In the world of digitization, reaching clients and establishing yourself is more than just about posters, banners, and yellow pages. Emails have become a staple in marketing for most industries.
Healthcare Email Marketing has been helping hospitals and healthcare facilities all over the globe. It makes reaching out to patients much easier and has proven to be among the most effective marketing strategies.
Email marketing has also become a marketer’s favorite when choosing a strategy. That is because email marketing is often not simply about marketing products and services. It can be about increasing engagement and communication.
Like Tom Fishburne said,
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”
Email marketing in the healthcare industry aims to inform, communicate, and engage patients. That is part of the reason why it works so well.
Read on to learn all about healthcare email marketing, why it works and how you can get started on it today!
Why Email Marketing?
Emails have emerged as a powerful marketing channel, giving marketers much creative freedom. They can personalize the messages and make them more suitable for the target audience.
Being able to deliver what their customers need from them creates a favorable connection between the company and the target audience.
It has proven to be an effective marketing strategy with one of the lowest tactical difficulty levels.
Healthcare providers use this tool to their advantage. It helps them:
- Deliver important information
- Automate appointment reminders
- Maintain communication
- Engage their patient and maintain their link with old patients
According to statistics from Mailer Lite, healthcare-related emails have an enviable open rate of 24.37%. Hence, healthcare email marketing is sure to boost your ROI.
How to Start Email Marketing as a Healthcare Provider?
Starting email marketing as a healthcare provider can be confusing. You might find it difficult to compile the list of emails or to figure out what to send.
But, it is actually quite simple. Dive in to find out some easy ways to begin email marketing.
1. Create a Welcome Series
When your contacts are new to your service, that is the peak of their engagement with you. So, use this period to build a good connection with them.
Creating a “Welcome Series” is an easy way to do so.
What to include in your Welcome Series? Here’s a list of ideas:
- The first welcome email: The first welcome email should be sent out immediately after a patient signs up with you. It can answer a few FAQs and give them a gist of what to expect during their first visit. You can also use it to inform them about how future communications will be held.
- The second welcome email: The second email is where you connect with your patients. You can link your socials and inform them regarding text or phone call services that you might offer. It helps you engage the patient.
- Follow-up emails: After the first two introductory emails, your relationship with your patient is established. You can customize the messages according to your and the patient’s requirements. You can also automate periodic bulk emails about new discounts, services, or packages.
2. Maintain the Communication
It is crucial to maintain communication beyond the welcome emails. That way, your patients remember you and are up to date with your latest services and policies.
Some ways to keep them in the loop are:
- Including them in your monthly newsletters
- Sharing information you may have gleaned from educational webinars
- Using national holidays to start conversations about health-related topics
- Advertising your latest services via email
3. Personalize Your Healthcare Email Marketing Newsletters
Personalizing your emails is an easy way to increase engagement. Most businesses agree that adding a personal touch to their emails makes them more attractive to customers.
Some ways in which you can personalize your healthcare email marketing are:
- Using the contact’s first name
- Sending personalized emails based on opt-in source
- Including your real name and picture
- Triggering the contact’s interests
4. Constantly Update Your Emails and Contact Lists
Emails and contacts tend to decay. If you keep clinging to old contacts, you will eventually face a decrease in ROI.Hence, it is vital to keep updating your exsisiting healthcare database with new emails.
Some ways in which you can keep getting new contacts are:
- Get your patients’ emails: This is the easiest way of getting new emails. Every time you acquire a new customer, you can get their emails during the sign-up process. You could even digitalize the sign-up process and make them fill out the forms via their email. Thus, you will get their emails, and you can append them to your list.
- Move appointment booking online: A very convenient way to get new emails is to move your appointment booking process online. That way, the process becomes more straightforward, and you will never lose a potential customer.
- Launch medical webinars: You can conduct medical webinars to attract new customers. They will use their emails to sign up for the webinar, and you can get new contacts to add to your list. Webinars are also useful in getting healthcare contacts as they attract many physicians, pharmacists, and managers as well.
5. Verifying Your Email List
While adding or purchasing new healthcare emails to your contacts list, you must ensure they are genuine contacts. Thus, it is crucial to follow an email verification process.
Data verification is helpful because:
- It removes any fake or illegitimate contacts from your email list
- You can be sure of your B2B contacts and whether they are still relevant
- It can eliminate data redundancy
Thus, verifying data on emails and contacts is essential for effective healthcare email marketing.
Summing Up
Healthcare email marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies guaranteed to boost your ROI when done right. By following the best practices, you can establish a brand image, customer loyalty and a personal connection with your customers.
Email marketing can also help your B2B campaigns. It establishes a long-term partnership and helps your business grow.