When you think about digital marketing, email marketing may not be the first thing that comes to mind. This makes sense because to reach a younger audience, tools such as company media and SMS marketing are commonplace.
Nevertheless, electronic marketing in the healthcare sector is still relevant and effective in 2023. In this article, we will look at several ways in which you can update your email marketing campaign in order to achieve results in promoting your medical services.
Medesk is an assistant for clinic managers, collects and presents complex statistics about the work of the clinic in a simple and understandable way, that makes it easier for the manager to make both operational and strategic decisions.
Learn more >>The Figures Speak for Themselves
The following statistics are based on Statista's research to give you an idea of the impact healthcare email marketing strategies can have. Email activity is expected to continue to grow.
The research estimates that by this year, email traffic will grow to more than 300 billion emails sent and received daily
That's more than 300 billion emails sent back and forth every day. Another main attraction of e-marketing is that it is affordable and provides a high return on investment.
Statista found that email automation provides the highest return on investment than any other digital marketing program, averaging $36 for every dollar spent
The open rate for medical email marketing can vary widely depending on a number of factors, such as the quality of the email content, the relevance to the target audience, the timing of the email, and the strength of the subject line.
According to a 2020 benchmark report by Campaign Monitor, the average open rate for wellness and healthcare email marketing campaigns is 17.1%
It's worth noting that this is just an average. There are many factors that affect open rates. Therefore, it's important for the healthcare industry to continually monitor and optimize their email communication efforts to improve engagement and drive better patient outcomes.
Medesk helps to manage the work with patients. The platform tracks the entire history of interaction with them: from the attraction channel to the profit received.
Learn more >>According to the same report, the average click-through rate for healthcare email campaigns is 2.6%. Again, this is just an average. Regular testing and optimization can also help identify and address any barriers to engagement.
So how can you use the power of email marketing channels to improve your conversion rates? Here are some tips to help you with this.
Use Automation Tools
Using an automated email program in PMS increases the openability simply because the subscribers of the mailing list already have an idea of what to expect (regular emails). The use of answering machines for email lists in the healthcare sector makes sense. This is because it not only helps to build strong trusting relationships with patients, but also makes them feel connected and valued.
You can implement our pre-built templates and use their functionality, or create your own via our tips. Here are a few ways to use automation with emails that bring results.
#1. Keep your goals in mind when responding to emails
These types of emails keep your medical services in the minds of patients. They are usually in the form of appointment reminders and confirmation emails, post-visit emails and even welcome emails to connect with patients, showing that they are more than just another customer.
You can send notifications to patients about appointments, various promotions and events directly from Medesk. The registrar can easily set up automatic notifications, for example, a day or 2 hours before the visit. This option significantly unloads the work of the registry and increases patient loyalty.
Learn more >>#2. Educational letters
Healthcare professionals and marketing agencies can use email marketing to educate new patients on relevant health topics, such as tips for staying healthy or managing a chronic condition. This can help patients feel empowered and more engaged in their own care. Any email containing valuable information will generate responses. It can be anything:
- Monthly programs
- Advertising for specific events
- Positive success stories from patients
- Educational information on health-related issues intended for training.
#3. Letters with holidays and birthdays
Emails with birthday wishes are a type of email marketing that can be used by healthcare practices to improve patient experience and engagement.
Birthday emails can also be an opportunity to provide patients with useful and relevant information, such as tips for staying healthy or reminders about upcoming appointments or screenings.
In addition, birthday emails can help to reinforce the provider's brand and build goodwill with patients, which can ultimately lead to improved patient satisfaction and retention. However, it is critical to ensure that patients have opted in to receive such emails and that the emails are compliant with privacy regulations.
The most effective way to show how much you care about your patients is to send them a personalized email on their birthday. The same applies to emails dedicated to holidays or other special occasions. They are easily formatted and provide a convenient way to insert a call to action.
Moreover, you can insert your social media channels links (Facebook, LinkedIn) into the email.
Add Extreme Personal Touches
It's much easier to add personal touches to your medical emails than it might seem. It has been proven that personalization is always top of mind for customers.
Patients tend to unsubscribe from letters without personalization.
It increases awareness, brand loyalty and trust. Patients perceive your healthcare organization as more relevant and visible when personalization is used correctly. It also makes them feel connected to your brand.
But how to do it? Here are some suggestions.
#1. Optimize your content marketing
This includes using the data collected about your target audience. By introducing relevant content, you make them feel connected. This type of content can be:
- Instructions on how to use medications
- Advice regarding specific health problems
- Nutritional suggestions relevant to the patient's condition
- Information on how to access online doctor services
- And other topics of personal interest.
Regular newsletters can keep patients informed of significant updates from their healthcare provider, such as updated services, policies, or staff changes. This can help patients feel more connected to their provider and improve the overall patient experience.
#2. CTA with personalization
This is a very simple way to communicate with a patient via email. Instead of using a universal call-to-action and incentives string or a postscript, why not include the patient's name in these elements?
Also, expand this by sending specific suggestions relevant to patients' health issues, on their birthdays or during holidays. Each of these ideas increases retention and the connection that the subscriber will feel.
#3. Use the appropriate subject lines
Subject lines can make the difference between an open email and one that is deleted without a second glance. Catchy themes are not suitable for this application, but using themes containing the patient's name will attract attention. Using the patient's name in the email subject line of the adapted email will increase the openability of these automated emails.
#4. Friendly email address for replies
Instead of using the typical "noreply@emailaddress" address, why not change it to something more fun and friendly?
This is easy to change, and when a personalized email is received and contains a response to an email address such as "thanks@emailaddress" or "hello@emailaddress", it doesn't seem so cold or impersonal. Using a carefree, friendly email address will add a tone to the letter.
#5. Opt-in emails
Opt-in emails are marketing emails that are sent to individuals who have explicitly given their permission to receive them. This means that the recipient has actively opted in to receive marketing emails from a specific sender or brand, often by submitting their email address through a website form or other opt-in mechanism.
Opt-in emails are a vital part of email marketing because they help to ensure that recipients are engaged and interested in the content they receive. By building a list of opt-in email subscribers, healthcare providers can create more targeted and personalized email campaigns that are more likely to be well received and drive better patient outcomes. Additionally, sending opt-in emails helps to comply with anti-spam laws and maintain a positive sender reputation, which can serve to improve email deliverability and engagement rates over time.
Segment Your Market
The purpose of segmenting your emails is that it allows you to target your emails to the relevant subscribers. The easiest way to do this is to group contacts into smaller segments. It also keeps irrelevant email content, such as invoices, from being sent to incorrect email addresses.
You want your patients to receive content that is relevant to them, and segmentation is the right way to ensure this. Here are ways to collect the data needed to refine your segmentation efforts.
#1. Request feedback
This type of email increases engagement and strengthens your online reputation. This means that you are asking your subscribers to give you feedback about their first visit. They will also provide you with specific demographic data that you can use when segmentation is planned.
#2. Send emails about re-engagement
According to BMC Health Service research, surveys are an excellent way to find out a patient's preferences. The questions in these surveys will cover everything from general questions about service preferences to some personal questions used to group respondents by likings, age, etc. That's how segmentation efforts have a better chance of success.
Final thoughts
Although email marketing is considered an old-fashioned approach to a modern problem, it is still a cost-effective way to reach people. Using e-marketing in healthcare makes sense if you study ROI and potential coverage in the future.
Using the simple strategies listed above, you can fine-tune the way you use your e-marketing program. They strive to be useful without complicating the process. After you implement them, you should see results that were previously impossible.
To get more information on marketing, electronic health records, tips for healthcare professionals and their workflow visit our blog.
