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Background
The Power Pickleball Club opened its doors in September 2024 and quickly became the largest indoor pickleball facility in Spokane, Washington. What makes them special? They’re committed to making pickleball accessible to everyone — whether you’re picking up a paddle for the first time or competing at an advanced level.
The club isn’t just about pickleball, though. They’re expanding into fitness and wellness programs, creating a true community hub where people connect while staying active. As their membership grew rapidly, they needed smart tools to keep up.
The Challenge
As Power Pickleball Club prepared for its grand opening and experienced fast growth, the team faced challenges that many growing businesses would recognize:
- Running their website without constant developer support
- Managing a pre-launch waitlist
- Staying connected with hundreds of members (and soon, thousands)
- Delivering timely updates about classes, events, and club news
- Finding ways to automate communications as they scaled
We were looking for a simple drag-and-drop website builder that we could manage ourselves. As a small team, we needed something that would make it easier to grow our community without added complexity.
Mike Johansen, Director of Member Experience, Power Pickleball Club
The Solution
After exploring several options, Power Pickleball Club chose GetResponse. Mike explains why it stood out:
I liked how [GetResponse] starts free until you hit 500 subscribers—it made it easy to test the platform. When we started the business, it was the obvious choice because of the drag-and-drop website builder and the integrated newsletter tools. It just made sense for us.”
Mike Johansen, Director of Member Experience, Power Pickleball Club
How Power Pickleball Club uses GetResponse
Power Pickleball Club uses GetResponse for several key functions:
- Website management: Using GetResponse’s drag-and-drop builder, the team can create and update their website without needing tech expertise.
- Email marketing: The club uses GetResponse to manage and grow their newsletter, keeping members informed about upcoming events, new programs, and other club updates. Regular communication via the newsletter has been a key tool for maintaining member engagement.
- Personalized communications: Not all members want the same information. Some are beginners looking for basic clinics, while others may be more competitive players seeking tournament details. With GetResponse, the team tailors messages to match member interests.
- Scalability: As membership continues to climb, GetResponse scales with them.
Our members are hungry for content, and GetResponse has made it easy to keep them informed about all things pickleball. The ease of segmentation and personalization has really made a difference.
Mike Johansen, Director of Member Experience, Power Pickleball Club
The Results
Six months after opening, Power Pickleball Club has achieved remarkable results:
- Over 3,000 newsletter subscribers
- More than 1,400 active members
- Newsletter open rates between 50-60% (far above industry averages)
- Click-through rates also consistently higher than industry standard
Mike Johansen, Director of Member Experience, Power Pickleball Club
We’re able to get our messages in front of the right people, and it’s made a real impact. We have a super engaged audience.
Looking Ahead
As Power Pickleball Club continues to grow, they plan to leverage more of GetResponse’s automation capabilities and expand their fitness and wellness offerings.
Among other plans, the club aims to automate follow-ups for people in their introductory Pickleball 101 classes, sending targeted information about different lessons and membership options.
Mike Johansen, Director of Member Experience, Power Pickleball Club
We see GetResponse as a long-term partner in our marketing strategy. It’s not just about marketing—it’s about building a community.
Tools used to get results
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Complete Marketing Solution – Grow your audience list, engage with your customers and sell - in the same integrated platform.
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Drag-and-Drop Editor – Create custom emails, websites, landing pages, or campaigns using this code-free creator with easy functionality and full flexibility.
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Email Marketing – Customize ready-to-go newsletters, and transactional emails from a library of predesigned professional templates to match your goals. Take advantage of a/b testing and email analytics to constantly improve your results.
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List Building – Use landing pages or forms featuring lead magnets to collect customers information. You can save and divide customer data into separate lists for updates, promotions, and other business uses.
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Marketing Automation – Bring your ideal customer journey to life with a visual marketing automation builder that grows with your needs. Schedule automated responses, emails, and reminders.
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Website builder – Create a unique online presence with an AI-driven, code-free website builder. Describe your business and visual preferences to get personalized website templates or create your custom design from scratch.
