Located in Greater Boston, Train Boston combines a traditional fitness center with a functional training approach to help clients achieve their goals through continually progressive workouts. Train Boston has seven trainers on staff and they serve the clientele through individual or partner training sessions (1-3 people with a trainer), or group training sessions (4 or more people with a trainer). Train Boston does not offer the traditional aerobic/cardio classes that you would find in a health club. Instead, they have developed an award-winning adult group training program, meeting 4 times/week for a 10-week period, focusing on core strength, speed, flexibility, and conditioning. Train Boston has also developed group-training programs for high school and college age kids that run over the summer and after school throughout the year. Whether they are working with a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone who wants to lead a healthier life, Train Boston will personalize the training program to help their client meet their goals.

Lou DeFrancisco, who has been Train Boston’s Director of Sales and Marketing for just over 6 months, had already set his communications priority when he took the job: Building and maintaining the sense of community that keeps fitness clients coming back over the long-term. His predecessor had left behind some IMN marketing materials and a note that said “Check this out.” After a conversation with one of IMN’s sales representatives, DeFrancisco decided that Loyalty Lifter was just what he needed to keep clients engaged and excited about their fitness goals.

DeFrancisco uses his monthly IMN e-newsletter to “push” the Train Boston brand and experience out to clients on a regular basis. Ongoing sections cover training related topics such as Health and Nutrition. Every issue also includes a fitness tip for a specific sport -- last month’s helped golfers work on their swing rotation. Articles on upcoming events that month, and programs starting or continuing that month or the next, such as Train Boston’s instantly popular Adult Group Training Program, keep the membership engaged and excited about sticking with their goals. IMN’s “Tell a Friend” forwarding feature, available on each page of the newsletter, encourages clients to spread the word about the Train Boston experience.

When it comes to results, his e-newsletter’s numbers speak for themselves. “Our first newsletter open rate was 29%. Our second, 38%,” reports DeFrancisco. “The number of recipients for the first was about 700. That almost doubled to 1200 for the second! That’s a great beginning.”

Future plans for the newsletter include feature articles from Train Boston trainers on topics relating to their backgrounds of physical therapy, exercise physiology, and strength and conditioning, as well as topics about some of their passions like sports nutrition and specific-sport training. And DeFrancisco plans to take further advantage of IMN’s analytics that go far beyond delivery and open rates to show which articles clients are interested in the most, how long they spend on certain topics and referral functionality that helps build community and sales.