Yoga Email Marketing: Ultimate Guide

Whether you’re a newly qualified yoga teacher or own your own studio, email marketing is one of the most effective ways of promoting your business and gaining new students. 

But with so much to consider, it can be hard to know where to start! That’s why we’ve made the ultimate step-by-step guide to yoga email marketing, covering:

• Step 1: Determine The Goal For Your Yoga Email Marketing
• Step 2: Decide on the Software You’ll Use To Create Your Yoga Instructor Email Marketing
• Step 3: Build Your Subscribers List For Your Yoga Email Marketing
• Step 4: Plan And Create The Content of Your Yoga Email Marketing
• Email Marketing For Yoga Instructors: 3 Expert Tips

Before we get started, enhance your career as a yoga teacher with OriGym’s Level 4 yoga teacher training course! Enquire today, or find out more information by downloading our free course prospectus here. 

Step 1: Determine The Goal For Your Yoga Email Marketing

Before you start designing the content of your emails, you should first outline the goal of your yoga email marketing campaign. 

Email marketing is a powerful marketing strategy for yoga teachers that involves sending email newsletters to a large group of people to promote your business and services. 

Whilst this is the overall aim of email marketing, you should try to specify exactly what you want to achieve from it, such as:

• To gain new students, i.e. get them to sign up to a class or buy a membership 
• To promote an event you are holding e.g. a retreat or workshop
• To increase brand awareness
• To share news about your business e.g. adding a new class to your timetable
• To promote offers and promotions e.g. a special membership discount for the new year
• To distribute information to gain authority in the yoga industry 
• To sell a product e.g. merchandise 

Taking time to think about your goal first will then determine the decisions you make when creating your email marketing campaign. 

For example, say your goal is to promote a new student intro offer for your studio. 

This will dictate things such as the type of content you create, as it would need to be focused on including information about the event.

It would also help you ensure that you only send your emails to the relevant audience. In this case, you would only want to send your emails to people who are not already students, as here you are targeting new customers. 

Having a clear goal in mind also helps you to track the progress of your yoga instructor email marketing campaign.

This is because it will determine which data to look at when tracking your campaign’s success. 

To take the same example, if your goal is to promote a new customer offer, you would look at how many sales of that offer came from your emails. 

We explain how to track your campaign in more detail in the ‘Tips’ section at the end of this article! 

Step 2: Decide on the Software You’ll Use To Create Your Yoga Instructor Email Marketing

Once you have determined your goals, the next step is to select the software you want to use to create your yoga email marketing.  

Using a dedicated email marketing software makes it a lot easier and will save you time! 

With so many options out there, it can be hard to know which is the best software for your needs. 

To make the choice a little easier, here are some important factors to consider when choosing your email marketing software:

#1- A Good Yoga Email Marketing Software Has Customisable Templates

A major feature of a good email marketing software is that it offers a good range of customisable email templates. 

Using a template will save you lots of time and effort, compared to designing an email completely from scratch. You can then simply customise the template by filling it in with your own text and images. 

It also makes your emails look more sleek and professional, helping increase their success. 

For example, popular email marketing software MailChimp has over 100 different templates to choose from, making it likely that you will find one to suit your needs. 

Some types of templates that are useful for email marketing for yoga studios and teachers are:

• Welcome emails
• Event promotion
• Newsletter/ information-based emails 

Whichever software you choose, you should ensure that the templates are easy-to-use and customise. 

You should also watch out for additional fees. Most softwares will include access to templates, but some may require you to pay extra for a wider range of templates! 

#2- Your Yoga Email Marketing Software Should Have Segmentation Options

In email marketing, segmentation is where you can group your subscribers into smaller sections so that you can target them more effectively. 

You can then send different emails to different types of subscribers, or only send an email to a specific group depending on the nature of the email. 

For example, say you are sending an email about a new prenatal yoga class you are starting. 

In this case, you could use segmentation to only send your email to your female subscribers, since a prenatal yoga class would not be applicable to men!

This increases your yoga instructor email marketing engagement, as people are more likely to engage with an email if it is relevant to them, ultimately leading to more sales. 

If you send irrelevant emails to the wrong demographics, they are more likely to ignore the email and even start to ignore any future emails that you send them. 

This would decrease engagement with your emails and reduce the success of your campaign. 

Again, the level of segmentation you can do may vary depending on how much you are willing to pay for your yoga email marketing software. 

For example, below are the pricing options for MailChimp:

As you can see, With the free and second lowest price option, you don’t get access to ‘Predictive’ or ‘Advanced’ segmentation. 

It is therefore worth looking into how advanced you want your segmentation to be, and factoring this into your budget.

#3- Automation Is An Important Feature Of Email Marketing For Yoga Instructors Software

Another important feature to look out for in yoga instructor email marketing software is automation. 

Automation means that the software will automatically send a certain email to subscribers when triggered by a particular factor. 

This means that you don’t have to remember to manually send individual emails for things such as:

• Reminding students about an upcoming class
• Class booking confirmation 
• Purchase receipts 
• Sending a welcome email to a new student
• Sending them a special offer on a their birthday
• Reminding them if they need to renew their membership 

Using automation features for these things helps you to keep your subscribers engaged and generate leads, since you will be sending them emails that are completely tailored to them. 

So, when choosing a software for your yoga email marketing, make sure that it has a good automation function. 

#4- Good Yoga Email Marketing Software Allows You To Run A/B Testing

A more advanced but very useful feature to look out for in an email marketing software is A/B Testing. 

In marketing, A/B testing is the process of testing different combinations of variables to see which gives the best result. 

In relation to yoga email marketing, you would use A/B testing to test out different email ideas by sending different versions to different audiences.

You can then see which version works best, by looking at how many people receive, open and engage with the email. 

Some factors you can test with A/B testing are:

• Subject line
• Use of images and colours
• Call To Action button
• The time of day you send the email

For example, you could send two of the same email, but each with a different subject line. You could then see which email was opened the most, helping you decide which subject line is the most effective in getting people to open the email. 

Some software will offer A/B testing for free, whilst others may limit you to a certain amount of testing before you have to pay an additional fee or subscription. 

With these 4 factors in mind, some of the best software for email marketing for yoga studios are:

• MailChimp 
• Active Campaign
• Mailer Lite
• Moosend 

Step 3: Build Your Subscribers List For Your Yoga Email Marketing

Now that you have chosen your software, it’s now time to start building up your subscribers list. 

In other words, you need to start collecting the email addresses of the people you want to send your emails to. 

The best way to do this is by creating a ‘lead magnet’.

A lead magnet is simply when you offer an incentive to encourage people in exchange for providing their contact details- such as their phone number and email address. 

You can then use these contact details to send them your yoga email marketing campaign and ultimately turn them into paying customers. 

Lead magnets are the best way to get subscribers because people are much more willing to give you their contact information if they get something in return! 

Some of the types of things you can offer in exchange for their email addresses are:

• A free yoga sequence or guide
• A free yoga eBook 
• Access to a video class
• A special offer or discount
• A free class 

As well as being an incentive to gather contact information, offering these kinds of helpful resources boosts your credibility and authority as a skilled and knowledgeable yoga teacher!

The most common place to use a lead magnet is on your website or landing page (a page where users are directed from another source such as social media). 

For example, this yoga teacher has included a CTA button on her homepage, encouraging users to download a ‘free home yoga space and prop guide’. 

Users are then directed to a page where they need to enter their email address in order to receive the guide. 

You can then use this to send them further emails in the future promoting your business, and they could then turn into a paying customer! 

In this case, the lead magnet is integrated as a static feature on the website. 

You can also include the lead magnet as a pop up box, such as in the example below:

This will appear to users when they scroll down to a certain point on a page.

Again, this yoga teacher has included an incentive (“Be the first to know about offers and exciting news”) to encourage users to provide their email address.

The more information you get from users, the more you can send them emails that are tailored to their individual needs. 

For example, this yoga teacher asks users to state where they have practised with them before.

This means that he can then send different emails to subscribers that are relevant for their location. 

For example, if someone has selected London, then he can make sure to only send them information about his classes in London, rather than all other locations around the world. 

However you choose to integrate your lead magnet, you should ensure that you are using people’s data correctly in your yoga email marketing.

For more information, check out our guide to GDPR for yoga teachers here. 

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Step 4: Plan And Create The Content of Your Yoga Email Marketing

Now that you have your subscribers, you are now ready to start planning and creating the actual content of your yoga email marketing. 

The content you send will depend on the type of subscribers you are targeting.

For example, the content of a welcome email for new subscribers will be different to an email you send to an existing customer reminding them of their class booking. 

Whichever kind of email you are sending, some key features of successful yoga instructor email marketing content are:

• An engaging subject line
• A clear heading
• Persuasive language 
• A Call To Action
• Clickable links and images
• Links to your social media channels 

With this in mind, here are some of the most effective types of content you can use in email marketing for yoga studios and teachers:

Welcome Email For Your New Yoga Students

This is perhaps the most important type of email you will send, as it is where you will make a first impression with your new students!

As we discussed earlier, this is a type of ‘automation’ you can set up within email marketing software, so that every new subscriber receives a welcome email. 

By contacting them straight away, you are keeping people engaged with your business as well as influencing whether they engage with your future emails or not. 

In other words, if you have a strong welcome email, this will ensure that people keep opening your emails and engaging with your business in general.

When creating a welcome email, if you promised an incentive in your lead magnet, make sure to provide it!

Now that the subscriber has what they signed up for, you can then keep their attention and promote your business. 

The best way to do this is by using a Call To Action (CTA). This is something that prompts the reader to take a specific action. 

This is particularly important for email marketing for yoga studios, as this is where you would prompt people to sign up to their first class, or to purchase a membership. 

However, if you are an individual yoga teacher, you may also want to take a more personal approach to your welcome email. 

You could write your welcome email in a more conversational tone, such as this welcome email from a yoga instructor:

As you can see, she has used the welcome email as a way to introduce herself to new subscribers. This makes her seem friendly and approachable, which is an important trait of a good yoga teacher and sets the precedent for the rest of her emails. 

However, you should still make sure that your email is ultimately focused on generating leads and sales by including a CTA. 

In the example above, after introducing herself, she then includes clear CTA buttons that will generate leads to her website!

Check out our guide to writing a fitness welcome email for more tips! 

Make Announcements And Promote Upcoming Events

When it comes to email marketing for yoga studios and teachers, one of the best types of content to include in your emails is announcements or news. 

You would target this kind of email to existing students, as a way to inform them about things such as:

• Adding a new class to your timetable
• Announcing a yoga workshop or event 
• Announcing information such as a class time change, venue change etc. 
• Features in the press

For example, below is an email from a yoga studio promoting an upcoming yoga workshop:

As you can see, they have given clear information about the workshops (time, date, place, cost), as well as a brief description of the event. 

Most importantly, they have included a Call To Action (“Book your spot here”). 

This is essential for converting the email from merely informational to generating leads and ultimately making you money! 

Promote A Special Offer Or Discount

As well as events, yoga email marketing is also a great way to promote a special offer or discount you are running.

In terms of automation, this kind of email would be targeted at existing customers as well as new ones, and would cover any demographic. 

For example, this yoga studio has sent an email about a special offer on a new class. 

As you can see, they have used an engaging subject line, “Fancy 20% off yogis?”. This immediately tells people what the email is about, but also encourages them to open it to find out what the discount is for. 

They have also included a Call To Action button- “Book Sunset Yoga Now”. Again, this ensures that the email is not just informational but also converts into leads, making it a great way to get more yoga students to your classes!

Send Out A Yoga Newsletter

As well as specific promotions and offers, one of the most effective types of yoga email marketing is to send out a newsletter. 

A newsletter is a regular email that you send to all subscribers, usually on a weekly or monthly basis.

There are many different types of approaches you can take to creating a newsletter.

The most common purpose of sending a regular newsletter is as a means of keeping your subscribers up to date with any news or information about your classes. 

For example, in terms of yoga email marketing for yoga studios, you could send out a regular newsletter with information such as new class announcements. 

When it comes to email marketing for yoga instructors, a newsletter can be a great way to show your personality, educate and inform your subscribers.

Some types of content you could include in your newsletter are:

• Student testimonials
• Answering questions from your students 
• Highlights from your yoga social media
• Educational content, e.g. breaking down yoga poses, explaining aspects of yoga philosophy etc.
• Product recommendations 
• Healthy yogic food recipes

So, some benefits of sending out a regular newsletter to your subscribers are:

• Act as a reminder for your business/services by regularly appearing in their inbox
• Drive traffic to your website or landing page
• Keep them up-to-date with offers and promotions 
• Build a rapport and sense of community with your subscribers. This will make them feel included and want to stay involved in becoming or continue to be a customer.
• Present yourself as a knowledgeable and authoritative yoga teacher. Including educational content and resources in your newsletter increases your credibility as a yoga studio or teacher. 

It also gives potential students an insight into what they can expect from your classes, which could then lead them to sign up to a class and become a paying customer!

Here is a great example of a newsletter from a yoga teacher that incorporates many of the features we have discussed. 

As you can see, they have written their newsletter in a personal and conversational tone. This gives her subscribers an insight into her life, making her seem more ‘real’ and relatable.

She has also included internal links throughout. For example, clicking on the words “inhale, exhale” directs users to her blog post on breathing exercises:

This therefore means that the newsletter is not just educational and informative, but also helps generate traffic to her website. 

She has also included more direct Calls To Action throughout the newsletter, such as when she promotes an upcoming retreat she is holding:

As you can see, she has used the newsletter as an opportunity to promote an event and generate leads to sign up to her retreat.

Email Marketing For Yoga Instructors: 3 Expert Tips

Now that you know how to create your yoga email marketing newsletters, here are 3 top tips to ensure that you get the most out of your campaigns! 

Tip #1- Combine Your Yoga Email Marketing With Your Social Media

Along with email marketing, social media is one of the most important digital marketing strategies for yoga teachers you should be utilising. 

Combining the two therefore makes for a very powerful marketing strategy! 

There are two main ways that you can integrate social media with your email marketing:

Add your social media buttons to your emails

Most email marketing softwares will give you the option to insert links to your social media at the bottom of your emails. 

These will usually show at the bottom of your email in the form of clickable graphics like this:

This therefore increases engagement both with your emails and with your social media channels. 

Include a link to your newsletter subscription in your social media bio

As well as driving traffic from your emails to your social media, you can also gain new subscribers from social media.

The best way to do this is through including a link to subscribe to your newsletter in your Instagram bio. 

You can do this through a Linktree feature, which allows you to include more than one link from your Instagram. 

This is what this yoga teacher has done to direct people from her social media to her newsletter.

As you can see, this takes the user to a lead magnet, where they can then enter their email address. 

This is an easy way to gain subscribers and reach a wider audience with your yoga email marketing.  

Check out our guide to yoga Instagram marketing for more information about how to optimise your Instagram as a yoga teacher or studio. 

Tip #2- Monitor The Success Of Your Yoga Email Marketing Campaign 

Once you have created your campaign, your work shouldn’t stop there! 

After you’ve created and sent out your first yoga instructor email marketing campaign, you should make sure to track and monitor its progress. 

You can then use this to see what works and what doesn’t in your email campaign. This will then help you to make changes to improve it to ensure that it is as successful as it can be. 

Some important metrics to look for when analysing your campaign are:

• Open rate- how many people have opened your email. 
• Click rate- how many people opened a link in the email, e.g. to your landing page
• Bounce rate- when an email is rejected by the server and not delivered. This indicates that the email address does not exist. 
• Unsubscribe rate- how many people have unsubscribed from your email marketing. A sudden high unsubscribe rate would indicate that there was a problem with the content you sent out. 
• Device data- what device people are opening your emails on, i.e. a smartphone or a laptop. 
• Spam rate- the amount of times your email is reported as a spam, i.e. sent to someone’s spam inbox. 

Most email marketing software will allow you to easily track these things on an analytics dashboard. 

For example, this is what MailChimp’s dashboard looks like:

Based on this data, you can then run A/B testing on your campaigns. As we mentioned in Step 2, this is an important feature to look out for when choosing your email marketing software. 

Say you notice that there has been a decrease in your email click rate, meaning that people aren’t clicking on the links in your emails. 

You could then experiment with changing certain features of your emails to see what is causing this low click rate. 

For example, you could try changing the placement, colour or copy of your CTA button to see if this encourages people to click on it more. 

If your click rate is still low, then 

You can keep making these changes until you see an improvement in your click rate!

Tip #3- Plan Your Future Yoga Email Marketing Strategy 

As well as tracking the success of your current campaigns, our final tip for email marketing for yoga instructors is to also plan ahead for your next campaigns. 

This ensures that your email campaigns remain consistent and that you keep making money as a yoga teacher!

One of the best ways to do this is to set objectives. 

These should be quantifiable and have a clear time frame for when you want to achieve them. 

For example, you could decide that you want to reach a certain open rate within 3 months. 

Having clear objectives in mind will then make it easier to track your progress, as you can keep referring back to them. 

It will also give you motivation and direction to keep optimising your yoga instructor email marketing to be the best it can be! 

Some other things to bear in mind when planning your email marketing strategy are:

• Keep up-to-date with current fitness trends and include these in your emails
• Prepare your upcoming content, e.g. write the copy of your newsletter or gather the  images you will use
• Plan for events and special dates, e.g. plan a campaign for new year to capitalise on people making new year fitness goals, or yoga-specific dates such as World Yoga Day on 21st June!
• Research your competitors, e.g. sign up to the newsletters of other yoga studios and teachers to see what they are doing with their email marketing and make sure yours is better!

Before you go!

So, we hope you now have all you need to know about email marketing for yoga studios and instructors! 

Feeling inspired? Take your yoga career to the next level by becoming a Level 4 yoga instructor with OriGym! Enquire today, or download our free course prospectus to browse our full range of courses.