Why Healthcare Email Marketing Works and How To Leverage It
It's time to put this inexpensive but highly effective strategy to test.
There is little doubt that most people are cautious about their health. This is why it's natural for them to take a keen interest in healthcare articles and pay attention to emails that can help them stay in shape and provide a sense of well-being. Since people are naturally attracted to health issues, it's a prime opportunity for healthcare professionals to take advantage of this natural tendency and give their patients a healthy dose of information.
If you're in the healthcare industry, this guide will help you create powerful emails that get instant results.
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Why Healthcare Email Works
Experts agree that email marketing can make a tremendous impact on business revenue and build long-lasting relationships. For instance, Josh Jameson of ISG says, “Email marketing is a critical facet of any digital marketing campaign to build trust and establish relationships with your target audience."
Besides acquiring new customers, healthcare email marketing is particularly effective in retaining patients. It works because email lets healthcare professionals speak directly to their patients creating an emotional bond. In times of distress, such emails can be extremely heart-warming for patients.
According to reputable sources, the conversion rate for emails is three times that of social media. Similarly, 44% of customers regularly check their emails for promotional deals while the average email open rate in the healthcare industry is 22%. It means that almost half of the customers who regularly check their emails will likely open a relevant email campaign. From a business perspective, the ROI for every dollar that healthcare professionals spend on their email gives them $42 in return.
Healthcare is not always about profits but these numbers should enable the reader to understand that email marketing continues to give remarkable results despite the competition from relatively modern marketing channels. In fact, email has stayed true to its roots whereas Google and social media continue to tinker with their algorithms in search of the allusive ROI.
The Four Powerful Email Marketing Techniques That Always Work
If you work in the healthcare industry and want to get repeat clients, here are four highly-effective tips that can offer instant results:
Subject Lines
Incentives
Segmentation
Interactive Emails
The Subject Line
People decide to open their emails based on the subject lines. As a result, a catchy email subject line often makes all the difference in email marketing. When sending emails to your patients, make it personal or let the patient feel special.
Let's suppose your name is Dr Rogers and you run a business by the name of Health link Clinic. In this scenario, you can write, "From Dr Rogers Health Link Clinic" in the email subject line. It will let the person know that the email is worth opening. Another way to tempt the person to open an email is to say, "Thank You for Visiting Health Link".
Similarly, you can also write the patient's name in the subject line, which will create a sense of belonging. Sending a personalized email gets results. Personalized subject lines that include the name of the person generate 50% higher open rates than regular emails.
Just make sure that the subject line is short and enticing because most people check their emails on their mobile, which doesn't have space for a lengthy subject line. As a rule of thumb, use a maximum of 9 words or 60 characters.
What's In It For Them
Everyone loves incentives, promotional events, and discounts. A great email always tries to give something to the reader. It is important because most people visit a doctor's office once or twice a year, which means they often forget about your clinic. Therefore, make sure that you give email readers something to remember and cheer up.
Promotional emails are very effective for health issues that require regular checkups. People love discounts and participating in research studies that can help them get free checkups. In contrast, regular patients will appreciate something that adds to the existing experience. You can tell your regular patients about new technology, new health insurance opportunities, and other value-added services.
Patient Segmentation
Sending a nice email with a great subject line will not make a difference if it isn't addressed to the right audience. To succeed, you should segment your patients according to their characteristics and email preference. Modern email apps are equipped to handle segmentation by dividing subscribers into smaller groups.
Segmentation is necessary because it allows you to send relevant emails and promotional deals to specific patients. For instance, patients coming to a dentist for root canal surgeries and crowns will love to hear about gum care and new painless tooth extraction procedures. On the other hand, patients looking for teeth whitening procedures will relish discounts and information related to innovative tooth whitening products.
Instead of sending a generic email, you can also segment your patients by the type of medical treatment. Segmentation offers quick results because research suggests that segmented email yields an almost 91% higher click-through rate than generic emails.
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Interactive Emails
Interactive emails are increasingly becoming popular among both email marketers and their audiences. The interactive email consists of dynamic material that allows email readers to engage with its content. Surveys, interactive infographics, and videos are just a few examples of interactive content. It works because embedding a video in your email is proven to generate boost click rates up to 300%.
You can take the concept to an entirely new level by sending video messages or recording medical procedures for your audiences. For instance, dentists can record tooth extraction methods that offer painless surgery. Gynaecologists can send informative sessions to new mothers helping first-time mothers relieve the stress of childbirth.
You can also use a variety of other methods but make sure to keep the message sweet and short. A lengthy video can easily distract viewers from the subject. Similarly, don't send long surveys that no one is going to fill. One way to address the issue is to host the full version on the main website or a third-party platform and provide a hyperlink to the source. It will help deliver the message effectively without clogging the email inbox with a large file size.
WHAT'S NEXT?
These are by no means the only tricks that can enhance your email campaigns. However, consider these as golden nuggets that can do wonders for you. Follow every bit of advice in this guide because it will help streamline your email campaign from start to finish in four easy-to-follow steps.
Before embarking on your newfound journey, always include a call to action at the end of every email. A CTA lets the customer know what to do next and doesn't leave them in limbo. As for you, it's time to put this inexpensive but highly effective strategy to the test.
Guest contributor: Josh Jameson.
For more on email marketing in healthcare and the pharmaceutical sectors, and how we can help, see our section and email and marketing automation.