Email is one of the most effective ways to engage with students and families at your facility. It’s also a great communication tool that allows your customers and staff to easily interact with your gymnastics gym, swim school, dance studio, music or cheer program.
When it comes to marketing your program via email, you may know what kind of information your customers like to receive, but do you know why it’s the best type of communication for your facility to be utilizing?
No? No biggie! We’re here to break down the six reasons why email marketing is important to your youth activity center.
6 reasons why email marketing is important:
Email allows your customers to take action when you need them to
Is camp season on the horizon at your facility? Do you need parents to agree to updated facility policies to match ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions? Do you need help filling classes for an upcoming session?
Regardless of whatever call to action you want your customers to take, email makes it simple and convenient for both you and your customers to complete a specific action.
Action-oriented emails are convenient. They allow you to send one email to a specific group of customers who need to complete the same task, such as credit card information that’s about to expire. Likewise, the same email is easy for the recipient because all they have to do is click a button in an email to complete the task you asked of them. Win-win!
Email allows you to get personal with customers
Don’t want to send an email with recreational class updates to your competitive teams? No problem.
One aspect that makes email so important is that you can easily choose who receives an email and who doesn’t – allowing you to target the segment of customers you want your message to be in front of. You know, the people who want to hear from you about a specific class opening or new program at your facility.
Templates and automation make email simple and quick
How many individual email templates could you create, customize and send in one day? Depending on your comfort level with various email platforms, I’m going to say the number is pretty small.
That’s why investing in a platform that provides you with email templates and resources for automation is so important to the success of your youth activity center.
If the term ‘email template’ is a new concept for you, just think of it as a preformatted email that you can quickly and easily add your own content and graphics to. The beauty of templates is that they don’t take a lot of business resources (thinking time and money!) to edit and send to your customers.
Email can help you build relationships
You never want emails from your facility to be marked as spam. Follow these basic guiding principles, so they won’t be:
- sounds like a person in your emails, not a sales robot
- avoid sending too many emails in too short of a time frame
- pay attention to grammar and spelling
- make sure the information you’re sending is useful to the receiving audience
When used right, email is the most important tool in your kit. When you slide relevant information into current and prospective students inboxes, you’re giving them a chance to interact with your business in a way that’s convenient for them.
Email marketing is affordable
As a self-proclaimed Marshall’s fanatic, I’m always happy to find a good deal. And while some email marketing platforms can be outrageously expensive for a small business budget, there are plenty of free and built-in options that make email easily affordable for youth activity centers like yours.
Email platforms give you measurable insights
When you choose to use an email automation platform (such as HubSpot, Mailchimp or Constant Contact), one benefit you gain is the ability to measure the results of each email sent. There are many measurable actions you can track, such as:
- bounce rates
- open rates
- click through rates
- unsubscribe rates
With data on your side, you can easily visualize how your emails are performing,. Then you can use insight to adjust and ultimately improve your email’s effectiveness over time.
How does Jackrabbit Class make emailing easy?
I thought you’d never ask!
How many times have you filtered class data only to realize you have the perfect email to send to all Tiny Tots classes that meet on Tuesdays? Or maybe you just need to get the details about your upcoming session out of your head before the thought escapes you?
Marketing your program through a class management software like Jackrabbit gives you the flexibility of how and when you craft your message and audience. (—->Discover the top email features in Jackrabbit Class)
Ready to take your email marketing strategy to the next level? Connect with a Jackrabbit Class Product Coach to discover how the right software solution can help maximize your email marketing efforts!Start your Free Trial!
