Automation allows you to free up space to focus on your business’ most important aspect –– coaching clients.
In a never-ending pursuit as a business owner, you’ll fail and succeed in scaling the company. But there’s one nonnegotiable asset you can’t buy among the ups and downs — time.
There are ways to chalk off specific tasks from your to-do list, such as emails, which take up a significant chunk of your schedule without realizing it. And one such approach is email automation — a powerful tool that allows you to personalize messages, generate leads, and drive sales from prospective and existing customers.
Learning to send automated emails lets you use your time effectively, save money, and drive impact. So let’s explore how to take advantage of it.
What is email automation?
Email automation allows you to send prewritten emails to potential and existing customers at specific times. The software helps you automatically send relevant emails to recipients at desired times, allowing you to allocate this time (that you would have spent creating emails) to complete other tasks.
Most email platforms, such as Gmail and Microsoft Outlook, feature built-in automated campaign workflows, which are long email chains. Integrating automation software or website analytics with email platforms lets you target potential customers based on their online behavior, preferences, and previous purchases.
As a result, you can use each client’s data to create a personalized customer experience, making your ads and marketing emails more relevant to client needs.
Why is automation important for email marketing?
As a coach or coaching agency’s owner, you can use email automation to promote services, share exclusive benefits, and build an online community with a strong client base. But that’s not all. Here are other reasons why you should schedule your emails:
It saves time and resources
Automating emails saves time and resources as well as allows you to get more out of human capital, such as a marketing team. When you delegate tasks like email marketing to automation software, your marketers have extra time to emphasize more critical activities, such as client communication and customer support.
It enables scalability
Saving time and resources allows you to scale faster. A marketing team's reach is only as good as the number of members it has. With automated emails, you don't need a team member to check in every hour.
As more time frees up, you can delegate something more substantial to a team member, such as designing new marketing campaigns, directly benefiting the company's expansion. This especially helps small businesses with fewer resources improve their workflow.
It improves client retention
Clients appreciate personalized journeys –– more than 60% of surveyed online shoppers said they would abandon brands that didn’t create tailored experiences for their target audience.
Email just so happens to be the most preferred personalization medium for marketers, with customers stating they're comfortable sharing email addresses if it means receiving customized offers.
Here’s an example of a customized email: “Hey, John! We haven’t heard from you in a while. Here’s 20% off your next session.”
Emails like this improve customer loyalty, especially when acquiring a new client can be up to five times more expensive than keeping one.
Compile email addresses, create email lists, and allow your automation tool to maintain constant contact with customers instead of doing it manually.
Real-world automated emails examples
Many types and applications exist for automated email campaigns. Here are the most popular examples:
- Welcome series emails: These emails help new clients with onboarding, such as completing sign-ups and scheduling their first coaching sessions. As the name suggests, welcome series emails make clients feel comfortable and valued.
- Coaching session reminders: These emails provide clients with preparation tips, reminders, and notes for future coaching sessions. This is a highly personalized form of email automation.
- Nurture series emails: Nurture series emails offer clients tips and best practices, such as habit-building, communication strategies, and well-being. These are significant pointers that clients can build on to produce tangible results.
- Payment reminders: Payment reminders are automated emails sent long after you establish a coach-client relationship. It allows the automation software to handle an important task without involving your time and effort. Practice’s package payment plans help you automate the payment process, offering you flexibility in scheduling. All you need to do is set up the software per your preferences, and we’ll take care of the rest!
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5 easy steps to automate emails for your coaching business
So you chose a welcome series for your next marketing campaign. Or maybe you prefer sending payment reminders. Whatever you select, you must know how to create a seamless automation process for your business. Here’s how to achieve it:
- Install new email automation software: Download and install an email automation software that best suits your needs (we’ll list the most popular ones later). Most have premium versions with monthly subscriptions for added features.
- Build audience segments: Divide your target audience based on factors, such as behaviors and interests. This allows you to organize groups, fine-tune marketing emails, and improve personalization.
- Set up automation triggers: Triggers are events that prompt automation software to send new emails. For example, a client's birthday, a weekly newsletter, or a lack of interaction for a certain number of days.
- Design automated templates: This is where you get creative. Highlight your branding and coaching services. Design custom graphics, messages, calls-to-action (CTAs), and more. Some automation tools have email templates.
- Test and monitor automation: Set specific times and dates when sending emails. As you get to know your clientele and automation software, offer greater personalization, maintain constant contact, and improve efficiency.
Tips to follow when sending automated mails
We’ve explored all the dos associated with email automation. But what about the don’ts? Here are a few essential tips to consider when you create emails.
- Avoid "spammy" subject lines: Using engaging subject lines relevant to your clients is important, as 47% of email users open their emails based on subject lines. All your design, template-making, and copywriting efforts go to waste if potential clients don't even read your email. Even worse, spammy subject lines could drive existing customers away.
- Don’t overwhelm clients: Ensure you send emails with enough time between them, especially when sending welcome series emails. Bombarding a client’s inbox at once is overwhelming and may discourage them from pursuing your coaching services.
- Prioritize quality over quantity: A high unsubscribe rate with low engagement will likely lead to your emails ending up in spam folders. Use interesting subject lines, allow clients to interact with your content, and follow up when the time is right to stay in clients’ inboxes.
3 email marketing automation tools for your business
Initially, automation tools seem complex and intimidating, but even beginners can leverage their features with little experience. Here are some popular email automation tools to suit your workflow:
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the most well-known email automation systems. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to use for any coaching business.
If you have a website with Shopify or WordPress, you can integrate Mailchimp, and the software will automatically add names to a subscriber list when people sign up. It has few integrations with other automation tools but is straightforward, intuitive, and packs many features.
Mailchimp offers a free version and free trials for its “Essentials” and “Standard” plans. If you want something more powerful, opt for its Premium plan.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit is excellent for integrating web analytics with email automation. There are three plans — free, creator, and creator pro — with each successive plan having more features. Certain features –– such as digital products, subscriptions, and community support –– are valuable tools for coaches.
However, each plan starts by supporting up to 300 subscribers. The free plan maxes out at 1,000 subscribers, but you'll have to increase your investment for the creator and creator pro plans depending on your subscriber count.
GetResponse
As a coach, you'll find GetResponse's client-centric capabilities particularly helpful. It offers configurable email templates, customer relationship management (CRM), web analytics integration, and more.
GetResponse has three plans — starter, business, and enterprise. You get a 14-day free trial with the first two plans, and you can choose a free template after signing up.
Automate your workflow with Practice
At Practice, we offer professional-level systems fully capable of completing administrative tasks and send automated emails to your clients so you can focus on growing your coaching business. Not only this, but we also integrate with Gmail, making your life easier.
Leverage our Client Management Software, designed with coaches in mind, to handle client data, organize documentation, and monitor payments — all in one place. Also, don’t forget to browse our other features to turn your coaching practice from manual to automatic. Try them today.
