Communication has become a critical element of success for modern healthcare practices. You must be able to reach your patients when, where, and how they like to be contacted. Because if your communications don’t align with their preferences, they’ll simply go somewhere else.
While many of your patients actively use text messaging, social media platforms, or newer messaging platforms like WhatsApp, email still reigns supreme in the business world, with more than 4.4 billion messages sent each year. It serves as a nearly universal method of communication, which can then be supplemented to great effect with other channels such as text messages or phone calls.
There are many different ways to handle email marketing for doctors offices and everyone has their own unique priorities and goals, so there’s no way to give ironclad rules. But the benefits of email marketing are fairly universal between practices. Let’s take a closer look at six of the key benefits:
One of the first questions to ask when considering a potential marketing channel is how much money you’ll get back from your investment. Far from simply a matter of numbers, return on investment (ROI) is a metric that helps to quantify the level of engagement something elicits from your customers.
The good news is that email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for each dollar spent. Go ahead and compare that to the ROI for outdoor advertising, radio ads, display ads, or other forms of marketing. Email marketing will likely outshine them all.
One important component of doctor marketing with emails is that they require so little effort from your team. Professional-quality templates ensure that anyone can put together a great design, AI tools can assist with the written content, and then automation takes over the scheduling and sending process.
It doesn’t matter if you have a multi-office business or are just a small rural practice, email marketing for doctors is one of the easiest ways to get results.
Another important aspect of email marketing is how it removes barriers to your audience. For example, let’s say you put up a billboard in your city. The audience for the billboard would be limited to individuals who travel by that exact location and are inclined to read while driving.
Email marketing doesn’t include these types of restrictions. You can build your email lists through social media, display ads, in-person events, and many other methods. By providing real value through your newsletter, you’ll create positive momentum that makes it easier to reach people that you never would’ve contacted through other channels. A great example of this organic expansion is when a patient forwards a particularly impactful email to their friends and family, essentially becoming an unpaid member of your marketing team.
Thanks to the importance of your services and the trust you build with patients, your email campaigns will often get high open rates. As any marketer can tell you, that initial click is incredibly important, because when a message doesn’t get opened it neutralizes all your other efforts.
Email marketing for doctors offices makes it possible to segment your audience for maximum effectiveness. Want to promote a new service you’re offering? Rather than paying for a radio ad that goes out to a randomized audience, you could determine the demographics of your most receptive patients and then send a targeted email right to their inboxes.
With all these new patients learning about your practice, your appointment scheduling processes need to be locked in. Email marketing comes into play at this stage as well by helping you share information about the easiest ways for patients to book an appointment. After they’ve scheduled with your office, you’ll then send automated email reminders. The patient can add the appointment directly to their online calendar from your email, greatly reducing the odds of a no-show.
Of course, you’re not just interested in one-off appointments. The goal is to build patient loyalty that extends well into the future. Email marketing enables these relationships because you can send out rewarding content such as free resources, exclusive offers, birthday wishes, and post-visit instructions.
When some patients inevitably lose interest in your services, you’ll still have a connection to them. Timely re-engagement messages give you the opportunity to share occasional touchpoints that can help bring them back to your practice.
The beauty of these doctor email examples is that they provide such unique benefits to the office that sent them. You know better than anyone what your business needs to be successful, and you’ll find that targeted email campaigns are an excellent way to realize the targeted benefits you’re seeking.
Let’s review some of the most important types of emails to have in your marketing toolkit. As you put your marketing emails into practice, you’ll be able to identify what most resonates with your audience and continually refine your marketing strategies for optimal results.
And so it begins. These emails are your perfect opportunity to make a strong impression, so be sure to showcase your unique brand personality. In order to keep patients interested, reward them for signing up by doing things like inviting them to enter a contest, sharing an exclusive promotion, or providing helpful resources such as webinars or blog posts.
When it comes to email marketing for doctors offices, these messages do the heavy lifting. Sent out a regular cadence and full of helpful content, your newsletter establishes a familiarity that increases the chance that patients think of you when they have healthcare needs. To keep people engaged, skip the boilerplate content and strive to offer unique perspectives on existing knowledge and helpful tips that can’t be found elsewhere.
There are times when you’ll have high-quality content that deserves its own separate send. Perhaps after noticing that many patients have questions about a similar topic, you’ve put together an article that provides answers that are especially easy to understand. Framing your email as a no-strings-attached resource from your friendly team establishes your expertise and builds emotional equity with your patients.
Keep your patients updated on any relevant changes that could impact their relationship with your practice. Perhaps you’re adding additional products or services. Or you might be welcoming a new provider to your staff. These emails give you the chance to set expectations and build excitement.
Cancellations and no-shows are thorns in the side of every medical office in the world. Using helpful email reminders, you can provide all the information needed to get the patient through your door at the right time. Provide intake forms, office address, and any other details that can streamline the process for your staff and the patient.
Following an appointment, be sure to send out a review request. You’ll get valuable feedback in these reviews that helps you identify areas of improvement. And the positive responses gathered will provide user-generated content that can be featured prominently online and attract new patients.
This list of doctor email examples is far from comprehensive, so always be open to new ways to expand your email marketing campaigns. Next year’s most impactful email concept is likely something that hasn’t even occurred to you yet.
It’s time to review a handful of best practices that’ll keep your campaigns running smoothly and your goals within reach. Even if you’re already doing these things, use this short list as a catalyst for identifying creative ways to make your emails drive exceptional results.
Personalize your messages: Remember that relevance is one of the biggest predictors of an email’s success. Segmenting your audience allows you to deliver customized messages that connect with your targeted recipients.
Keep things HIPAA compliant: While your emails should be personalized, you need to avoid including any information that might run afoul of HIPAA privacy laws. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the regulations.
Include an unsubscribe link: Speaking of compliance, you’ll need to make it easy to unsubscribe from every email you send. Otherwise, you run the risk of violating the CAN-SPAM Act.
Use a clear sender address: Always make it clear to your audience who you are and why you’re contacting them. This starts with using an easy-to-understand email sender address, and a good doctor email address example is drfirstlast@mydomain.com.
Automate, automate, automate: Modern technology makes it easy to schedule your campaigns and then move on to more important tasks. You can literally win back hours a day through automation, and your emails will be sent with perfect accuracy.
Is there any commodity more precious to a medical professional than time? You face so many competing demands each day, making it imperative that you find ways to delegate whenever possible.
Twilio SendGrid is designed to remove many of your patient communication burdens, simplifying your life and helping you drive better business results. Create a free account (no credit card required) and see for yourself. It’s easier than ever to manage your recipient lists, create compelling emails, automate your sending schedule, and track results.
With comprehensive support like this, you get more time to focus on patient care and enjoy your life outside of work. And who doesn’t want that?
