Don’t Underestimate Email Marketing in Healthcare

Did you know according to a recent study by email marketing company ExactTarget, 77 percent of consumers prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through email? This figure alone shows that email is not dead when it comes to marketing.

But with HIPAA regulations and many internal restrictions, how should a hospital or healthcare facility effectively utilize this powerful marketing tool to get their messages across? Here are a few suggestions:

Get Personal Without Getting Personal

It may sound like an oxymoron but it can also work. Don’t just send an email from the name of your hospital; send it from a known name within the practice or facility. Familiar names are more likely to catch and hold someone’s attention, which increases the likelihood that they will open the email.

Optimized Subject Lines Are Important

According to SalesForce.com, 64 percent of email recipients open email based on its subject line. Since it’s the first thing a reader sees, if the subject line doesn’t grab the reader to read more, you can say goodbye to it being read, even if it’s the best looking email in the world.

As for what to say, less is more. Subject lines with 50 characters or less get the most interaction. In fact according to a study done by email research company Adestra, subject lines with less than 10 characters had an open rate of 58 percent.

Viewability Is Essential

More and more of us reach for our phones for email. If your email is built for a 20-inch desktop screen only, you are missing out on a great opportunity to market to potential new patients.

As you can see, email still has a lot of influence in marketing, including healthcare. Developing an effective marketing email campaign requires that you reach all of your prospects – even when they’re mobile.