No One Beats Joan…
This might be nuts…
But, I purposeIy subscribe to tons of email lists from fitness pros, clubs, studios and vendors.
Yes… on purpose… because I want to see how our industry crafts their “messaging.”
One of my favorites is from Joan Napolitano — a 50-something personal trainer/coach in Florida who owns and operates a 6-figure, niche boutique studio for 40+ co-ed clients.
For the last 12 months I’ve received at least one email each week from her.
Sometimes, two!
And, it’s not some impersonal “done-for-you” newsletter.
Nope, her emails are straight-from-the-heart and always feel like they’re “speaking directly to me” with her joyful, positive personality.
… as if she’s my best friend!
It’s a RELATIONSHIP!
At this point, I feel like I know Joan and most of her family…pretty well.
I know what she eats… what kind of car she drives… what movies she likes and dislikes. I even know her dog’s name!
But her emails are not ALL about her.
Nope, in almost every email she conducts a “problem/solution” conversation with her readers.
And, she includes the reader in the conversation with a [FIRST NAME] mail merge field and both close-ended and open-ended questions, like:
“Art, do you work out in the morning?” (close-ended YES or NO)
Then another close-ended question:
“If so, do you have a hard time getting up to get going?” (YES or NO)
Then an open-ended question…
“What do you wear to your workouts?” (Now I need to think internally about myself)
And, then a little “life hack” solution to the problem (I may or may not have):
“One quick and easy thing to help start your morning workout is to lay out your workout clothes the night before. So, they’re waiting for you!”
Then, in almost every email, Joan includes a link back to her website for information. As an example, (using our own DWK website) she might say:
“If you want a few more “hacks” on how to get your morning started, just CLICK or TAP HERE….“
What Really Just Happened…
Do you see how effective this is?
Joan just accomplished two (2) very important marketing tasks.
1.) She reinforced our relationship by GIVING me an “actionable” life hack I can implement right away. She didn’t try to sell me anything.
2.) She is driving traffic to her website with the promise of even more “actionable” content.
New World Marketing
This is a prime example of New World Marketing.
Our clients and prospects are so much more savvy and smarter than even a year ago.
Today’s marketing is all about connections and relationships.
In the digital world connections and relationships are built through conversations, actionable content and consistent outreach with no strings attached (not even an opt-in form).
That same conversation should be occurring on your website as well.
I can assure you that despite all the claims about social media…. email marketing continues to be the most effective sales and marketing tactic available to fit pros, coaches, studios and clubs.
But, it’s HOW you use it that will determine how effective it will be.
FREE SAMPLE…
You can get a sense of conversational email writing with our Free Sample Email Download.
You’ll need to scroll down the page a bit. The FREE SAMPLE is in MS Word so you can download, edit and use it for yourself.
I hope you find this helpful…