5 Tips For Better Emails
1. Consistency
With so many emails hitting your members’ inbox, it is tough to decipher which to read first or at all. By planning a weekly theme calendar of emails, you help your members to understand what type of information from your club awaits them in their inbox on what day.
At a time when our Club trends were telling us to use shorter snippets and multiple emails, I noticed my open rates declining. The sheer saturation of emails coming from every corner of our Members’ lives becomes nothing more than noise, and your emails, well they sink into the abyss of the unread pile. Remember Quantity is not Quality.
Coordinate a weekly email that members can rely on. Pick a day where your email doubles as a short version of your monthly newsletters, and include shorter snippets of food and beverage highlights, member spotlights, and featured events you need your members to see. On the other days, plan out your dedicated events emails or athletic highlights.
2. Linear Look & Feel
Emails should be easy to read and extract information from at a glance. Use sections in your emails with calls to action and a supporting photo to help members quickly identify your message. Your linear feel will also help to optimize your emails for mobile devices.
3. Concise Text
No need for novels in emails unless they are important club notices, and hopefully these messages are being sent by themselves. Keep your text short and sweet and follow it up with a photo that captures the sentiment.
4. Intriguing Subject Lines
The subject line is immensely important. Do not use anything too sales-y like “Reserve Now” or “Amazing Deals” for subject lines. Usually, these types of emails are filtered into your promotions or junk folders.
I used to joke with my team about using member’s names as clickbait, but each time I did it, my open rates would skyrocket. If you have a member spotlight in your email (tennis champion, hole-in-one, etc.) use their names in the subject: “Congratulations Mr. John Smith…” Alternatively, you can announce that there is a new champ (“Congratulations 2021 Champion…”) prompting members to click to find the name.
5. Include Quick Links
In your footer area add quick links to reservations modules, menus, your Club app download link (on iOS and Android), or important Club webpages for your members to easily access. Not only will they promote traction to your website, and another way to guage engagement via click rates, but adds convenience for your members looking for need-to-know information.
If you found this article helpful, please share this with anyone whom you feel may benefit from it. Thank you!
CLUB DESIGN STUDIO | Resources for Successful Club Communications