40 Strategies for Yoga Studio Email List Building
By: Adriana Elmes Owner, Ashtangasana
for Yoga Studio Email List Building by Adriana Elmes (Owner of Ashtangasana) Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote a business. As a small business owner, there is not a large or even medium sized marketing budget. Yoga Studio owners have to be constantly creative and frugal. Even if you are using a social media marketing strategy, you need to still have an email marketing strategy. Your Social Media followers or friends are not your property. If your platform shuts down, or the algorithms change, you lose your marketing access. This is where focusing on developing an effective email marketing strategy is beneficial. But, how do we grow our list of emails? There are 6 main avenues to grow your list: from your website, products, social media, online community platforms, other sites, and email newsletters. The Basics of Email List Building 1. You need a EMS (Email Management System) As sending group emails from internet providers is illegal, you need to have an email management system that provides services for businesses. Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor are all examples of EMS.
2. What is your Offer? What are you trying to promote? Also, what will you offer someone in exchange for them giving you their email address? Give something of substance and value. This can be a discount for mala beads, promotion for a workshop, smoothie e-book, article of 10 New Yoga Student Mistakes, a video class for beginning yoga students, short webinar on essential oils, etc. “Sign up for our newsletter and receive for exclusive deals and offers” or “a free class”. 3. Create an Opt-In Form and Landing Page Your EMS will provide you with the ability to add opt-in forms to your website. Best practices are to ask for first name and email address. Make sure you have a captcha added to your sign-up form. This will avoid the spam robots from signing up false sign-ups. You should be able to get this through your EMS. Double optins are even better because you know they really want to receive your emails.
opt-in appearance. Location: Opt-in boxes can be placed on various pages of your site and in different locations within a page. The placement needs to be tested as location can perform differently based on the page, your viewer, the content. Here are the various locations you can chose from: • Pop-up • In a feature box
Keep the language simple and clear on the opt-in page. You can add a little humor or add a testimonial to make it more approachable. You can also add a sentence of what service you provide and what your mission is. This sentence might also be your slogan.
• Top of sidebar • Bottom of Home Page • After a Blog Post • Thin bar across the top of your page 5. Make sure you have an automated kickback email that thanks them for their sign-up and send them their “reward for signing up”. Maybe it is their first newsletter, or the e-book they couldn’t wait to receive. Do not delay in the request. Nothing is worse than asking for a download from a sign-up and having to send a reminder email.
4. Put the Opt-In form on your site There are many options on the format, timing and the location of your opt-in. Format: You will have choices like a small box, a large box that takes over whole page, or a pop-up format. The highest conversion tends to be a form on the right side-bar of web page.
Getting Subscribers Having people opt-in via your website is not the only way to gain email subscribers. You must look outside the website traffic to bring people in. Not only website email list building strategies will be discussed, but also building through other platforms, your expertise, your products, and your own customer base and community.
Think about a brief testimonial within the content of your opt-in box. Timing: Think about where most visitors land on your site. You can have an opt-in be in a fixed location on your page, but it can also be in the form of a pop up. A pop up can appear right when the person enters the site, after 5, 10, 20 sec, or upon indicating they are leaving the site. If you chose a pop up, having it pop at the beginning of one exploring your site might be irritating. Think about how people use your site, what page it goes on and then determine the timing of the
Website List Building Landing Page Landing pages are valuable tools that funnel people to a specific call to action. We talked about having an offer to entice people to offer up their email address. You want that offer to be some2
If you have videos or articles, you can use an optin to give access to the resources, an exclusive opportunity. You can also offer an email course, where you use a drip campaign providing them information over a 6-week course. Another alternative, is to offer the first week for free on your website (the blog would be a good location) and Your EMS might call this a Sign-Up form with its then they must sign up to receive the rest of the sole purpose to provide information in exchange course. Promote the course on Social Media. for an email address. Use Your Products Home Page As a Yoga Studio, you have to think a little out of The largest number of visits go to your home the box as to what Products you can use to enpage. Don’t miss the opportunity to have a clear tice sign-ups. Most people going to a Yoga site are sign-up on this page. You can use Welcome Mat looking for classes. Everyone likes a discount or with your homepage. When someone lands on freebie in exchange for an email. Here are some your homepage, Welcome Mat kicks in and opens other ideas: to a sign-up landing page. • Discount on a yoga mat, mala beads, waYou can also use Smart Bar to add a skinny banter bottle, sweat mat. ner on the top • Free product like a of your page no class or water-bottle. matter where you scroll. • Ask to send receipts via email – it is Exit Intent or better for the environTimed Pop-up ment. Pop ups are great *Gifts for the lucky winner every week • Line on receipt, to draw attention below signature with to the sign-up and 35% DISCOUNT AFTER SUBSCRIBE email request. opt-in. You can Enter your email address SUBSCRIBE schedule it to pop • Ask customers to up based on secrefer. Ask as a Call to onds of view time. Action at the end of You can also schedule it to pop up when the viewyour emails. Ask them to send your email er is intending to leave. Strategically, you might sign-up landing page to their friend who want two different programmed pop-ups. One they think might be interested and benpop up can go after 15-30 seconds of web browsefit from your emails or newsletters. You ing and another can pop up when you intend to can do this as a P.S. at the end, with inleave the site. Experimenting with style and timing structions for them to cut and paste the of pop ups can help with effectiveness. link to the landing page instead of forwarding the newsletter to them. Gated Products on Website thing special and significant. What better way than to promote that “offer” on it’s own dedicated page. On that page, there is a clear call to action to provide an email in exchange for the valuable offer. Welcome Mat is an easy software that can create a landing page fast.
SPECIAL GIFT
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– anyone who has a studio email, create an auto responder link at the bottom offering them a “free class” or discount. Connect to an opt-in.
• Send a personal email that requests your subscribers to refer one or two friends who they think might benefit from the information you provide in your emails or newsletters. Subject line “Quick Question”.
• Offer on the back of your business cards, leading to landing page and opt-in.
If you click here to email a friend about this guide, I’ll send this bonus to you right away. Just leave me a BCC’d so I know you sent it. And if you don’t want to email any friends but still want the bonus, just let me know by relaying to this email. I will still send the bonus to you. Cheers, XXX. This is a personal email.
• Host an event with another business and have a sign-up list with an offer or drawing. • Farmer’s Market or Street fair drawing of something with value in exchange for email. • Direct mail piece with nice incentive to go to your site and sign up.
Send a Personal email asking existing subscribers to recommend one person to your list, that you will then reach out to personally, via email.
• Use a chalk board sign outside of your studio saying email only promos, sign up. • Reward employees for gathering email addresses… offer a contest and prize for the most.
• Email signature has a call to action or offer with sign-up attached, click link. • Create a public event through Meetup and register through Eventbrite – a free talk at your studio, a fun open house, or a holiday trunk show.
• Page with Subscribe only access to video classes. • QR code with auto upload of email contact info.
• Host a regular Meetup event (such as, yoga in the park) with registration.
• Create a mini-course as the gift for signing up.
• Use an auto-responder with a call to action
Social Media Strategies to Grow Your List You can add call to actions on your social media. You can also do events such as email challenges where you are exciting them to reach a goal. Make sure you ask your subscribers to invite a friend to be part of the challenge. Support leads to success.
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YouTube
Facebook and Instagram
Link with a call to action over the top of the video. Link with call to action in the description of video.
• Facebook and Instagram have bios that people view on a regular basis. Add a Call To Action within your bio. www.yourstudio.com/freewaterbottle (create a landing page for this freebie).
Pinterest Find groups and post on Group Boards that are relevant with a Call to Action leading to a Landing Page.
• You can post an image on Instagram and Facebook with a call to action in the image. State that the link is in the bio and again connect to a landing page.
Community Platforms and Other Sites Write Articles
• Your Facebook Cover Page image can be a Call To Action. Either link to bio or have a simple landing page link to your Call to Action.
Become an expert in your field. Spread and share your knowledge to people via other people’s websites. There are various article site such as Yogitimes, Medium, and Elite Daily that look for other people’s content. If you have already created articles and content for your website, re-purpose these and post to a larger population. You can then post these articles on social media and to your email list. As you are increasing your standing as an expert in your field, the likelihood these articles are shared with potential new customers increases.
• Make sure to utilize your sign-up and call to action button on your Facebook Business page. • If you want to post on Facebook Groups be sure to give valuable content so you aren’t spamming. You can also start your own Subscriber only Facebook group as everyone likes to be part of a private club.
Guest Blog Postings
You can also see if other health-orient professionals such as Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Acupuncturists, Personal training, Health coaches, psychologists, etc., might have interest in you posting on their website, the value of yoga for mind and body. Provide a link to your landing page and call to action.
• Did you know you can download your contacts’ emails on LinkedIn? »» My Network > Connections > Gear . Export LinkedIn Connections > Export • Share valuable content in Groups, provide a link with a landing page and opt-in.
List Swap
• Post valuable content and provide a link to landing page with offer. Image has the offer info.
You can also do a List Swap with which you create content for your site and another’s site. Exchange with someone who has a similar reach and target market. Make sure both participants have a call to action with appropriate links and opt-in offers. You can chose to have one landing page with the
• Experience section you can post a call to action with a link to landing page for the offer.
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opt-in offer or separate out based on interest. Email Newsletter On your website or Social Media, you can promote a Subscriber only newsletter which provides them content you can only get via the newsletter. Give promo and discounts that are only for subscribers. Content you can chose are videos, podcasts, articles, tools or e-books. Make this a consistent and regular release. Conclusion Everyday our email lists are shrinking so we must make a concerted effort to continue to grow our lists. Take a few of these tips, one at a time and add as many of these ideas and suggestions as possible. Creating email capture from as many avenues as possible is so important. Email sign up forms are simple, not complicated to add to our existing web platforms. Take it one step at a time, maybe look at adding 3-5 of these ideas per month.
by Adriana Elmes (Owner of Ashtangasana) “Supporting the business growth of Yoga Studios.� yogastudiotraining.com 6