Social media often steals the spotlight when, but email marketing remains a powerful tool for you to connect with patients, build loyalty, and grow your practice.
81% of marketers say email marketing is their most effective channel. (Campaign Monitor)
Deliver highly personalized messages, valuable information, and timely reminders to your patients through email.
Let us go over some effective email marketing strategies for your dental office:
1. Build a Targeted Email List
Your email contact list is naturally the foundation of your successful email marketing campaign.
Grow it organically by:
- Offering an incentive, such as providing a free teeth whitening guide or a discount on their first visit in exchange for email sign-ups.
- Website opt-in forms will make it easy for visitors to subscribe to your newsletter or practice updates.
- Have a physical sign-up sheet at the front desk for patients who prefer to opt-in in person.
- Run online or in-office contests that require patients to give you their email addresses for entry.
Supplement these organic efforts with email contact lists from a reliable source. For example, new movers or families with children in your area. By putting data to use, you can reach customers you may not have access to on your own.
2. Segment Your Audience
Relevance is key, thanks to overcrowded inboxes.
Segmenting your list allows you to send more targeted messages. Create emails that are relevant to specific groups of patients, ensuring higher interest and engagement.
Of email marketing campaigns that are most effective 78% include the strategy of segmentation.
Consider segmenting by:
- New patients: send them welcome emails, with initial appointment information and opt in for reminders.
- Existing patients: share recall reminders, notify them of special offers, and celebrate them with birthday greetings.
- Patients with specific treatments: provide them with post-operative care instructions and follow-up reminders.
- Demographics: Age, location, etc. (use with care and respect for privacy)
Keep in mind, segmented email campaigns get 100.95% higher click-through rates than non-segmented campaigns. – making them an essential part of your outreach.
3. Make Your Emails Fun and Engaging
This is probably a no brainer, but your emails should be engaging and informative. Make them valuable to your recipients.
Think beyond just offering promotions, and give them:
- Oral health tips and advice, such as flossing and maintaining good oral hygiene.
- Educational content that explains the different dental procedures you perform and shares any new and exciting technology your using.
- Introductions to your new staff members, updates on the services you offer, or any upgrades to your dental office.
- Patient testimonials and stories can help you build up your trustworthiness.
- Celebratory birthday messages to make your patients feel valued.
4. Design Visually Appealing Emails
Beautify your emails and make them easy to read.
Image-based emails overall have a higher open rate of 30.27% (Backlinko)
They need a flowing combination of visuals and type, to quickly make your point and capture attention, ultimately moving patients to a clear CTA.
Some best practices for your dental email strategy:
- Use templates to maintain a consistent brand identity.
- Include high-quality images that showcase your office, your friendly staff, or before-and-after photos (with consent).
- Try to keep all emails concise and to the point, because people are busy! Get to your bottom line, quickly.
- You need to ensure your emails look great on all devices and mobile-friendly design is a must, with 50-60% of email opens coming from mobile devices.
5. Automate Your Email Campaigns
Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails, wow!
Ultimately, automation saves you time – and I know you love the sound of that! You can also ensure consistent communication.
Some ways to automate your emails:
- Automatically send a welcome email to your newest subscribers.
- Reduce no-shows with convenient automated appointment reminders.
- Let your patients know when it’s time to schedule their next check-up.
- Send automated birthday greetings to show you care about them beyond the office walls.
- After a procedure, send a follow-up email to check on the patient – include any care tips.
You and your team can focus on patient care, while still reaching new potential clients, and keeping all of your sent emails relevant and timely – thanks to automated emails.
6. Personalize Always!
Data can be your secret weapon when it comes to dental email marketing.
When a company send personalized emails, it can increase revenue by up to 760%.
Like we have discussed, it’s not enough to just send out generic blasts and hope for the best. With the use of data, you can create highly targeted and personalized campaigns that resonate with your patients and drive them to action.
Data allows you to personalize your email content beyond just inserting a patient’s name.
Use data to tailor your messaging around your current customers, their specific needs and interests. For example:
- Suggest treatments based on their past dental history.
- Provide articles or videos on topics they’ve shown interest in.
- Allow patients to book appointments online based on their preferred time slots.
Also use data to create campaigns that reach out to new potential patients. Find them through certain attributes, such as new movers, new parents, families with children, or in-market browsers.
7. Offer Exclusive Deals and Promotions
63% of people who open up an email try and find a discount.
Offer exclusive discounts or promotions to your subscribers through email. This can push them to hop over to your website, to book an appointment, or try a new service.
- You can also use promotions to reward customers for their loyalty.
- Offer a limited-time discount on one of your services, like teeth whitening or Invisalign.
- Create special packages for your new patients, encouraging them to book exams and cleanings.
Consider email exclusive promotions that make your subscribers feel valued and encourage them to open your messages.
Focus on building genuine relationships with your patients through your email marketing strategy. Provide them with value that goes beyond marketing your services, because you should never be bombarding clients with sales pitch emails.
You need to constantly monitor your email campaign metrics to see what’s working and what’s not. Keep up with your open, click-through, and conversion rates. Take these insights into consideration and refine your email content, subject lines, and sending schedule accordingly.
Are you ready to create an email marketing strategy with an ROI that will put a smile on your face?
For more email marketing tips and tricks for your dental practice, contact Welcome Wagon! Founded in 1928 to welcome new movers to their community, Welcome Wagon is committed to connecting with new homeowners through their mailboxes and online.
