5 Email Marketing Tips For Life Coaches To Get Better Conversions

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Everyone wants to achieve their goals and fulfill their desires. Many people are willing to put as much effort as they can into their goals, but sometimes, they may get stuck, no matter how much effort they put into what they do. 

When challenges seem too tough to overcome and finding a solution seems impossible, it’s important to have someone by your side who can give helpful advice. Life coaches do exactly that, giving their clients an extra dose of motivation and helping them find the right approach.

Life coaching is much more than just counseling. In fact, it combines counseling, problem-solving, and mentoring. Life coaches can help their clients achieve a whole variety of goals, both professional and personal. 

Even though life coaches work with different clients, including business owners and executives, they often find it hard to attract new clients, and the reason is tough competition. In this article, we will consider email marketing. A good email marketing strategy can work wonders when it comes to driving conversions.

First, let’s consider email marketing in more detail. Why do you need email marketing for your life-coaching business?

Why email marketing is a great solution

Email is one of the oldest channels used by digital marketers, so is it still effective? 

Surprisingly, email is one of the best channels for driving conversions. 47% of marketers say that email is the most effective marketing channel, with social media being the favorite channel for only 39% of marketers.  

An email has an amazing ROI, generating up to $38 for each dollar spent. Another good thing about email marketing is that it generates quality leads. People who sign up for your emails want to hear from you, and they’re interested in your coaching brand.

Unless you’re spamming random people with your emails, people from your email list give you access to their inboxes. People check their inboxes regularly and if your emails are good, they will attract attention. 

You can send newsletters to help your subscribers learn more about your values and coaching approaches. You can also use calls to action to drive visitors to your website. Besides, you can communicate directly with your subscribers, which makes emails not only efficient but also engaging.

Email makes it easy to start and maintain a conversation with the recipients. You can ask them various questions and encourage them to click “reply” to answer. Given that a life-coaching business is all about conversation and establishing a connection, email is a perfect channel. You can communicate with recipients via email and add social media buttons so that they can reach you through any channel they like.

Main types of email marketing 

Those who are new to email marketing may not understand how diverse it is. Email marketing is not only about sending newsletters, even though newsletters are a part of email marketing. Newsletters aren’t personalized because you send them to all subscribers from your list. 

However, newsletters are time-sensitive, which means that you should send them at a certain time. For instance, if you want to share experiences from your trip or if you’re preparing an event, this is the right moment to send a newsletter.

Another common type of email is autoresponder emails. They are entirely different from newsletters. You can send autoresponders based on different triggers. The majority of triggers used by marketers are time-based triggers — for example, you can send autoresponders several days after signup. However, the most important thing about autoresponders is that they are personalized because even if the content is the same, recipients will get them at a different time. 

As a result, the content of autoresponders should be different from that of newsletters. Announcing your event in an autoresponder would be a bad choice while using evergreen content is a great idea.

There are also behavioral-based emails. These emails depend on your recipients’ website behavior. For example, eCommerce businesses send emails to users who abandoned their shopping carts. There are many types of behavioral emails, and most of them are useful for SaaS and eCommerce companies. Although coaches are less likely to benefit from behavioral-based emails, you can still use them sometimes. For example, you may suggest relevant webinars to people who search for certain information or read certain articles on your website.

Choosing an email Marketing provider (autoresponder/CRM)

Whether you are sending newsletters or autoresponders (and you'll most likely send a combo of each), you'll need a service provider. This company will collect your email opt-ins through a form, then add them to one or more lists.

• You'll be able to create "freebies" or lead magnets you can offer in exchange for the email. Then you'll create campaigns, series and newsletters.
• You'll even be able to create your own unique landing pages.
• These services can be called CRM, short for customer relationship management, or autoresponders or email marketing platform.

We use and love AWeber. You can start on the free plan, and their prices once you grow bigger that won't break the bank. You can create any kind of email campaign or newsletter you need, plus make some awesome landing pages and sign-up forms. And the customer service? Totally spot-on. Check it out here.

5 Tips for life coaches to increase conversions 

1. Send your newsletter weekly

The secret to sending newsletters is not to be too concerned about timing. Your recipients will read your newsletter when the title catches their attention, and you cannot read their minds so guessing the right time for all recipients is impossible. Perhaps, the best approach is to test different days and hours to determine when you have the highest open rates.

Along with your regular newsletter emails, you can also send additional emails when you launch a special offer or when it’s about to end. A couple of extra emails won’t annoy your recipients much and they will help you make sure that no one of the recipients is angry that you didn’t inform them about the offer on time.

2. Offer something for a signup

When people sign up for your emails, you can help them realize that they’ve made the right choice by offering something useful and relevant. You can give them something that will serve as a perfect introduction to your work and your coaching methods. For instance, you can offer a workbook, presentation, or access to an online library of sources.

At the same time, it’s important not to give your recipients too many treats because they may not use them, and the engagement level will decline. You may send an autoresponder with a link to an online course for beginners and follow it with a webinar or a link to your About page. You can also include a link to your FAQ section so that your recipients can quickly clarify all the details about you.

3. Make your recipients feel special

You can always give your recipients something unique that they can only get from your emails. For example, you can offer access to a Q&A video call, a webinar, or a workbook that you don’t release anywhere else. Once your audience is engaged, they may stay in touch with you on social media but become inactive subscribers, so you should give them a reason to stay on your list. Unique content and VIP features will make your email subscribers feel special.

4. Create separate email lists for different offers and use autoresponders

Working with email lists is a time-consuming task so you may feel tempted to only create a couple of lists for your VIP clients and those who you’ve coached for a long time. However, the more lists you have, the more precise your targeting is. A great approach is to create separate lists for users who’ve purchased different offerings.

This way, you’ll be able to offer perfectly targeted and relevant content. Besides, you’ll be able to schedule autoresponders with a different frequency. For example, some of your recipients may receive emails twice a month, while others can get them every week or twice a week.

5. Keep in mind that you don’t bother people with your emails

Life coaches often tend to be too sensitive about the feelings and wishes of others. If this is your case, you may feel that you’re bothering people with your newsletters. This isn’t the right attitude because you may decide to send fewer emails, and this isn’t what you and your subscribers need. People who opted for your emails need help and they are looking for helpful information.

You don’t bother your subscribers as long as you offer valuable and relevant information. If you let them know about your great offer, such an email also communicates value. People from your list want to stay informed about your offers, and you must help them with it. If they realize that they don’t want to hear from you, they can simply unsubscribe.

Bonus tip: Newsletters require dedication 

No matter whether you send your emails on a monthly or weekly basis, you should create content. Therefore, you should dedicate enough time to figuring out the needs of your recipients and writing the content itself. Develop an ideal client persona and think of what they struggle with. 

Focus on the underlying problems and make sure to deliver deep insights — this way, you will also build your distinctive philosophy. Your emails should also be perfect in terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. 

Of course, not every life coach was born a brilliant writer, so you may consider hiring a professional writer who can help you with the writing process. There are many writing services available online, and you can check out reviews of companies to choose the right one.

How to craft an effective email marketing copy that converts 

1. Know thy audience

Though you’ve met this phrase countless times, there are no shortcuts to engaging your audience if you don’t know the basics. To create compelling email marketing as coaches, you must be specific in targeting your clients, and the only way to do this is by assessing their needs, wants, and aspirations.

Research by Zhang & Kumar (2017) which looks into how to make email marketing work for businesses shows that the number of emails a client or prospect receives affects their buying habits. The most desirable number of emails varies since it depends on the prospect's intention to buy.

For example, for prospects who will likely take you up on your offer (where the buying probability is at least 30%), the ideal number of emails to send is between 5-7. But this number increases as your prospects’ intention to buy decreases. If your prospects won’t likely buy your product or service (if the probability of not buying is 90%), you should send them more emails (between 12-14). The maximum number of emails suggested by the study for any group is 14.

The optimal number of emails to send is 7. The study suggests that a company can lose 32% of its lifetime profitability for this prospect by sending too few. So think about that when you are crafting your email sequence!

2. Use an irresistible subject line

Have you ever received a marketing email campaign that has drawn you in because of its subject line? It may be an upcoming conference with fellow coaches or an invitation to increase your knowledge as a life coach. What aspects made you read the copy?

Since email marketing is a direct response form of copywriting, both email marketing and copywriting use almost the same principles in attracting clients, such as the following:

• Use keywords
• Employ the active voice  
• Make your copy sound specific and personal
• Emphasize the benefits of your offering 

The challenge starts with your subject line. It shouldn't appear as a general marketing campaign or another spam message that your audience won’t want to open.

3. Craft it simply

Sometimes, in convincing our audience, we resort to over-explanation or giving too much information at once. However, remember that your target audience is composed of busy people, and they only have a bit of time to spend reading emails.

That’s why it’s essential to write an email that is specific and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or complicated words that will need to be interpreted through Google. Your email should also be reader-friendly; refrain from using long sentences and paragraphs. 

Write simply to engage and make a connection.    

4. Practice storytelling

In our fast-paced world, there’s no better way to attract your audience and lead them to action than by using the popular A-I-D-A technique or Attention/Awareness-Interest-Desire-Action.

Using powerful words and painting a picture of what it is like to experience your service or buy your product will allow your reader to get hooked on what you offer. 

One of the best ways to get a prospect to sign up is by using a phenomenon called “social proof”. This is a powerful tool that drives engagement by giving your prospects a sense of not getting left behind from a limited offer. Some social proof examples are testimonials, emphasizing a certain number of people who grabbed the offer, and giving a feeling of being part of an exclusive group.         

5. Employ a direct call to action

Rather than trying to please everyone by being respectful and polite– a soft message–why not use a direct call to action which converts better? 

Let’s check out these examples:

• Soft: Why not subscribe by email and receive this limited offer?  

                        vs.

• Direct: Enter your email today and get started with this limited offer.

Strong orders often exude authority, and we find it safe to assume that the person giving that order is credible and knows what they are doing. Though using direct language is not as polite as it sounds, telling your prospects what to do (but not to the point of overstepping your boundaries) works better than asking them to do it.

4 Reasons why your prospects will likely unsubscribe

1. Update overload

You may have experienced this as well. Sometimes, you become overwhelmed by receiving too many messages from a single sender. You’ve just gone to your weekly office meeting and voila! Your inbox is already burning from getting too many updates. The key is to schedule your emails regularly while considering the time your prospects check their inbox.  

2. Unfulfilled promises 

In general, keeping your word preserves your credibility and reputation. It is why you must only say what you’re capable of delivering.

3. Confusing message regarding the purpose of the email

You must proofread your email and assess whether your message is clearly emphasizing your call to action. Don’t confuse your audience with too much information. 

4. Privacy concerns

Assure your prospects that the information they’ll provide is solely to build your community/group and won’t be shared with other marketers or scammers.   

Having trouble coming up with content?

If you're read all this and your eyes are glazing over and your chest freezing up, it might be time to enlist some help. We found a pack of 45+ fill-in-the-blank email templates AND a complete guide to writing great emails. Grab your copy here.

FAQ

1. How do I market myself as a life coach?

Some of the strategies you can adopt to market yourself as a life coach are the following: provide free initial consultations, attend workshops/conferences/and other events, and build your social media presence.

2. How do I build my client list?

You can build your client list by establishing first your client base, sharing your knowledge, asking for feedback, rewarding your clients’ loyalty, and sending them emails. 

3. How do I find my life coach niche?

To discover your niche, you must explore possibilities and be open to learning. Thus, you must be willing to adapt while taking your time to unearth your potential and interests.