If you keep up with business literature and all the latest marketing trends, you’ll know that a lot of people have thrown their hands up when it comes to email marketing.
What was once the latest, cutting-edge marketing tool, was declared obsolete and overlooked in favour of Facebook Ads, blogs, and internet marketing.
But friends, let me tell you – email marketing is far from dead. In fact, it’s a crucial technology that you need to maintain relationships with your hard-earned patients.
If you’ve let your regular newsletters and email communications lapse (or perhaps not implemented them at all), allow me to reinvigorate your passion for email marketing.
What makes a good email marketing strategy?
A huge reason email marketing fell by the wayside, is because our inboxes simply became too cluttered. Finances Online reports that the average office worker gets over 121+ emails a day, and that “spam” constitutes 47% of all emails sent.
That’s a fairly chaotic inbox to try to break through – but the good news is that there is a silver bullet.
You have to be real, you have to be authentic, and you have to be you.
There’s absolutely no incentive for a patient to click on your emails if they look identical to the other 121 they just got sent today.
So often, businesses are concerned with their own outcomes, results, and goals, that they forget they’re talking to another human on the other end.
Someone busy, perhaps a little tired and stressed, who just wants to do business with other nice people.
They’re not going to pick the dentist with the prettiest email layout or the best colour combinations – they’re going to pick the dentist that answers their questions, re-assures them, and looks after their oral health.
You can convey that perfectly via a well-worded, personalised email, that builds relationships with your patients.
What if my patients unsubscribe?
There will be people who will unsubscribe. Don’t take it personally. For the most part it has nothing to do with you.
Don’t lose heart and definitely don’t give up on the rest of your email list. Just be prepared to deal with the fact that there will be people who don’t want to receive those emails and that is totally alright!
It is the nature of business. If anything, ask yourself what you can do to make the content more engaging, without losing sleep over it.
When can I expect to see results?
Email marketing is less of a sprint, and more of a marathon.
Many marketers make the mistake of making their emails too sales-y. They get impatient and want to see sales, conversions, and big results from just one email.
If you come out of nowhere with that tactic, you’re more likely to get an unsubscribe than a sale.
Your objective should be to build trust, relationships, and loyalty among your patients.
To do that, you need to be more strategic about what you’re sending to their inbox.
What is your primary goal? What action would you like them to take? What problems or fears can you help solve? What information is relevant or useful to your patients?
They’re going to feel a lot better about stepping into your practice and sitting in your chair if they feel like you really care about them.
But how do I fill my email list in the first place?
Ah, that is the question.
Email marketing can help you nurture and convert leads – but where do you go about finding those leads in the first place?
One thing I’ve realised after building and running multi-7 figure dental practice for the past 20+ years, is that not enough dentists are versed in marketing.
I’ve worked with hundreds of dental practice owners across the country, and it’s a consistent issue. Once remedied, I’ve seen those same dental practices shoot up to 7 and even 8 figure success!
It’s just a matter of implementing the right systems and strategies to make your dental practice a magnet for new patients.
If you want to attract more leads and patients for your dental practice, I’m more than happy to jump on a Savvy Strategy Session with you. I can get an understanding of the current trajectory of your practice, and help get you more time, more money, and more freedom.
