Client name withheld under NDA.
The studio ran small-group classes and had a loyal base of members, but the email list was an afterthought. Names were collected at the front desk and on trial class forms, then used for a single monthly newsletter that mixed class timetables, promos and photos in one long email. Open rates were slipping, and the list had not been cleaned in over a year. Some addresses belonged to people who had left Singapore, and a few were plain typos from handwritten forms.
The owners knew most new members came from trial classes, and most trial leads were never followed up beyond the first welcome message. They wanted email to do the follow-up work consistently, without turning into daily spam. We measured the programme as it stood before changing anything, using the studio's booking system and the email platform's own reports.
We removed dead addresses, split the list into current members, trial leads and lapsed members, and checked every sign-up form for clear consent wording. We set up a new sending domain with proper authentication so emails reached the inbox instead of promotions and spam.
Deliverability decides everything. If emails land in spam, a perfect campaign never gets read. In Singapore, consent also needs to be clear under the PDPA. We also asked inactive subscribers to confirm they still wanted to hear from the studio, which cut the list briefly but lifted the open rate.
We wrote a five-email journey for new trial leads: a welcome, what to bring to class, a reminder the day before, a follow-up the day after, and an offer to book the next class. The journey ran automatically for each lead. Every email was short, written in the coach's voice and carried a single button.
The 48 hours after a trial class are when people decide to join. A prompt, friendly follow-up in that window converts better than any monthly newsletter.
The single newsletter was replaced with a short weekly email for members and separate campaigns for trial leads, such as class pack offers or a new coach introduction. Subject lines, send times and calls to action were tested. Plain subject lines that named the class beat clever ones every time.
A member and a prospect need different messages. Sending both the same email either bores one or confuses the other. Members got timetable changes and event news, and prospects got reasons to book.
We wrote a three-email win-back sequence for members who had not booked in 60 days and a referral email offering a free class to bring a friend. Both were sent by automation, with clear options to opt out.
Winning back a lapsed member costs far less than finding a new one, and referrals tend to join at a higher rate than cold leads. The referral email was only sent to members who had attended at least four classes in the past month.
We ran tests on subject lines and send times, cut the least effective campaigns and tracked bookings and revenue from email using unique links and a booking code. A monthly report went to the owners.
What gets measured gets improved. Linking email to bookings and revenue, not only opens, kept the programme honest. Revenue was matched to memberships and class packs bought within 14 days of clicking an email.
Five months in, email had gone from a monthly newsletter to the studio's most reliable booking channel. The list was more than twice its original size, more people opened and clicked, fewer unsubscribed and trial leads were joining at a higher rate. Trial to membership conversion rose from 22% to 31%, and the front desk said new members often mentioned an email.
List cleaned and segmented, sending domain authenticated, welcome journey live.
Weekly member email, trial offers, win-back and referral sequences running.
Tests on subject lines and timing, weaker campaigns removed, revenue reporting added.
The post-trial journey is where bookings from email grew from 11 to 46 a month. A friendly follow-up within a day of a class beats a monthly newsletter every time.
Open rates rose from 24% to 36% and unsubscribes fell from 0.9% to 0.3% once people got messages that matched who they were. Fewer, more relevant emails build a list people keep. Many studios send more and wonder why people leave.
Attributing revenue to email, now S$12,800 a month against S$3,100, gave the owners a reason to keep investing in the programme. Opens alone would not have shown that. Ask any agency how they will connect email to bookings, not only to opens.
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