Bulk messaging lets you send a personalised marketing message, such as a newsletter or a promotion, to a select group of your leads and clients. You can choose from stylish HTML templates or to-the-point text-based emails, and the bulk messaging feature will walk you through each step to craft and send an engaging, spam compliant email.
Imagine you want to send all your clients a newsletter introducing a new team member, featuring some new classes they’re running, and promoting an upcoming bring-a-friend open day. We’ll use the groups and templates features to make writing and sending the newsletter a breeze.
*Note: All bulk emails are categorised as marketing by default. You are able to change it to transactional by clicking 'Is this a transactional email?' in 'Send Settings'
however you must restrict the email to go to closed leads only. Learn more about transactional and marketing.
Creating the Bulk Email
Reviewing the Results of a Bulk Email
Create the draft
Head to the Bulk Messaging page by clicking the Bulk Messaging option at the top of the page in the Marketing App.
Start a new message by clicking New Bulk Email.
Name the email, then click Create Bulk Email. (e.g. “Bring-a-friend Newsletter”)
Choose a template or layout by clicking your chosen design.
Take care to pick the right template, as you can’t choose a different one once you’ve started drafting this email. If you can’t find an appropriate design, you can craft the perfect one by checking out our templates articles.
You’ll be presented with a simple checklist that will guide you through preparing and sending your bulk message.
Updating the send settings
First up, let’s update the send details and subject for your message.
By default, the from name will appear as your first name and brand name (e.g. Jessica from Pacific Blue Fitness). You may want to update this depending upon the nature of the message you’re sending. For our newsletter example, we’ll use our club name (e.g. Pacific Blue Bondi).
The subject needs to catch your recipient’s eye and help your message bypass any spam filters. You can personalise the subject with merge fields. For example, {{lead_first_name}} would get replaced with the recipient’s first name when the message is sent.
View the send settings by clicking Edit In Send Settings in the checklist.
If you’re not happy with the default, update the from name to something you’d prefer.
Set the subject to something eye-catching.
Save the changes by clicking Save Bulk Email Details.
Return to the checklist by clicking the Check and Send option below the bulk message name.
Selecting the recipients
The easiest way to select your recipients is to choose a group you’ve already created. If you haven’t created a group yet, check out our groups articles to get you started.
View the audience options by clicking Set Your Audience in the checklist.
View the groups by clicking Select Group.
Alternatively, you can set your own recipient filters from the Select your filters section.Find the group by browsing the list, or search by typing the name then clicking Apply.
Confirm the group by selecting it from the list.
Save the audience by clicking Save Audience at the very bottom of the page.
Return to the checklist by clicking the Check and Send option below the bulk message name.
Drafting the message
This is where your inner copywriter gets to shine. By using a template, the bulk of the design work has been done for you and all that’s left is to write the content.
With over a dozen personalisation merge fields to select from, it’s easy to make your message speak directly to each lead or client.
Open the content editor by clicking Edit Content in the checklist.
Write and style your message using the rich drag-and-drop editor. Edit and format your text then add images, links, buttons and more using the formatting pane on the right hand side.
When you’re done editing, save the message by clicking Save Email at the very bottom of the page.
Return to the checklist by clicking the Check and Send option below the bulk message name.
Adding personalisation merge fields
Addressing your leads and clients by name isn’t just endearing, it also helps your email clear spam filters by giving a little signal that you know the more than just the recipient’s address.
Names aren’t the only personalisation you can add to your message, however. GymLeads provides over a dozen merge fields including:
Lead name
Salesperson name and role
Latest appointment date and time
Club name, location and contact details (particularly handy for multi-location businesses)
Company details
To include a personalisation:
Mark where you want to insert the merge field by placing the blinking cursor in the text as though you’re about to type something.
You’ll notice a formatting menu appear at the top of the editor.Insert the merge field by clicking Personalize in the formatting menu, then selecting the field you want to add.
The field (e.g.{{lead_first_name}}) will be inserted right where your blinking cursor was placed.
You can include several merge fields in your message. In fact, as you’ll see in the next section, some are essential to ensure your email is spam compliant.
Checking spam compliance
There are three pieces of information that you need to include in the footer of all bulk messages to ensure spam compliance.
Company name:
{{company_title}}Club address:
{{club_address}}Unsubscribe link:
{{unsubscribe_link}}
If any of these fields are missing you’ll receive a compliance warning at the top of the editor, and you won’t be able to send your message.
If you’ve accidentally deleted any of the fields, you can copy the below example into your footer to get you back on track.
Copyright © {{current_year}} {{company_title}}, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
{{club_address}}
Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list at any time - {{unsubscribe_link}}.Previewing the message
Your message is crafted, you’ve personalised the content and spam compliance is A-OK. It’s time to send yourself a preview for one final proof read.
Shoot off a preview by clicking Send Preview in the checklist.
Check your inbox and review the preview to make sure everything looks and reads as you want.
Now is the time to make any final edits, because the next exciting step is to send your message off to your selected leads and clients.
Scheduling the message
Your checklist is a series of big green ticks. Brilliant work – your message is ready to send.
Send the message immediately
There’s no time like the present, right? You eager beaver, you!
Send your bulk message by clicking Send Emails Now.
Check that the recipient number looks right, then click I’m sure.
Your email will be sent momentarily and you’ll see a results page summarising the message performance.
Schedule the message for later
You may prefer to schedule your message to send when your leads and clients are most likely to read it.
Schedule your bulk message by clicking Schedule a Time For Later.
Choose a date and time for your message to send, then click Schedule Email.
You’ll see a confirmation of when the email will send, and how many people will receive it, and you’re given the option to change or cancel the schedule right up until the message is sent.
Bulk Email Performance
There are a few things we can look at:
Results by percentages and an accompanying graph, breaking down by:
The original content of the message
Results by individual lead
Any replies to the campaign
The original audience of the message
My message stopped before sending to all leads in the audience?
This can be for two reasons:
The number of people in your audience is larger than you bulk email limit. For more information on bulk email limits view Sending Reputation and Limits.
The number of emails bouncing back has exceeded a certain percentage.
This will automatically halt the bulk email to protect your email reputation. For more information view Bulk Email Deliverability.