Are you using email marketing correctly for your dental practice? Email marketing can help you stay connected to your patients and help reach prospects to gain new business. Email is a great channel to add to your marketing mix. It can help nurture relationships, promote a consistent brand experience, and inform your patients of news and upcoming appointments.
If you need help finding success in your email marketing, you may need to do something differently. Identifying your mistakes is crucial to turning your email around and achieving higher open rates leading to more appointments. In this article, our BlueWing Dental marketing experts have compiled 5 common email mistakes and how to rectify them.
1. Weak Subject Lines
Your subject line can determine if the recipient chooses to open or delete the email. More than 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line. It's essential to craft a superior subject line that engages your patient and leads them to want to discover more by clicking the email open. If your subject line is inferior, your patient may delete the email or mark it as spam.
Some things to keep in mind when creating a subject line:
- Personalize it.
- Avoid capitalizing each word. People connect capitalization with yelling.
- Keep it clear, simple, and professional.
- Avoid fluff words.
2. Sending Too Many Emails
Another common mistake is overloading your patient's email inbox. Sending too many emails can cause frustration and irritate your patient. Keep in mind that you are one of many brands emailing them. They will also be receiving emails from other brands and can quickly become exhausted by the sheer number of emails sent daily. You'll want to strategically plan the optimal cadence for reaching your patients. In addition, think about the content you are sending them. Make sure it is valuable to them and transmitted at a reasonable frequency. If you send too many emails, you may drive them to hit the unsubscribe button.
3. Not Considering Mobile Readers
When building an email, you should consider that patients may view it on their desktops and smartphone. Research shows that more than 77% of Americans check email on their smartphones. This means you'll want to ensure that your email is optimized for mobile. If your email is hard to read or doesn't display correctly on mobile, you can quickly irritate your patients. They should be able to easily read and click on buttons and hyperlinks on their phone as they would when viewing on a desktop. When you create an email, you should test it across devices. Testing will help you identify any problems before emailing your patient. If you experience a problem during your test, your patient will likely encounter the same issue when reading your email on their phone.
4. Failing to Include CTA Buttons
Think about the goal of your email. Are you trying to point your patient to more information or to schedule an appointment? Often, brands make the mistake of not including CTA buttons in their email. A CTA button will point your patient to where they need to go. Whether it be to read a blog on your website, learn about a new office location or dental team member, or even schedule an appointment online. Including a CTA button will help move your patient along their journey and get them to the content they are interested in. Your CTA should be bold to attract the reader's attention and get them where they need to be in one click. Be intentional about the emails you send. Provide value and direct your patients to take the next step.
5. Too Much Content
Lastly, a common mistake is overcrowding your email with too much content. To avoid sending too many emails, brands send overcrowded emails stuffed with copy, deals, and CTA's. This is a big mistake, as having too much information in an email will confuse your patients and leave a negative impression. They will leave the email wondering what the big takeaway is. Instead, stick to one main point that directly ties in with your subject line. Use imagery and a CTA that stay on theme and support the topic of the email. One main topic that is clear and simple will help your patients understand the message you are trying to get across. They will have an easier time ingesting the information and knowing the next step they need to take.
Build Better Emails with BlueWing Dental
Your dental practice will want to steer clear of these 5 common email marketing mistakes. Gain leads, nurture patient relationships, and set more appointments with BlueWing Dental, a Darwill company. Our experts will help you craft superior email marketing campaigns that deliver a punch and stay out of the spam folder. Let's prepare an email today!