Best FREE Email Marketing Tools For Your Fitness Business

If you want your fitness business to grow, marketing is a must. Sending emails as part of your marketing campaign is worth considering. And there are many free tools to help you increase your client base.

The Value of Email Marketing

There are many benefits to adding emails to your marketing plan. One is that it has a high return on investment or ROI. For every dollar spent on email marketing, you can earn up to $44. That's a 4400% return!

Plus, almost 4 billion people have an email account. Sending messages to their inbox enables you to easily keep in touch. Even if they move physically, you can still send them emails since this address will likely remain the same.

What about social media marketing? How does email marketing compare? Admittedly, social media is a great way to engage with your target audience. But one problem with this type of platform is that you don't have much control over who sees your posts.

For instance, if your Facebook followers don't actively engage with your business page, it will likely fall out of their news feed. Yet, when using emails as part of your digital marketing plan, you can be assured that they'll receive your message.

Best Free Tools for Email Marketing Campaigns

Although sending emails offers a high ROI, that doesn't mean that you have to spend a fortune to grow your personal training business. There are many free tools available to assist with your email marketing efforts. These can be broken down into four basic categories. They are automation software, subject line analyzers, analytics sites, and email survey services.

Free Email Automation Software

One huge benefit of sending emails is the ability to automate. Automation refers to creating a process that acts automatically. It requires less effort on your part as emails are sent without needing to be triggered by you. Instead, something is triggered within the marketing software, causing your email to be sent.

Marketing automation also allows you to continue to grow your fitness business even when you're not actively working. Use of a marketing automation tool enables you to engage with clients when you are on vacation, sleeping, or otherwise unavailable.

With an automation tool like this, you can set up pre-recorded weekly exercise routines to be released at a certain time. You can also use marketing automation to schedule content for a particular demographic. This includes sending inspiring emails to new moms who need more motivation. Or it might involve providing links to resources for individuals with specific health concerns.

Which free marketing automation platform is best for this purpose? Here are five that top the list:

• HubSpot Email Marketing Software. You can send automated, yet personalized emails with this software. Create your own emails or choose from an already-made template. HubSpot also allows you to do split testing. This is where you test different versions of the same email campaign by comparing each one's analytics. You can use this platform for a variety of digital marketing services. These range from publishing blogs to creating a landing page.

• Sendinblue Marketing Software. This platform also offers many automation services. This is accomplished via creating automation workflows. For example, you can direct this marketing service to automatically send an email when it is a client's birthday or when they sign up to your site. Transactional emails—such as when someone places an order for your products or services—are also an option with this platform. If you want to get in touch with your fitness clients immediately, Sendinblue offers SMS marketing and live chat options as well.

• Mailchimp Marketing Software. Mailchimp is a marketing service that, like the others, offers automation and ease. In addition to providing top-notch customer support, the free version of this platform offers many other benefits. These include access to seven marketing channels, one-step automation, surveys, and custom domains. It also allows up to 2,000 contacts. That makes this free plan a good option for fitness professionals with a smaller database but want a room to grow before switching to a premium plan.

• Constant Contact Marketing Software. Choose Constant Contact as your email marketing service provider and you will enjoy many automation services. This site allows you to create a drip campaign for your clients based on their interaction with your emails. Unopened emails are sent again, enticing the recipient to take a look. Like the others, Constant Contact also offers services related to social media, like posting ads on Facebook and Instagram. It also integrates with your ecommerce platform. This is helpful if you sell fitness products in addition to providing personal training services.

• Moosend Marketing Software. This marketing platform offers email automation templates, split testing, data analytics, advanced personalization, and more. You can also use Moosend to segment your lists, allowing for more targeted emails. With the free plan, you can send unlimited emails, making it a platform that will grow with you.

Free Subject Line Analyzers

If you don't have a compelling subject line, your email will go unopened. This is true even if you use a platform that offers maximum deliverability. A marketing tool that can help with this is a subject line analyzer.

Net Atlantic offers a free email subject line grader. Simply type in the phrase you want to use, hit "Go!" and you're provided a score. This score is based on your line type. For instance, questions tend to perform better than a headline. It also tells you how the phrase ranks based on character and word count.

SubjectLine.com also scores your email subject line on a scale of 0 to 100. If you score less than 100, this platform will tell you the reasons why. Points may be deducted due to not using the correct capitalization or if the subject lacks urgency.

You can also use Omnisend to test your subject lines before sending emails. Like Net Atlantic, this site considers your character and word count when providing a score. It also looks at the exact words used, giving you more points when you use "helpful words" and avoid negative wording. It even tells you the likelihood of your bulk emails being considered spam.

Free Marketing Data Analytics Sites

The only way to tell whether your email marketing campaign is effective is to monitor your analytics. Certain marketing software options offer this ability, making it easier to see if you're creating responsive emails. There are also dedicated analytics collection sites if you want more advanced data.

Google Analytics is one of the most well-known. This free marketing tool tells you how many people visited your website as a result of your emails. It also provides your bounce rate and visitor demographics. The latter provides insight as to which members of your database are interacting with your emails most.

Open Web Analytics offers similar services. This platform also tells you which web pages your site's visitor viewed before and after clicking on your site. This gives you an idea of who your competition is, as well as the sites that interest your clients most.

Free Email-Based Survey Services

Sending your clients surveys is a great way to learn more about them. It also provides insight into the products and services they desire. If you choose Mailchimp marketing software, the ability to send surveys is part of their free service.

A Mailchimp alternative is Survey Monkey. This site also provides some best practices when it comes to creating and sending survey-based emails. You can choose a free plan or, if you want more options, premium plans are available too.

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Email Marketing Platform

With so many different email marketing software and other tools from which to choose, how do you select the best one for you? Here are a few factors to consider:

• The number of emails you can send. Does the platform allow for unlimited emails or is there a cap on how many you can send? Is this enough for your database?

• The number of contacts it allows. Some free options enable you to enter unlimited contacts. This makes it possible to continue to use the platform when growing your personal training business.

• Your marketing automation options. The more automated you can make your marketing campaign, the less effort on your part to keep that tool up and running.

• Your targeted marketing options. Does the platform offer drip emails based on how your clients interact with your emails? Can you target a specific email recipient?

• Its interaction with social media. Some marketing software interacts with Facebook and Twitter. This allows you to handle all your marketing on the same platform.

When to Transition from a Free Plan to a Paid Plan

How do you know when it's time to let go of your free plan and switch to a premium plan instead? If the free plan no longer meets all your needs, upgrading enables you to continue to use the same marketing software but with more benefits.

Paid plans often offer unlimited emails and unlimited contacts. They also provide a variety of more advanced marketing automation options. Choose the pricing plan that best fits your budget and needs.

Tips for Developing Your Email Marketing Strategy

Here are a few additional suggestions for making your email marketing plan more effective:

• Choose automation when you can. Email automation allows you to focus on other areas of your business. It requires less time out of your day.

• Create multiple ways to enter your database. Collect your client's data whenever you can. Ask them to sign up for your newsletters when they visit your website. Have them provide their email address when they take one of your classes.

• Tailor your emails to your clients. Send emails on topics your clients are interested in. This increases engagement.

• Connect your email campaign to your other online content. Use email marketing to entice clients to visit your website or follow you on Facebook. This gives you many avenues for delivering your promotional information.

You can also grow your fitness business by offering your services online. The ISSA has an Online Coaching certification that teaches you how to make your virtual personal training a great success!