The world of yoga and wellness is based on forming connections and cultivating community. Many teachers and business owners in this space underutilize a powerful tool to help foster their own communities – the email newsletter.
Most studio owners are sitting on an email list they barely use. The names are already there, clients who’ve booked a class, signed up for a workshop, or asked about your schedule, but the list goes quiet for months at a time.
That’s a missed opportunity, because your newsletter is the one marketing channel you actually own. Social platforms change their rules constantly and bury your posts. Email lands in the inbox, every time. This guide walks you through how to build a newsletter your clients open, in six steps, plus a few ways to keep your open rates up once you’re rolling.
Table of Contents:
- Why Create an Email Newsletter
- How to Create an Email Newsletter in 6 Steps
- Nail Down Your Strategy
- Choose an Email Platform
- Build Your List of Subscribers
- Design Your Newsletter
- Check Your Work & Send Test Emails
- Send It, Track Performance & Iterate
- Pro Tips to Increase Your Open Rate
- Segment Your Audience
- Send It at the Right Time
- Use Emojis
Why Create an Email Newsletter?
In the digital age, where information is abundant, and attention spans are short, an email newsletter crafted with intention stands out. Particularly in the wellness space, it’s a tool that allows your message to reach clients wherever they are. But why invest time and resources into creating one?
- It goes straight to the inbox. A social post might reach a fraction of your followers, if the algorithm feels like it that day. An email reaches everyone who signed up. That’s a real conversation with the people who already chose you.
- It keeps people coming back. The clients who drift away usually don’t leave on purpose, they just forget. A regular note from you, with a class worth showing up for or a workshop they’d love, is often all it takes to pull someone back onto the mat.
- It does quiet work for your business. Repeat bookings, a filled workshop, a lapsed client who returns: a good newsletter nudges all of these without you having to chase anyone. Share what’s coming up, point to a client’s story, and let it do the asking for you.
By harnessing the power of email newsletters, you’re sharing information as well as enhancing your brand experience and nurturing the growth of your community.
Criteria for Excellent Email Newsletters
An excellent email newsletter must incorporate three critical principles.
- Engaging Design: The visual appeal of your newsletter is your first impression. An engaging design resonates with the aesthetic of your yoga studio or wellness center, featuring serene color schemes, readable fonts, and a layout that guides the reader through a seamless flow of information, much like a well-sequenced yoga class.
- Compelling Content: Content is the soul of your newsletter. It should speak directly to the interests and needs of your audience, whether through insightful articles, inspiring success stories, or enlightening tips that enrich their wellness journey.
- Offer Value: Every newsletter should offer some type of value, whether it’s through exclusive offers, early access to classes and workshops, or valuable insights into their personal health and wellness.
Watch Our Webinar on Creating Irresistible Email Incentives w/ Ashley Hagen
How to Create an Email Newsletter in 6 Steps
These are essential steps to create an email newsletter that informs and inspires your community. From selecting the right platform to curating content that speaks to the heart of your clientele, get the strategic insights you need to transform your own newsletter into a helpful and engaging resource for your following.
Nail Down Your Strategy
Strategy sounds like a big word for a newsletter, but it really comes down to two questions: what is this for, and how often can you realistically send it?
Start with what it’s for. Are you trying to fill weekday classes that run light? Promote a workshop series? Stay on people’s minds so they don’t drift? Pick one main job to start. A newsletter trying to do everything usually does none of it well, and you’ll burn out writing it.
Then be honest about frequency. Once a month you’ll actually keep up with beats once a week you abandon by March. Consistency matters more than volume here. Your clients would rather get a good email monthly than a rushed one every Tuesday until you quietly stop.
From there, what goes in it gets easy. Once you know the job and the rhythm, the content mostly picks itself: this month’s schedule, one useful idea, whatever’s coming up that you want people at.
When crafting an email newsletter strategy for your yoga or wellness business, the goal is to create something readers look forward to. A space where your subscribers can enjoy your content and relax.
Choose an Email Platform (or Find an All-in-One Solution)
Selecting the right email platform or all-in-one business management solution is a crucial step for wellness business owners looking to connect with their community through an email newsletter.
The ideal platform should not only streamline the process of creating and sending newsletters but also integrate seamlessly with your overall business operations.
If you’re seeking a more holistic approach, consider an all-in-one business management solution like OfferingTree. This platform is tailored to the wellness industry, offering features like appointment scheduling, client management, and point-of-sale systems, in addition to email marketing capabilities.
This allows you to manage your entire business ecosystem from one place, including the effective distribution of your email newsletters – all at a lower price than other wellness-specific options.
When choosing a platform, also consider factors like:
- Ease of use
- Scalability
- Cost
- Customer support
It’s beneficial to opt for a solution that grows with your business and provides reliable assistance when needed. Many platforms offer free trials, so take advantage of these to explore their features and ensure they align with your business goals and workflow.
Build Your List of Subscribers
For wellness business owners, building a robust email subscriber list is a vital step in nurturing a dedicated community and expanding your reach.
The key is to attract subscribers interested in what you have to offer, ensuring that your newsletters are welcomed into their inboxes.
- Start by leveraging your existing client base: Encourage clients who visit your studio or use your services to sign up for your newsletter.
- Optimize your website for email sign-ups: Include a visible, enticing sign-up form on your homepage and other relevant pages. Offer an incentive for subscribing, such as a free wellness guide or access to online resources. Communicate the value they’ll receive from your newsletters.
- Utilize your social media platforms: Regularly post about your newsletter and the exclusive content or offers subscribers can expect. You can also run targeted social media ads to reach a broader audience interested in wellness.
- Transparency and trust are crucial: Always make it clear that you respect their privacy and will only send valuable information. Under no circumstances should you buy email lists. This will damage your credibility.
Watch Our Webinar on Ways to Grow Your Email List w/ Meg Sangimino
Design Your Newsletter & Content
When it comes to newsletter design and content to include, here is some advice for wellness business owners:
- Keep It Visually Clean: Reflect your brand in your newsletter design. Use soothing colors, simple layouts, and high-quality images that evoke a sense of relaxation and well-being.
- Brand Consistency: Ensure your newsletter design aligns with your brand’s visual identity. Use your logo, brand colors, and a consistent font style to create a familiar and professional look.
- Engaging, Relevant Content: Include content that resonates with your audience’s interests and needs. Share wellness tips, yoga routines, success stories, or new service announcements. Keep it concise and engaging.
- Personal Touch: Add a personal note or message in each newsletter. It could be a brief wellness insight, a motivational quote, or a personal story that connects with your readers on a human level.
Check Your Work & Send Test Emails
Before sending your email newsletter, review your work and send test emails to yourself and other trusted individuals to ensure everything looks good and there are no mistakes. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:
- Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Whether it’s to book a class, read a blog post, or take advantage of a special offer, make sure your CTA is clear and compelling. Place it prominently in your newsletter.
- Mobile-Friendly Design: Many people read emails on their phones, so ensure your newsletter looks good and is easy to navigate on mobile devices.
- Test and Learn: Before sending it out to your entire list, test your newsletter on different email platforms and devices. Gather feedback and be prepared to tweak your design for better engagement.
Send It, Track Performance & Iterate
After you’ve tested and successfully sent out your first email newsletter, you’ll want to check in with any available analytics.
- Look at the open rate
- Look at the click-through rate
- See which links were popular and which ones fell short
Using this data will help you shape your future newsletters, such as thinking about what to write, how much information to include, and even how you arrange the content.
Data is valuable in getting to know your audience and how to keep improving how you communicate with them!
Learn more great tips to market your yoga business online and in person.
Pro Tips to Increase Your Newsletter Open Rate
Now, let’s discuss some tips and strategies specifically tailored to help wellness businesses increase email newsletter open rates. Discover the art of crafting compelling subject lines, the importance of timing, and personalized approaches that resonate with your audience’s wellness journey.
Segment Your Audience
For wellness businesses, segmenting your email newsletter audience is a strategic approach to ensure that your content resonates with the specific needs and interests of different groups within your clientele.
Start by gathering data from your client interactions, sign-up forms, and engagement patterns.
Common segmentation categories could include:
- Interest-Based Segmentation: Divide your audience based on their interests, such as yoga, meditation, nutrition, or holistic therapies. This allows you to tailor content that directly appeals to each group’s preferences.
- Behavioral Segmentation: Look at how clients interact with your services. Are they regular class attendees, occasional visitors, or online-only clients? This helps in sending relevant information, like in-studio events or online session updates.
- Demographic Segmentation: Use basic demographic information like age, gender, or location to customize your messages. For instance, different health and wellness topics may appeal more to different age groups.
- Engagement Level: Segment your audience based on their engagement with your previous newsletters. Send re-engagement content to those who haven’t opened emails recently and more targeted, advanced content to highly engaged subscribers.
Send It at the Right Time
To ensure your newsletter is opened and read, you need to align its delivery with the routines and preferences of your audience.
For a wellness audience, early mornings or evenings might be ideal, aligning with times they are likely to engage in wellness activities or planning.
- Consider experimenting with different days and times to gauge the best response.
- Leverage analytics from your email platform. Look at past open rates to identify trends in when your audience is most likely to engage with your content.
Use Emojis
Emojis are similar to body language– a way to express yourself to your audience. They also save space; a picture is worth 1,000 words, right?
- The open rate of emails with emojis in the subject line is 56% higher compared to the plain subject lines. [Experian]
- 44% of users are more likely to purchase products advertised using emojis. [Adobe Emoji Trend Report]
- Using emojis in the subject line can lead to an increase in unique openings by 29%. [Swiftpage]
- Using emojis in the subject line can lead to an increase in unique click rate by 28%. [Swiftpage]
Learn more about OfferingTree’s all-in-one business management software designed for wellness businesses by wellness experts, including a full suite of email marketing tools.
Try Our All-in-One Software to Manage & Market Your Wellness Business for Free
Here’s the thing to hold onto: somewhere on your list is a client who came once, loved it, meant to come back, and life got in the way. Your newsletter is what reaches them on the right Tuesday, the one where your email and their free evening line up, and they book the class. That’s the whole point. Not perfect design or clever subject lines, just staying in touch with the people who already like what you do.
If you’d like everything in one place, your client list, your bookings, and your newsletter working together, you can try OfferingTree free for 14 days and see how a newsletter feels when it’s built right into the rest of your studio.
See how easy it can be to create a beautiful newsletter that authentically represents your business and resonates with your audience. Try OfferingTree today.
