Email marketing has emerged as an important tool in healthcare marketing, offering a direct and personal way to communicate with patients and healthcare consumers. Healthcare organizations including hospitals, clinics increasingly leverage digital marketing to improve patient engagement and boost operational efficiencies.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a healthcare digital marketing strategy that involves sending emails to a targeted group of recipients to promote services, messages or healthcare information. It used to build relationships with potential and existing patients and improve patient engagement.
Let the figures speak:
Email marketing may seem unpopular but statistics show that more than 300 billion emails are sent and received daily. The cost-effective and high return on investment (ROI) of email marketing is another of its main attractions.
The success of healthcare email marketing is measured by open rates that depend heavily on crafting compelling content that resonates with patients, sending emails at opportune times, and utilizing clear subject lines that address their healthcare concerns.
What are the challenges faced in email marketing?
Seeking new subscribers:
Seeking email subscribers can be tricky as we cannot just obtain the subscribers through a random list as the risk of getting marked spam is high. It is important to build an organic email subscriber list even if it takes a little longer.
Increasing open rates can be challenging:
Statistics show that email open rates average around 21%, though this rate varies. Because an unread email is useless, increasing your email open rates will boost the overall effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
Retaining past subscribers is important:
Gaining new subscribers is great, but pay special attention to those who unsubscribe. Do your subscribers frequently click the unsubscribe link? If so, there might be an issue with the relevance, frequency, and content of your posts. Making every effort to retain active subscribers is worthwhile if you have a large number of them.
How do we make our email marketing work?
Collecting and segregating the email list:
You can’t create a successful email marketing campaign for healthcare unless you have a mailing list. You can send emails to the patients who are currently your client’s patients or willing to be in the future by maintaining and starting your own list through natural means.
Here’s how you can do that:
Patient forms:
The first step is to create a patient profile. Take advantage of the chance you can collect their contact information and details.
Landing pages:
These web pages are specifically designed to attract people to join your mailing list. Use your valuable content or activities to generate interest and collect email addresses.
Because they are aware that your emails are important and relevant to their needs, patients who voluntarily subscribe to your client mailing list are more likely to open them.
Optimize an effective email:
Creating an effective email is the first step in successful healthcare email marketing. Although it may seem simple, keep in mind that you are writing it for your audience, and just a single person. You will only have a single chance to make a good impression and a smallest error can have serious consequences.
Here is a simple guide to write a well-crafted email:
Create a professional and pleasing subject line that draws patients to click through and read your email. Keep your email content away from spam triggering words.
The content of the email should be clear and easy to read. Avoid usage of unclear and confusing language or sentences.
Add something valuable at the end of the email like a call-to-action button, links to blogs, or even promote a healthcare service for your client.
Including the right elements in the email isn’t enough to ensure success. Using the right tone and focusing on the right details are equally important.
Focus on sharing:
Keep in mind that email marketing for healthcare marketing is designed to help people. If patients feel you don’t have their best interests at heart, they might ignore, filter, or block your emails. It’s best to highlight the benefits for them rather than pressuring them to make decisions.
Here is an example of how to share:
In case your client launches a new healthcare app you can promote its features without using a pushy tone.
In short your goal should be to improve your patient’s health through your services. Be sincere and honest in delivering this message, as people can tell the difference.
Optimize your content:
Success is not guaranteed on the first attempt. You may need to make adjustments to ensure everything works well together.
Even if you follow these guidelines exactly, you might still not succeed. The only way to be certain about your email marketing strategy is to implement it. This will allow you to see what works, what doesn’t, and what needs improvement.
Final words:
Email is a powerful marketing tool that can help you reach patients who need your client’s healthcare services. For an effective healthcare email marketing strategy, focus on your patients from start to finish. They should feel that your client’s hospital genuinely cares about their needs and concerns.
