Email Marketing
Email offers an easy way to stay in touch with patients. It can be an inexpensive way to promote your practice. Here are a few pointers for leveraging email marketing to engage and build relationships with your customers.
Posted in Marketing on Sunday, May 15, 2016
Why Email?
Start with a basic outline of the reasons you want to use email for marketing. Who will you email? What content will you provide? Why should someone read your email? How often will you send emails? Determine whether you have enough to say and if you can consistently create content.
Research Email Marketing Software
There are many web-based email marketing software tools that specialize in helping small businesses with all aspects of their email marketing strategy and execution - including assistance with email template design, list management, email broadcast and tracking services.
Pricing models vary, but most structure their fees based on size of your list and the number of emails you plan on sending each month.
Build Your Email Marketing List
Depending on the size of your practice, you may choose to begin an email marketing program with your existing clients. The first step will be gathering email addresses (and permission). If your website offers the functionality to sign up for a newsletter, you can gather emails that way.
Understand Online Marketing Laws
From the CAN-SPAM Act to unsubscribe responsibilities, there are several laws that you need to understand. Email marketing software can help you comply, but you should still familiarize yourself with these laws.
Business.gov offers some practical guidance in this Online Advertising Law article.
Write Your Content
For e-newsletters, quickly readable content is key - such as tips and tools, upcoming presentations or events, links to your website and news about your practice.
Keep it short and useful. And, feel free to write in a more casual manner. For example, your email doesn’t need to be as formal as a brochure.
For more information, read these tips for creating an email newsletter from the Small Business Administration.
Create a Calendar
To keep your email marketing on track, create a calendar to identify when you want to have content created and when you plan to send the email. There may be seasonal topics that work well throughout the year that could be the focus of your email.
Track and Monitor
Most email marketing programs can provide data about open rates, unsubscribes, etc. You can use this information to tweak your message or mailing schedule to see what types of content, subject lines, or times of day generate the best response rates. Another way to gauge feedback is to add a quick survey or poll to your email body copy. This is something that most email marketing programs can help you easily integrate.