Healthcare email marketing insights can provide valuable information to doctors about their potential patients. Analyzing this data helps them better understand patient needs and make informed decisions about their marketing and outreach efforts, ultimately improving patient engagement and satisfaction.
Keep reading for tips on using email campaigns to connect with your patients and build loyalty, credibility, and trust in your healthcare organization.
Why is healthcare email marketing relevant?
Healthcare email marketing gives doctors a personal way to reach their target audiences directly. By showing up in their patients’ email inboxes (with permission, of course), they can share information, improve overall customer satisfaction, and stay top of mind by reminding patients of the services and solutions they offer.
Since healthcare email marketing campaigns are trackable, healthcare organizations can measure their success and make changes to improve results.
Your emails can be personalized based on the patient’s health status, age, interests, etc., and are a great way to maintain communication even if they don’t need your help at that time.
Getting started with medical email marketing
Don’t feel overwhelmed if you’re new to email marketing or unsure where to start. With a bit of planning and preparation, you can develop a healthcare email marketing strategy that effectively reaches—and engages—your patient leads and existing patients.
6 healthcare email marketing tips and tricks
By following these six email marketing tips and best practices, you can ensure the success of your healthcare email marketing efforts.
Identify the right frequency
Healthcare email marketing frequency is a delicate balance. If you send emails too often, you’ll annoy your patients, and they may unsubscribe from your list. On the flip side, if you don’t email them often enough, they may forget you exist.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, so you must determine what works best for your hospital and your specific audience.
Some hospitals and healthcare organizations have had luck using a communications “preference center” where subscribers can specify the type of content they’d like to receive and the frequency of receiving marketing communications via email.
If your email marketing tool provides this functionality, make sure it’s set up to offer the right options for your subscribers. You might test frequency to find the sweet spot if your tool doesn’t include this option. To do this, track and analyze metrics, such as open rates, click rates, and unsubscribes.
Segment your audience
Patients receiving emails about topics they are interested in are more likely to open them and click on the links, improving engagement rates. In fact, according to a recent study by researchers at Databox, 40% of people cite a lack of relevance as one of the main reasons they unsubscribe from email lists.
Not every healthcare marketing message you send via email will be relevant or interesting to all subscribers, especially if you include everyone in one list. This is why segmentation can be helpful and effective.
Email segmentation involves dividing your audience into subgroups based on a trait, interest, or characteristic they have in common. Having a specific list—or set of lists—allows you to deliver a more meaningful, tailored message to the specific group of people who need it the most, deepening your connection with them.
Get creative with your campaigns
Email marketing comes in many forms, and using different ones keeps your audience interested and engaged.
We’ll discuss this in more detail below, but a monthly newsletter with news and announcements, a promotional email about an event or change, or educational emails that offer value and earn trust are all examples of creative emails you could send.
Know your healthcare email marketing metrics
Monitoring your healthcare email marketing metrics is the best way to know if your efforts are working or if you need to adjust your approach. Keep tabs on your data—such as your open rate, click rate, bounces, and unsubscribes—and watch for trends over time. Numbers tell a story. Make sure you are paying attention.
Engage your audience with captivating subject lines
A healthcare email marketing subject line will make or break your email’s success. It’s what entices your target audience to click on your email to open it or what bores them to skip right over you and on to their next message.
A good subject line is short, clear, and to the point. It sets the tone for the email and gives your target audience an idea of what to expect. It’s important to make the subject line compelling and relevant to the target audience’s needs or interests, so they’ll be encouraged to open it.
Always have a call-to-action
Don’t miss the opportunity to ask your audience to take action. The action might be a social media follow, an email subscription, a lead generator download, or a purchase. Every email should have an ask, even if it’s a small one.
The 4 most popular types of healthcare email marketing content
If you’re ready to try email marketing, consider one of these popular options.
Roundup newsletters
This general newsletter is a catch-all of the news, events, and announcements at your healthcare practice or hospital. It is sent out on a regular schedule and includes links to all your latest digital resources.
Promotional alerts
These emails are your “breaking news” – such as a launch of a new patient portal, a change in your hours, a new location, or a new billing process. Short with a sense of urgency, these are one-off emails sent at the time of the change or event.
Informative messages
Informative emails are a series of emails sent after someone expresses an interest in a topic. They usually follow the download of an ebook or other lead generator. They may include related articles, other downloadable content, a patient success story, or a “hard push” to schedule an appointment or contact the office.
Event promotions
Event promotion emails advertise a special event or fundraiser your practice is having and invite your target audience to attend, donate, or get involved.
FAQs about healthcare email marketing
Do you still have questions about email marketing? Here are answers to some frequently asked questions.
How can I prevent my healthcare marketing emails from getting flagged as spam?
Follow HIPAA compliance standards and other industry-based email marketing best practices to avoid your emails landing in your subscribers’ spam boxes.
For example, build your email list(s) with permissions-based email addresses, not purchased lists. Avoid including words and phrases—such as “best price,” “100% free,” and “save”—that trigger spam filters. And be sure to clean your list regularly!
What’s the best frequency for messages sent as part of a healthcare email marketing campaign?
Determining the right email frequency is tricky. You want to send them often enough to stay top-of-mind but not so much that you become annoying.
Set a conservative schedule, and slowly build the frequency as you watch the metrics. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, so you will need to figure out what is most effective for your audience.
How can you use healthcare email marketing to convert leads into patients?
Email marketing is all about building relationships. By adding value and establishing trust through your content, you will become the provider they think of when they need care.
Continue offering patient education resources, answering questions, and consistently informing your audience of new treatments and service line advances. Over time, those leads will become patients.
Ready to give strategic healthcare email marketing a shot?
If you’re ready to start a healthcare email marketing campaign, TBH Creative can help. We’ve been partnering with healthcare clients just like you since 2004, and we are passionate about helping them meet and exceed their marketing goals
Start sending healthcare emails that convert
Let’s work together to create and send impactful emails that grow your practice. Contact the experts at TBH Creative today to learn more about how our team can help you take your healthcare email marketing to the next level.
