Clear Guide To Starting a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

What’s the most used form of content marketing? 81% of B2B marketers say it’s email newsletters, and that’s no surprise. Email marketing is one of the most effective and affordable marketing strategies out there. Not only does it allow you to reach a large number of people, but it also allows you to track your results and measure your ROI.

However, even with these fantastic benefits, many healthcare professionals choose not to use email marketing because they don't know how to get started. If you're one of these people, this guide is for you. Below, we'll walk you through everything you need to do to create a successful healthcare email marketing campaign for your practice.

What Is Healthcare Email Marketing?

Before we get into how to create a healthcare email marketing campaign, let's first define what it is. Healthcare email marketing is the process of creating and sending emails to promote your healthcare practice or business. These emails can be used to promote your services, drive traffic to your website, or simply keep in touch with patients and customers.

How Does Healthcare Email Marketing Differ From Other Marketing?

Now that you know what healthcare email marketing is, you may be wondering how it's different from other types of marketing.

The biggest difference between healthcare email marketing and other types of marketing is that it's a permission-based marketing technique. This means that you can't just add people to your email list without their permission. In order to build an email list, you need to use a sign-up form on your website or ask patients and customers to sign up for your emails when they schedule an appointment or make a purchase.

Another difference between healthcare email marketing and other types of marketing is that it's highly targeted. When you create an email list, you can segment your list based on a number of different factors, such as location, age, gender, and interests. This allows you to send highly targeted emails that are more likely to be opened and read by your patients and customers.

Finally, healthcare email marketing is also very affordable. Unlike other marketing techniques, such as TV or print ads, you don't have to spend a lot of money to create and send emails. In fact, you can create and send emails for free using a number of different email marketing platforms, such as MailChimp or Constant Contact.

How To Get Started With Your Email Marketing Campaign?

Now that you know what healthcare email marketing is and how it differs from other types of marketing, let's get into how to get started with your email marketing campaign.

     1. Create Automation With Your Emails

When you're just getting started with email marketing, it can be tempting to send out a mass email to your entire list at once. However, this is not the best way to use email marketing. Instead, you should automate your emails.

Email automation is the process of sending emails to patients and customers based on specific actions they take. For example, you can set up an automation to send a welcome email to new patients when they schedule their first appointment. Or, you can set up an automation to send a follow-up email to patients who haven't been to your practice in six months.

     2. Start With a Welcome Email

The first step in creating automation with your emails is to start with a welcome email. This is an email that's sent to new patients and customers when they sign up for your email list.

Your welcome email should include information about your practice, such as your location, hours, and services. You should also include a call to action, such as a link to your website or a phone number patients can use to schedule an appointment.

     3. Create Small Ways To Connect

The next step in creating automation with your emails is to create small ways to connect. Some examples include sending a birthday email on a patient's birthday, sending an email when a patient schedules an appointment, or sending a survey to patients after their appointment.

     4. Stay HIPAA Compliant

When you're creating your email marketing campaign, it's important to stay HIPAA compliant. HIPAA is a federal law that protects the privacy of patient health information.

There are a few different ways to stay HIPAA compliant with your email marketing campaign. First, you should never include any protected health information (PHI) in your emails. This includes things like a patient's name, birth date, social security number, or medical history.

Second, you should always use a secure email platform to send your emails. Secure email platforms encrypt patient health information so that it can't be accessed by anyone other than the intended recipient.

Finally, you should have a process in place for handling patient health information if you need to email it. This process should include things like only emailing PHI to the intended recipient, using a secure email platform, and never storing PHI in your email account.

     5. Create Consistency

When you're creating your email marketing campaign, it's important to create consistency. This means that you should send emails on a regular basis and that your emails should have a similar look and feel.

It's also important to be consistent with the content of your emails. Every email you send should have a specific purpose and goal. For example, you might send an email to promote a new service, send a patient satisfaction survey, or send a reminder for an upcoming appointment.

     6. Follow the 80/20 Rule

One way to create consistency is to follow the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule is a guideline that says you should include 80% valuable content and 20% promotional content in your emails. Some examples of valuable content include educational articles, blog posts, infographics, and videos. Promotional content includes things like sales, discounts, and coupons.

Summing Up

When it comes to marketing your healthcare practice or business, email marketing is a great way to reach out to patients and customers. It's important to keep in mind that healthcare email marketing is different from other types of marketing, so be sure to follow the tips above to create a successful campaign.

At Digital Authority, we can help you create a successful healthcare email marketing campaign that will reach your target audience and promote your services. Contact us today to learn more.