays (if they actually ARE going to be gone at that price level). Encourage them to buy by the phone or via your website. Even if it’s an online purchase, find some way to gift-wrap the evidence. Don’t just stick gift cards and gift certificates in a red, green, silver or blue envelope. Put them in gift boxes, wrap them with holiday paper, and add ribbon and a bow!
Let your frazzled customers know their purchase has been made and when they can pick it up. Be as flexible as you can on days and hours — you don’t want to give them any reason to back out if you can help it!
Then sit back and enjoy that cup of hot cocoa!
