Want more click-throughs and conversions? Check your email marketing strategy against these ten best practices for health and wellness businesses:
1. Tell the reader who’s sending it
In the Sender field, include the name of your health club, yoga studio or wellness center. Don’t use the first name of the person sending the email, or the originating email address itself.
YES: ABC Health Club
NO: Leslie
2. Craft a compelling subject line
You only have two shots to interest your readers enough to take a closer look. One’s the Sender field and the other’s the subject line.
A great subject line grabs readers’ attention and gives them a reason to look more closely.
YES: RSVP by 7/31 – Free Healthy Snacks Seminar & Sampling!
NO: June Updates
NO: ABC Health Club
3. Make it worth their time
Successful marketing emails offer subscribers something they really want and can’t get elsewhere. Examples include:
- Financially beneficial – special offers, discounts, BOGO
- Access to scarce resources – limited availability, time-bound offers
- Confidence-building experiences – lunch-n-learns, open houses, free assessments
- Socially rewarding events – fundraiser invites, free speakers, book clubs
- Access to expertise – cooking demonstrations, panel discussions
4. Keep it simple
It’s just an email. Its job is simply to get people to take the next step – usually, clicking through to get more information on a landing-page tailored to this promotion.
Tight, carefully-written copy is critical; otherwise, readers jump ship.
Don’t try to jam everything you have to say into a single email. That’s the role of your landing-page and/or subsequent emails.
5. Use landing pages
Landing pages are standalone pages dedicated to selling a specific product, service or program.
For example, you might have a landing page that describes your three-month healthy lifestyles program, or your health club membership options, or your weight loss programs and services.
If you want people to find more information about your program on your website, use a link that points to the landing page for that specific program. Don’t simply send them to your home page and leave it up to them to find the details.
Use of a landing page also lets you pick and choose critical content for your email and put everything else related to your offer on that dedicated web page.
6. Spell out the next step
The call to action should be blindingly obvious. Phone numbers or “click here” buttons should be large and easy to spot. Don’t hide them “below the fold” where folks have to scroll down to see them.
Include text links as well as buttons, so that readers can take action even if they don’t download images.
Tell your reader:
- What you want them to do – register, buy, attend, etc.
- How you want them to do it – call, email, register online, stop by between noon and 5 p.m., etc.
- When you want them to do it – by 7/31, before Christmas, etc.
- Why they should do it now – limited availability, a bonus for the first five responses, etc.
7. Appeal to the heart and brain
Good copy includes tangible benefits, intangible results, and pushes emotional “hot buttons.”
For example: your fitness programs may offer reduced back pain + body confidence.
(And generally, good email marketing copy does all this with a very small number of very carefully-chosen words – because you’ve got to connect with your subscribers without overwhelming them.)
8. Split content strategically
For example, your marketing email might say “YogaFun enrollment starts at $29.” Save your higher-priced options and more complicated details for the landing page.
Another good example: include a great attention-getting quote from a customer in your email, and save the program details for the landing page. For example:
“I will never forget the day I stopped using my walker and started holding hands with my husband again.”
(And isn’t that a great example of Best Practice #7, too?)
9. Campaigns work best
An email marketing campaign – a series of marketing emails sent over several weeks or months – works much better than a single email.
Focus each email on a different aspect of your program or service. That way readers get a complete picture as time passes, without being overwhelmed.
This also reflects how most people buy. They don’t buy the first time they hear about something. It takes multiple exposures before they’re ready, even when they’re anxious to take action.
10. Mix it up
Rotate through a variety of promotional campaigns and marketing emails.
For example, don’t send the same “zero enrollment fee” offer all year long to potential health club members.
When you send the same offer over and over all year-long, you’re training readers to ignore your emails, because they already know what to expect. Or you’re training them to wait for your predictable promotions.
Neither outcome’s good.
