Email marketing makes the commercial world go ‘round. Two out of three U.S. consumers have made a purchase online as a result of an email marketing message. According to ExactTarget research, 91 percent of consumers reported checking their email at least once a day—a big reason why email is the most consistently used form of digital marketing.
Too much of a good thing is never optimal, but consumers in general are fine with commercial emails: 82 percent of them open email sent by companies. And people who act on the pitch from an email spend 138 percent more than people who make purchases when prompted by some other source.
Smartphones have exponentially increased the value of email marketing. The average person checks their smartphone 34 times a day. One study estimated that 64 percent of consumers read their email via mobile devices. What’s nice about email best-practices is they’ve stood the test of time. Here are a quick 10 tips for you to keep in mind as you promote your coaching business digitally:
1 ] Keep your current students informed. If your students aren’t reading your social-media posts or consistently checking your website, how do they know what you’re up to? Email marketing is a highly efficient and affordable way to keep them informed. It allows you to promote everything from student success to new programs, altered pricing and upcoming events. The importance placed on driving new business can lead to forgetting about current students. The right email messages help re-engage them and get them coming back for more.
2 ] Create a strong mix of email types and messages. If all you ever send is a weekly four-page newsletter, there’s a chance your recipients will become bored. Make sure to mix up the content by sharing some longer emails or including video tips. These can cover more than just swing technique: think about topics like course management and equipment demo days. Meanwhile, send out some shorter “student success” emails that get a quick, positive message out there for others to identify with.
3 ] Have a goal and make the call (to action). The goal of sending emails is to drive activity that leads to more revenue for your academy. If you send out an email with a putting tip, you want two results—first, people view the tip, second, they take steps toward getting instruction. In a prominent place, tell them: “For additional putting tips that will shave strokes off your score, sign up for our Putting Clinic this Saturday, by clicking the link below!” The idea is to establish clear goals, for example, driving traffic to Youtube and Facebook pages, filling up an associate coach’s book, boosting attendance at clinics/programs or driving awareness around new technology or programs at the academy.
4 ] Send emails from a personalized account. In your personal life, if you receive an email from a “no reply” account you immediately know it is trying to sell you something. Boost your results by personalizing your “from” address to a real person instead of noreply@academyname.com. This can be created in the account set up controls if you haven’t already done so.
5 ] Break up your schedule for sending outbound emails. Experiment to see which days perform the best for your audience. This may vary based on the subject and content of your emails. Pay attention to your analytics and over time you’ll see certain key patterns. Don’t be shy about sending a blast on a Saturday or Sunday, given how likely your audience is to think about golf on weekends. Try sending out a tip on a Friday afternoon that recipients could put into use during their weekend round.
6 ] Get creative with your subject lines. Subject lines are what people see first when your email hits their inbox. If it’s lame, they probably won’t open the email. Create headlines for emails that you would be interested in, yourself. Some examples:
- Three-Putt No More! (include a tip plus info on your upcoming putting clinic)
- What shots scare you the most? (include a Halloween theme to make it timely)
- What’s New at (Academy Name)
- How good can you get?
- Take Your Game to the Next Level
- November Student Success Highlights
- The easiest way to drop 3 strokes
- Need to add power and distance?
7 ] Use photography and graphics (but don’t overdo it). If you use only text in your emails, you’re losing the attention of readers. Include photography or images in your emails, just don’t go overboard. Make sure the visuals aren’t taking away from the goal of your email and the action plan. It is strongly preferred that you use pictures of yourself teaching and not generic stock golf photos.
8 ] Have fun with it. Share your passion for golf and helping people achieve the skills they’ve dreamed of. If you create emails with passion and excitement in them, it will rub off on your audience and produce better results. Take pictures of your students when they reach milestone goals and share their stories.
9 ] Reach a larger audience. Is your operation part of a resort or a busy public course? If so you’ve got an immense opportunity to gain access to a database of golfers who may not be current students. Additionally, if you are not associated with a course, think about local associations and companies that you can connect with and get your emails/information in front of.
10 ] Consider email automation. If you’ve been creating successful email campaigns for a few years now and are really looking to take your email marketing to the next level, you’re probably ready for email marketing automation. This involves a sophisticated system that organizes your database into different lists that get extremely targeted email messaging to move recipients through the buying cycle. Automation is for dedicated users—it can take an email marketing program that’s performing well and turn it into one that turbo-charges your teaching revenue.