medical email marketing

Why use medical email marketing for your private practice?

Medical email marketing is worth your attention, as a potential business development tactic. It will always work best when part of a strategy, and let’s look at the reasons why email marketing still has its place, in a marketing world where most of our attention is drawn to the social media platforms.

medical email marketing

Why email marketing for doctors is not dead

Email, the last uncluttered digital environment?

email marketing tips for doctors

When we include email marketing tips for doctors in webinars, workshops and training sessions, we point out that email is a survivor. In times of shifting attention, new platforms and tools, and an ongoing rise in our smartphone usage, email is still standing strong.

Why? There is something basic about email, just like you can’t eradicate its predecessor, the metal letterbox at your front door. Particularly in the medical field, where we are postponing our long-awaited goodbye to this other technical tool, the fax machine, email is alive.

We have all developed habits to either clean up our inboxes, using filters and spam detection methods, or living with the reality that a lot of emails are competing for our attention.

Since email is a trusted vehicle for forms, attachments, medical records and other important documents, it can be considered a valuable channel to build bridges and nurture your referral network. The key is to respect the sacredness of your colleague’s inbox of course.

The link between email marketing and content marketing

email content marketing

You wouldn’t go “Hi colleague. Just checking in to ask if you could please refer all your hip replacements to my practice. I want to double my turnover.”.

You wouldn’t.

The important statistics we see are all about valuable content. The further you can stay away from just stating how amazing your services are, the better. Educational content that GPs can use for their own interaction with patients, is even seen as more valuable than just another slice of unsolicited GP education.

How to grow an email list of potential referrers

list building for doctors

Lists are essential in your life as a doctor. For once, we are not discussing theatre lists, but email lists. If you manage to grow your email list, the impact of your future content marketing investments will be higher.

So how do you grow a relevant email list? We will assume that you are in the best position to define the types of potential referrers to your practice. If they only consist of GPs, focus on getting a GP email list for your catchment area. If other specialists, allied health professionals or insurance players are in a position to potentially refer patients to your specialty clinic, find relevant actions to collect emails.

Here’s a list of techniques you can use to collect email addresses as a doctor:

Create a section on your website for GPs. By making it password-protected, you are asking GPs to register and enter their email address.
Package information and use a form to send it to GPs. A white paper, an ebook or a framework can become an asset that doctors want, and what you get in return is their email address.
Webinars: A great way to engage in conversations, again trading some of your valuable expertise for this valuable permission to email the GP and follow up.
Comments: Use a comment section on your website and require GPs to register in order to make use of this feature.
Create a newsletter with a specific focus, one that motivates other doctors or stakeholders to subscribe.

Email marketing, very much like content marketing, is not a one-size-fits-all activity. Every tactic you consider needs to be held against the light and inspected as part of an integrated strategy. Your brand positioning, your market research, your priority business goals and the content you produce to create a strong online profile, all need to be aligned so they work together.

The failproof way to get more email marketing conversions

video emails

Video emails convert better. It’s a given in email marketing across industries and it definitely applies to healthcare marketing and marketing for doctors.

You can create short videos to explain the latest research, your own findings or data that has been published recently. You can use video as a format to help GPs understand the patient journey that applies to your niche.

Some doctors will use short videos to invite GPs to their GP section or make the videos available to general practitioners for their own consultations.

Did you know that video amplifies your medical marketing strategy in multiple ways?

It adds power to your email marketing strategy
It gives you a YouTube presence, so you are now represented on one of the essential search engine platforms
YouTube and Google being one company, it increases your Google visibility
Embedded videos on your medical website are a proven way to increase the average session duration or in other words, patients spend more time with your brand, not with your competitor’s.

Let's meet

From email marketing to integrated marketing

email marketing experts

Are we email marketing experts? For the niche strategies that involve healthcare professionals and their target audiences, yes we are. Moreover, we are an integrated medical marketing agency and we can help you unpack the tactics so you maintain an overview. Book your free 1:1 Strategy Session so we can explore the most cost-effective way to attract more patients and build the private practice you envision.