The #1 mistake when sending a newsletter to promote class registrations

Olivier Rousseau
10 November 2022 2 min read

I used to make this crucial mistake when sending email newsletters to promote class registrations.

Not segmenting by registration status. Let me explain.

We’ve all received a promotional email a few days/weeks after a purchase promoting the exact class/product you just signed up for. Makes you feel like unsubscribing right?

And that’s exactly what people did at Sportball.

So I switched to segmenting by registration status and 3 things happened:

✅ Unsubscribe rate dropped significantly
✅ Open rates went up
✅ Registrations increased

What is market segmentation?

At its core, market segmentation is the practice of dividing your target market into approachable groups.

The benefits include a better response rate, stronger marketing message and increased personalization that lead to more sales and fewer unsubscribes.

Most marketing tools offer demographic, geographic, and behavioral segmentation. These are great for many industries but usually come up short for dance studios, gymnastics clubs and camps.

The ability to segment by current and past registration status is what you should be looking for.

Why is segmentation by registration status so important?

The reason this is so effective it that your marketing outreach is now relevant to the participant based on their past and current registrations. They only receive a promotional email outreach when it makes sense for them.

They get fewer emails when they register early and are therefore less likely to unsubscribe. Segmentation also pays off with increased open/click rates that lead to more registrations.

For subscribers who have not registered yet, segmentation allows you to increase the number of touchpoints with them. This improves your odds of catching that busy parent and remind them they need to register Leon for soccer this summer.

Should I switch my email marketing provider?

Mailchimp and Constant Contact are great tools for email marketing. But they’re barely doing the minimum for you.  They cater to everyone and therefore don’t understand your needs as a School, Gym, Dance studio or Sports club.

So yes, it’s probably be time to look for a niche email marketing platform specific to your industry. Activity Messenger developed email marketing with organizations like yours in mind. You’ll never see us develop features for the local bakery or real estate agents. 

(I remember having to select – others – when Mailchimp wanted to know what industry I was from. Tells you a lot about how much effort they put into catering to the Sports & Leisure industry.)

And because we understand the Sports & Leisure industry, we offer you much more than email marketing such as:

And everything can be designed with our Canva integration.

What about cost?

Most organizations who switch from another email provider end up saving money with Activity Messenger since we have no limit on the number of contacts.

“Ya but Mailchimp is free”

What I’ve come to realize after working with many Studios, Clubs and Schools who moved from Mailchimp to Activity Messenger is that it isn’t really free.

You might not pay in dollars but you pay up in other ways. Higher unsubscribes rates, lack of automations, the time you waste on work-a-arounds and having to remove subscribers to stay under the 2000 limit.

Taking the time to switch to an email marketing tool that fits your needs will pay off in the long run. If you’re like me, you probably got accustomed to working on Mailchimp. It’s comfortable and it gets the job done.

But I made the switch with Sportball and I realized I had been missing out on a world of opportunities to drive growth, save time and automate my workflows.

I’d love to jump on a quick zoom call for a brief conversation on how switching might help your organization

Written by Olivier Rousseau Olivier is a kids sports programs owner who has been operating for over a decade with locations in Montreal, Quebec city & Ottawa. He also helps Gymnastics Club, Swim Schools and Dance Studios streamline their operations. He is the co-founder of Activity Messenger an online registration platform for the sports & leisure industry.

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