“Does email marketing really work?” is a question I often hear from owners who are discouraged with the results they are getting from other fitness marketing systems. Seriously, if email marketing for the fitness owner did not work, I would be out of business very fast.

When I owned my Fitness Together studio in Sacramento, I spent a lot of time and money on marketing. So I know how it feels to be sucked in by a “deal” that promises to bring in a boat load of leads. Like you, there were times it would have been just as effective to have flushed the money down the toilet.  I’ll tell you, that is not a good feeling.

But that does not mean you should stop marketing because the fact is, you must be consistent and continue to market and it will eventually pay off. It also doesn’t mean that if you’re current system isn’t working that you have to keep using it. Get input on your ideas; bounce them off of non-biased people. Keep trying and you will hit on a super duper winner of an idea and those leads will pour in.

Once the leads start flowing in, the key is to not lose any of them. You will want to connect with them ASAP, get them scheduled into a presentation so you can close them while the iron is hot, so to speak.

And do not forget about those leads that don’t schedule or who schedule and don’t show up. Most owners get busy and never follow-up with those leads. Don’t let that happen to you, because you are losing a lot of money if you do.

I’m sure you have heard that most people need to hear or see your ad seven times before they respond.  So just because they did not sign up on the first time does not mean they will not after several more times of hearing from you. Following up is essential!

The best and least labor intensive way to follow up is with email marketing. You can set up autoresponders to go out over a 60-90 day period to all contacts that you have not yet closed. Remember to add an offer and a call to action in about the fourth or fifth email, while the other emails should be helpful information that will make them glad to hear from you.

Your messages should be positive and motivational.  If they do not respond, don’t give up; add them into your weekly fitness tips and your monthly newsletter.  Stay connected to them so that when they are ready to get started they will know where to go.   Remember to set up a flag or a system to remind you to stop the messages if they do respond, otherwise they may get annoyed.

Once you have the system set up for your leads you will want to work on the same system for your clients and former clients.  By consistently following up and staying in touch with your clients you will begin to slow your turnover.

There are many software programs on the market that you can use to set up the autoresponders including Constant Contact, Aweber, and Infusionsoft.  Infusionsoft is the best because it has the most capabilities for automation, but it is challenging to learn. The other two are a bit easier, but they offer less automation and therefore will require much more manual time.

If you do not have time to learn and manage new software, then you may want to check out our “Done-For-You” automated marketing follow up SERVICE. Here is a 2 minute demo video of our service http://autopilotfms.com/instant-demo/.

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