Marketing Emails For Your Gym That Work

Fitness Email Marketing: How to Create Marketing Emails That Work for Your Gym

Key takeaways:

• Email marketing can deliver an ROI of between $10 and $36 per dollar spent.
• Gym emails fail when they overload readers with multiple calls to action and irrelevant promotions.
• High-converting subject lines should prioritise clarity over cleverness - aim for under 50 characters.
• Over 70% of recipients read emails on phones, so mobile-optimised layouts are essential.

With an ROI that typically sits somewhere between $10 and $36 for every $1 you spend, there’s no more effective marketing channel than email.

That level of performance might sound surprising, but it kind of makes sense. This channel is very cost-effective - you spend next to nothing to send an email - and you’re typically speaking to a captive audience that at one point showed enough interest in your gym to hand over their contact details to you.

But while it can be ultra-effective for signing up new customers, upgrading memberships, upselling extras and inspiring loyalty, email marketing is far from an automatic home run.

To fully capitalize on the opportunity at hand, you need a smart fitness email marketing strategy; email campaigns that are carefully crafted to convert, retain, upsell or gain trust.

This guide will walk you through the anatomy of a successful email, and how your fitness business can construct effective email marketing campaigns.

Why most gym emails fail

The reality: most gym emails end up never being opened, and some don’t even make it to the inbox. Poor sender reputation, outdated contact lists and missing email authentication can all send emails straight to junk. Keeping your list clean, authenticating your sending domain and avoiding repeated sends to disengaged members can help improve deliverability.

But reaching the inbox is only half the battle. One common reason gym emails still fail is that they try to achieve too much at once. When a single email pushes a membership discount, announces a schedule change and asks for a Google review, the recipient can become overwhelmed, or worse, feel like they’ve received a list of chores.

The lack of a specific focus can dilute the entire message, leaving members unsure of what action to take next. They instead throw up their hands and don’t take any.

Another common reason for failure is promotion without relevance. When a current member receives an email with a new member discount, or when a cardio-focused member gets an urgent email about a powerlifting competition, it tells them that you’re just blasting messages to everyone, and they’re safe to just ignore what you send.

Emails must be both relevant and personalized to each member, to ensure that they open it, read it and act on it.

What a ‘high-converting’ email means for gyms

In mainstream marketing, a conversion usually means a direct online sale. But in terms of email marketing for your fitness business, the definition will be much broader.

A conversion in this context is simply a specific, measurable action that you want the recipient to take, and that ideally moves them further along their fitness journey. A high-converting gym email is one that successfully triggers a lot of these conversions.

Your conversion goals will vary depending on who you are messaging:

These primary conversion goals are the overarching objectives, but the goals of each individual email are often more precise and incremental. The goal of an initial email to a lapsed member, for example, could simply be to remind them that you exist, perhaps by sending through a link to some photos of an event that they attended while they were a member.

The diversity of goals also means that there’s no specific number that represents a ‘high-conversion’ email. In terms of the analytics, it’s wise to simply aim to improve your numbers over time, optimizing your open rates, conversion rates and email newsletter subscriber count as you go.

But what does a successful gym email look like? Let’s break it down, piece by piece.

Subject lines that get your email opened

The subject line is the most important element of your email, because it decides whether any recipient opens it. If it doesn’t capture attention and generate intrigue, the rest of the email will never see the light of day.

Prioritize clarity over cleverness. Punny headlines or cryptic phrasing tend to get scrolled past. A clear statement of value more often earns the click, so your subject line should preview the exact benefit waiting inside the message.

Aim for curiosity without clickbait. You don’t need to resort to tricks or sensationalism. If you do deceive people with the subject line, you might get them to open your message, but you won’t get them to convert. All-caps formatting, excessive exclamation marks and misleading hooks can also raise red flags for spam filters.

There is an optimal length for subject lines, which should be able to be viewed in their entirety on any device. The sweet spot is 41-50 characters (6 to 8 words), but you can go up to 60 characters at a push - you just risk the message being cut off on some smartphones.

A strong opening line

You got the recipient to open your message - congratulations! Now you need to ensure that click doesn’t go to waste.

The opening line acts as an immediate continuation of your subject line, confirming that your message is worth the reader’s time. Gym owners often waste this space with generic pleasantries like “we hope you’re having a great week” - a nice sentiment, sure, but these words ultimately waste prime space.

Instead, aim to address the member’s current situation or motivation within the first sentence. It should answer a question they’ll be asking themselves: “why is this relevant to me right now?”

Use member-centered language that moves the perspective of your writing away from your facility and onto the recipient. Use direct, second-person pronouns like you and your rather than we, our or my.

The message should also be personalized (more on exactly how to do that later), to ensure the opening sentence speaks to the recipient’s current situation and motivations, whether they just completed their first workout or missed three consecutive sessions.

Clear, focused email copy

The body of your email must deliver on the promise of your subject and opening lines while respecting the reader’s time.

One clear message

Every email you send must focus on a single, distinct outcome. Trying to combine a membership referral drive with a schedule update dilutes reader attention and ensures they act on neither. Keep your message isolated to one topic so the recipient can digest the information and understand exactly what to do next. Deliver the necessary information in as succinct and compelling a way as possible

Benefits before features

You aren’t selling classes or access to workout equipment - you’re selling results. As such, your messaging should always focus in one way or another on the fitness and body goals of the recipient. Focus your copy on the tangible transformations they’re going to experience, and the community support they can expect along the way.

A clear call to action (CTA)

This is what we’ve been building to - the big finale. The CTA is the point at which you tell the reader exactly what you’d like them to do - aka the ‘conversion’ you hope to achieve. By this time they should be nicely buttered up and ready to act.

There should only ever be one action that you want your recipient to take: e.g. replying, clicking a link or calling your gym. But avoid generic phrases like ‘click here’ - choose descriptive, high-intent wording instead:

• Save 40% Now
• Claim Your Trial Pass
• Become A VIP Member

Design and layout best practices

If your email is even the slightest bit tricky to read, people simply won’t read it. Aim for clean, minimalist design that guides the reader to your call-to-action.

Mobile-first formatting is critical, as over 70% of people read their email in a mobile app, often while on the move or between workouts. Use a single-column layout, large fonts, and prominent buttons that are easy to tap on a touchscreen.

Busy readers rarely read every single word in a large block of text. Break your copy up into short paragraphs, use clear headings, and apply bold formatting to key phrases. Keep any imagery simple and subtle so it doesn’t take attention and power away from your words.

Timing and frequency of gym email marketing

You want your emails to land when the recipient is most likely to open and act on them, and when the message is least likely to be buried in inbox clutter.

It is generally agreed that the best time to send fitness emails is in those pre or post-work gym slots (6-8am, 5-7pm) when the majority of members work out. Weekend distractions mean that emails sent Tuesday to Thursday typically enjoy higher engagement than those sent between Friday and Monday.

To keep your open rates high, avoid over-communicating, or emailing just for the sake of it. While daily check-ins are fine, especially if you offer up useful performance or attendance data to your members, you should be far more careful with the salesy stuff. Aim to send no more than one or two marketing-specific communications per week, and adjust frequency based on member engagement. This limited number helps you to maintain quality and ensure that each message feels important and enticing.

Personalization and automation

Every email needs to feel relevant. If it comes across as generic - a message blasted out to your entire email list - the recipient won’t bother to read it, because they won’t feel like it’s been written for them.

Ideally there should be some level of personalization in every single email that you send. It should at least begin with the recipient’s name, but it should also refer to their goals or recent achievements when relevant, and it will ideally present an offer that has been tailored to their unique needs and wants.

That might sound like a lot of work, but with the help of smart email automation tech, you can save time by customising emails instantly and without so much as lifting a finger.

GymMaster, for example, features an automated email tool that lets you send personalized messages to your entire membership base or targeted groups based on segmentation of data like age, class attendance, membership types or your own custom-labelled attributes.

Common fitness email marketing mistakes

If you’re in the process of establishing a new and more strategic approach to your email marketing, there are a few common issues that you should actively work to avoid - simple mistakes that others have made so that you don’t have to. A few of the most important include:

• Multiple CTAs: Including a number of different buttons and instructions can confuse the reader and lower your conversion rate.
• Overly long copy: Dense walls of text are rarely read in full. Avoid long paragraphs - get to the point, and use bold and italics to draw the reader’s eye to the most important bits.
• Irrelevant targeting: Sending sign-up deals to loyal members or a personal training promo to someone who already has a personal trainer can make emails feel spammy.
• Neglecting mobile preview: If you don’t test how your layout renders on different smartphones, you might miss out on conversions due to broken formatting.

Example gym email frameworks

Promo email framework

This template targets prospects who you’re trying to turn into members. The goal is to get them through the door.

Subject: Claim your complimentary workout pass

Body: Hi [First Name],

Getting back into a consistent exercise routine doesn’t have to feel overwhelming - in fact, it can be fun!

At [Gym Name] we specialize in helping people build sustainable exercise habits backed by expert insights that help you reach your fitness and body goals.

We have reserved a complimentary day pass for you this week so you can experience our supportive training environment firsthand.

[Claim your free pass]

Retention check-in email framework

This template targets active members who’ve missed their regular sessions. The goal is to prompt a class booking.

Subject: We missed you this week, [First Name]!

Body: Hi [First Name],

We noticed your usual spot in our [9am yoga class] was empty this week, and we wanted to check in to see if there was any help or guidance you needed in terms of your fitness goals.

Consistency is the secret to progress, and our team is here to help you get back into the groove. Shall we get your next workout locked in today?

[Book your next class]

Re-engagement email framework

This template targets former members or lapsed trial users. The goal is to win back lost business.

Subject: We’d love to see you at [Gym Name] again, [First Name]

Body: Hi [First Name],

We are reaching out because we would love to welcome you back to our fitness community. Since your last visit, we have upgraded our equipment and expanded our class timetable to give you more flexibility.

To help you restart your health journey, we are waiving the standard joining fee on all return memberships this month.

If you’re keen to hit your fitness and body goals, we’re keen to help.

[Reactivate your membership]

How to improve results over time

Email marketing for gyms and fitness businesses is not a set-and-forget task; you need to continually refine your strategy to ensure you’re sending the right message, at the right time, every time. By consistently implementing a couple of optimization routines, you can steadily increase the effectiveness of your email strategy.

Run A/B tests on subject lines. Send two different options of a promotional email to a small number of email addresses, then check which line resulted in more emails being open, which you can use for the rest of your email list.

Track simple metrics like open rates, click-through rates and number of subscribers. Avoid diving too deep into the numbers - these basic KPIs, tracked over time, can give you a good sense of whether you’re improving or not.

Conclusion: A scalable email marketing strategy for your fitness business

The most successful modern gyms leverage intelligent tools to take care of the admin of email marketing, so that they can focus on higher value tasks, like elevating the member experience.

With GymMaster, you can effortlessly automate your targeted messaging, monitor class attendance trends, and provide your community with total control over how they interact with your business.

Book a demo with GymMaster today to discover how our comprehensive platform can help your gym grow and scale efficiently.