The Ultimate Guide To Email Marketing for Dentists

Exploring marketing channels is a terrific approach to growing your consumer base and enhancing awareness when your company is expanding. The ideal way to grow your dental office and attract more patients is through email marketing for dentists. All it takes is one message click. Now well know that guide to email marketing for dentists.

Surprisingly, despite email marketings widespread popularity, it is frequently underutilized in the dental sector. Your moment to distinguish yourself from the crowd is now! Well talk about the value of email marketing for dentists, how to create a campaign that works, and some excellent case studies you can go to for ideas.

How can you start putting email marketing into practice in your dental office?

The following questions are addressed in this comprehensive ultimate guide, which will cover everything you need to know about email marketing for dentists.

• What advantages does email marketing have for my dental practice?
• What are the greatest techniques for retaining my clients interest?
• What email formats do I use?
• Which email marketing solutions best meet my objectives and present needs?

Basic Introduction to Email Marketing

Any email a platform sends out, with the exception of transaction notifications or one-to-one responses to customer inquiries, might well be characterized as email marketing. Marketing messages may also be used to convey an overall sentiment on behalf of the company after a major catastrophe or commercial dispute.

Postcards featuring company information, and subscriber-only deals and rewards for purchases are examples of additional email marketing content. Internet marketing, which also encompasses advertising on websites, social media platforms, blogs, and other platforms, includes email marketing as one of its subsets.

When used effectively, email marketing helps businesses to communicate targeted marketing messages to clients and target audiences. The very worst situation for this form of advertising is continuous discomfort from unsolicited emails that turn away prospective clients.

Working Mechanism of Email Marketing

Since email advertising campaigns are simple to create and manage, small businesses can afford to use them. On your website or blog, you could offer a newsletter-added sign-up option. Email software also makes it simple to schedule automatic marketing offers for customers who may not have lately purchased anything.

Using email marketing, you may target particular clientele or even individual clients. Offering special birthday deals on particular customers purchases of goods or services is one approach to accomplish this.

The two key advantages of email marketing are cost and ease. As more people sign up, you may distribute newsletters to a larger audience. Customers can also subscribe to the magazine via your various social media accounts.

A regular newsletter is a simple and effective way to update people about your company, upcoming events, and special offers. If something appears to come to showcase your practice, its products, and services, email marketing is more cost-effective than other forms of advertising.

For instance, a dental practice might send a birthday-related text message to customers with something like a voucher for 30% off on their next visit. This type of personalization helps a company build and maintain a connection with a patient, which could increase sales and foster patient loyalty.

Effectiveness of Email Marketing

Its easy to dismiss email in the era of social media. Statistics show that it is still a crucial component of marketing efforts, nonetheless. For example:

• In comparison to social media, email marketing has a conversion rate of 2.3%, according to research of more than 1 billion purchasing sessions in 2019

• According to experts with the email marketing firm Litmus, email marketing generates an average return of $42 for every $1 invested

• According to a survey, 59% of respondents said that email had an impact on their choice to make a purchase

Customers are much more likely to see emails than social media, which is a major advantage over social media. Not everyone who wants to view your message will see it just because you posted it on social media. However, until it is read, an email will remain in the inbox (or be deleted).

Social media and email marketing should ideally work together. Customers have another opportunity to connect with your company by clicking the Like or Share buttons on social media in your marketing emails. Positive social media fan feedback can be incorporated into emails, and clients may visit your email newsletters as a result of social media posts.

If done correctly, email marketing can significantly enhance your profits. Its a fantastic method to encourage visitors to your website or blog-and to return. Generally speaking, greater traffic equals more revenue.

Why You Should Consider Email Marketing for Your Practice

For almost all firms, email is one of the most significant marketing channels. Not an exception are dental offices. The email channel is very useful for a number of reasons:

• It is Tailored to The Patient: they can get emails that are written especially for them depending on recent actions

• Its Cheap: 1000 emails sent often cost less than 50 cents

• Its a Two-Way Street: Email allows you to have two-way dialogues with patients unlike referral traffic and search

• Its Calculable: You can simply assess the effectiveness of your email efforts, just like you do with other digital marketing platforms

When combined, these traits provide a marketing channel that can significantly affect both your companys operations and the patient experience. The majority of e-commerce businesses receive between 2 and 20% of their revenues via email as a benchmark.

It takes time to develop a high-impact email channel. There is a great deal of domain-specific information to learn. You must choose an email software supplier you prefer, input your customer information, and become proficient with its capabilities. To establish a high-quality patient experience, youll also need time to design, test, and scale a number of email marketing campaigns that build upon one another.

Your email marketing channels effectiveness will increase as you roll out campaigns and develop your subscriber list of clients. The more email addresses you can get from patients, the bigger your database will become. The most significant marketing channel for your practice will eventually be email marketing if done properly.

Statistical Information About Email Marketing

Although email marketing is successful, we dont expect you to believe us right away. To better understand the possible advantages of dental email marketing, review the following facts on general email marketing.

Trends in business and marketing

Lets start with some statistics that highlight the key developments in email marketing across all sectors.

• The average consumer checks their personal email for 2.5 hours every day

• Increasing engagement, according to 67% of email marketers, is their top priority

• According to 42.3% of all Americans, they sign up for business email lists to receive exclusive discounts and promotions

• Mobile devices are used to open 41% of emails

Email marketing is still regarded by marketing experts as one of the best strategies for enhancing brand recognition and expanding a company.

User Statistics

• 44% of those who receive marketing emails reported making a purchase as a consequence of one in the past year

• 82% of people who receive emails from companies open them

• Internet users in the United States prefer to email businesses 69.7% of the time (vs. other methods of communication)

• Only the subject line is used by 33% of email recipients to determine whether to open a marketing email

Statistics for CTR and ROI

How much of a response should you anticipate from your dentistry email marketing campaigns? The following data pertains to click-through rates (CTR) and return on investment (ROI).

• When it comes to bringing in new clients, email is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter put together

• A video in an email increases click-through rates by 300%

• In your email, a call to action can boost click-throughs by 28%

• Automated emails generate 380% more money than non-automated emails

• The email has a return on investment (ROI) of 4400% or $44 for every $1 invested

As you can see from the data, email marketing is quite successful and has a high return on investment, so youll receive a great deal for your money.

Email Marketing Statistics for Dentists and Orthodontists

The typical email open rate for dental practices is 21.72%, as we have mentioned to you. Here are some other figures related to email marketing for dentists and orthodontics.

• In seven out of ten communications, dentists include both information and promotion.

• Only 19% of dental practice owners keep tabs on the effectiveness of their email marketing.

• One email per month is sent by 55% of dentists and orthodontists who use email marketing.
• 76% of dentists send the same emails to all of their subscribers without segmenting their lists. (Sometimes, segmentation is not permitted by HIPAA).

• About 68% of the subscribers to the dentistry email list are patients, which is a greater percentage than in other sectors.

• Less than 500 people are on the email lists of 53% of dentistry and orthodontic practices.

• Only 20% of dentist offices employ email marketing, on average. 37% of respondents indicate they intend to boost their email marketing.

The lesson to be learned from this is that email marketing can provide you an edge over your rivals. Understanding how to use and - and monitoring your outcomes to optimize your efforts is crucial.

Benefits of Dental Email Marketing

Dental marketing involves reaching out to patients at the perfect moment with the correct message to inform them of your services and persuade them to contact you as their dentist. It goes beyond simply advertising your services and making them a client of yours. Heres how an efficient email marketing plan can assist you in doing that.

Create a Unique Brand

Dental marketing sets you apart from competing services. Your brands vision, beliefs, patient success stories, experience, and other factors, highlight your unique selling propositions.

Spread the Word About Your Practice

Dental marketing enables you to expand your marketing efforts outside of your immediate vicinity and raise the number of people who are unaware of you. Even if they dont reside close by, they will be aware of your offerings. Additionally, dental marketing brings attention to the various procedures you provide and any specialized fields in which you may be an expert, such as dentures, orthodontics, or oral surgery.

Develop Credibility And Trust

Patients who dont regularly attend the dentist are frequently anxious upon their initial visit. Or some folks are reluctant to switch dentists. A carefully thought-out marketing approach creates a bridge of credibility and trust, allowing patients to visit your dental office in confidence.

Display Your Values to Others

Creating content for blogs, social media, newsletters, special campaigns, and events is part of a marketing plan. It demonstrates your level of dental experience and understanding. It educates them about your office and how you may assist them in resolving their dental problems. For example, you might create an essay about the reasons why people get gum disease and how your clinic might help.

Strengthen Your Credibility

Through ratings and reviews, marketing makes sure your patients voices are heard. While doing so, it answers unfavorable reviews and deters others from posting them, thereby improving your online reputation.

Boost ROI

Email marketing for dentists focuses on those who are in pain or uncomfortable with their teeth. They are more inclined to visit your dentists office and make a prompt payment because they need an instant solution. Email marketing helps you get more out of your investment by bringing in these patients.

Constantly Remind Others About Your Practice

Potential clients might not require your services right away, but they might consider consulting in the future. They might then forget about your dentists office at this point. Marketing reinforces their instinctive preference to think of you first by keeping your practice in their minds through content, commercials, campaigns, and other media. Additionally, it creates motivation to help them make a decision more quickly.

Expand Your Clientele

Marketing keeps in touch with both present and potential customers. It helps patients become accustomed to your office. Additionally, you will draw in more new patients as more people become aware of your practice.

Email Campaign: Dental Marketing Ideas

Some dental offices choose not to use email marketing because they are unsure of how to do it effectively. Here are some suggestions for dentistry marketing to assist you.

Simplify Your Content

Dental practices frequently send emails that are overly lengthy or lack empathy, which is another email marketing error we observe.

41% of emails are read on mobile devices, according to research. That typically indicates that the reader is skimming the text. Nobody wants an email from their dentist that is longer than a novel.

Reduce the material in your marketing emails to just what is absolutely necessary. Then, to make it simple to read, be sure to incorporate photos and a lot of white space.

Concentrate on the subject line

The first thing your email subscribers will see is the subject line, which could influence whether they open the message or not. Here are some pointers to remember.

• Avoid using excessive punctuation or ALL CAPS, which could irritate your readers

• To find the most powerful subject lines, try out a variety of them

• Emoji-containing emails have a 56% greater open rate than ones without them

• Your emails subject line should accurately describe what is inside the body of the message. In other words, if the email doesnt contain a coupon, dont use the word coupon in the subject line

Create a Mailing List

In order to use email marketing, dentists must first develop patient contact methods and compile a list of contacts to whom they may begin sending emails. Using WebForms is a simple approach to getting in touch with these individuals. Patients can register their contact information on WebForms to receive email updates from your dental practice.

After that, these forms can be posted online through a variety of channels in locations where customers may encounter your business. These channels, as examples, include your website, blogs, and social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

It is crucial to keep in mind that your channels should connect with one another in order to reach a broad audience. This is due to the fact that no two people are alike and that every person has a preferred method of communication.

These forms are only useful if consumers and patients may choose to sign up for emails rather than getting a barrage of unsolicited messages as soon as they fill out the form. This keeps your emails from getting filtered into your patients spam folders, where they would be useless.

Keep In Touch With Your Current Patients

You have the chance to establish a genuine rapport with your patients now that you can communicate with them. You must maintain regular touch with these patients and develop a trusting relationship if you want to keep them.

It would be best for your Dental Practice to get in touch with your clients and give them the pertinent information rather than just collecting patients emails and waiting for them to contact you with any questions.

While its crucial to establish a routine for sending emails to your patients, you should also watch out that you dont send too many to your subscribers. Asking the recipients of your emails is one technique to determine whether you are sending them out too frequently. By soliciting any comments from your patients, you can help them feel important and valued.

Make Patients Knowledgeable

Dentists can educate their followers through email marketing as well. You might achieve this by incorporating blog post material into the emails you send. By focusing on particular patients and directing them to blog entries that are pertinent to them, you may further personalize this by giving them the knowledge you believe would benefit them the most.

You might point them to any and all of the content youve written on your blog, giving you complete control over the knowledge you share and the content you share with others.

Your ability to display your experience, knowledge, and expertise in your profession through these blog articles. A polite reassurance to your patients that you are a reputable office with the ability to provide high-quality care can be offered by including a reference to your website in your email.

Email Marketing that Complies with HIPAA

Compliance with HIPAA rules is a crucial factor in dentistry practice email marketing. As you are aware, HIPAA protects specific patient information and dental offices that violate the law risk being fined.

Here are a few of the most crucial factors for dentists to take into account when using HIPAA-compliant email marketing.

• Make it simple for people to leave your list

• Emails to current patients should always be encrypted

• Use an email program that complies with HIPAA. Any trustworthy dental practice management program complies with HIPAA, and many of them have email automation. You must see to it that a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is in place if you decide to collaborate with an outside business

• Be ethical in all of your email conversations. Make it obvious to patients who join your mailing list that they will receive emails from you on a frequent basis.

• Any segmentation of your list that exposes a patients protected health information is prohibited. That implies that you shouldnt use the patients name in the subject line or divide your list into sections based on the patients treatment options, medications, or any other details that can compromise their privacy

Every time you send a commercial email, privacy protection for your patients should come first. You wont have to worry about non-compliance if you remember that.

Determine a Marketing Objective for Your Practice

A marketing goal is crucial for every effective marketing plan or strategy. Such as:

• Boost website traffic to attract more patients

• Schedule more appointments

• More five-star evaluations

• Boost usage of dentist offices

Your marketing strategy or plan will change in order to achieve your goals, depending on what they are. You can see the wider picture and coordinate your efforts to achieve your goals when you have goals in mind.

Choose a Target Audience

You must comprehend your target market in order to utilize email marketing to its fullest potential.

Ask these questions to yourself.

Whom do I want to treat? What requirements or issues do they share? What traits do they possess? What time do they respond to emails?

You will have a better grasp of your core demographic for your email marketing by asking yourself questions of this nature. Consider the values, aspirations, and demographics of your clients. Your dental email marketing approach will be more successful if you have a thorough understanding of them.

You must be careful to build audience segments that allow you to personalize your communications in light of the fact that various groups of individuals have various issues and personality features. As a result of being directed towards a collection of individuals with like interests, your emails will be more effective at selling dental clinics.

The audience will feel that you are addressing their demands if you use a mixed tone in your emails depending on the client.

If you work as a pediatric dentist, for instance, your email marketing material will focus on gaining the trust of parents and the children they raise.

Establish Patient Reactivation Campaigns

Your dental practices success may suffer if you lose former patients. Email marketing can help you win them back, though.

They present a chance to boost consumer expansion. It is simpler to persuade previous patients to come back to your dental office now that they have firsthand knowledge of your dental facilities and the way your dentists conduct themselves.

This is superior to social media advertising in that you may specifically target patients to keep them informed about your services.

Understanding the initial reason your patients left is important. By doing this, youll be able to keep your patient base steady and lower the likelihood of losing any more. These are some typical explanations for why they could have stopped visiting:

• Patients no longer had faith in your dental office

• Your practice fell short of what clients expected

• Other dentists provided comparable services at a competitive price

• Another dentist provided a high-end, distinctive service

Working to make these improvements may encourage former patients to return. Now is your chance to entice them with tempting offers. Try out various email content concepts, such as targeted communications and special offers.

Use Your List To Attract Numerous 5-Star Reviews

To reiterate, developing relationships with both existing and potential patients requires establishing trust and a solid reputation. Patient testimonials are excellent resources for boosting a good reputation. Fortunately, email marketing provides a quick and practical approach to getting positive patient feedback.

You might include a section in your monthly or quarterly patient magazine encouraging people to give your dentists office five stars or to share their experiences having dental procedures done. This is a quick and easy approach to gaining endorsements and social proof. As a consequence, youll draw in more clients, keep them, and see more people in your dentist practice.

Be Specific in Making Your Case

The informed dental patients of today can spot an exaggerated claim when they read one. Being detailed is one of the finest methods to dispel your subscribers skepticism about your assertions.

For instance:

• Whenever necessary, link to authoritative websites. A noteworthy example is the American Dental Association Journal

• Say over 100 satisfied patients have tried a new treatment instead of many satisfied patients

• As social proof, use first-person patient testimonies

Patients will trust the information you send them if you support your claims with concrete evidence in your emails.

Make Your Content Stand Out

Since your present or the potential patient has already opened your email, you should make it worthwhile for them to read. With a goal in mind, create content. Of course, you want to interact with them. You want to continue to be on their radar screen. But every email should have a purpose, such as setting up dental cleaning appointments or informing the recipient that their braces need to be examined.

Content should and may include:

• Length: Make it brief. For your core topic, a few paragraphs are more than sufficient.

• Personalization: Address the email as though it were a letter you, the doctor, would write. Maintain a professional but friendly tone-as you would with a respected friend or another doctor.

Dentists enjoy a good laugh. Patients enjoy laughing. Use your innate humor-or that of someone else at your practice-to your advantage. Your subscribers are far more likely to read your subsequent emails if you manage to make them smile.

• Theme: You should limit the overall theme of your email to one. If your text is disjointed, the reader will probably become disoriented and skip to a different topic.

• Stories - Include a succinct yet intriguing story in this private letter. You experience fascinating events on a daily basis, therefore there shouldnt be an issue. Its much better if you can incorporate humor into your story.

Don’t Send Spam Emails

Sending too many emails to your patients can just irritate them, which is the absolute last thing you wish to do. They might opt out of your email list if they believe you are sending them unsolicited emails. The worst-case scenario is that they have a poor final experience with your dentists office and, most likely, they wont come back.

An email for booking an appointment shouldnt end up in spam, of course.

Sending emails with only useful information will help you prevent this. To manage your emails, you should also make a posting timetable. An email newsletter should be distributed once per week or once per month.

Make CTAs Simple and Direct

A clear and succinct call to action should be included in every dental marketing email you send. This implies that:

• You should make sure your patients are aware that you want them to click the call to action.

• They ought to be aware of what will take place when they click.

Here are a few notable examples:

• The call to action can read, Click Here to Leave a Review, and the link should take potential customers to your page on a reliable review website

• The CTA should state Book an Appointment or something similar and direct individuals who click to your booking page if you want patients to make an appointment

If you add a precise, clear call to action, your subscribers are much more likely to take the action you want them to.

Make Campaigns Mobile Device Friendly

Emails are opened more frequently on mobile devices than on computers, as weve already mentioned. This means that you really must optimize your email marketing efforts for mobile devices. Here are a few suggestions.

• Ensure that your text is simple to read. The standard font and size will usually be adequate. Alternatively, use a 14-point font for the emails body and a 22-point font for the subject line. Use only web-safe fonts that can be read on the majority of devices

• Make a button out of your call to action. Whereas there can not be a hyperlink, it will be simple to click

• Keep topic lines to 35 characters or less. Most mobile devices have a character limit of 35, whereas readers on computers may view up to 60 characters

• Add alternative text to your photos

• Keep the text of your emails in a single column so that readers wont have to scroll down to read it

Most of your readers will likely access your email on a mobile device, so its safe to presume this. Therefore, mobile optimization is essential.

Deliver Useful And Shareable Content

There are objectives for email marketing, just as there are objectives for redesigning your dentistry website or enhancing your dental SEO.

Getting your subscribers to share your content with their friends and family is one objective that is worthwhile pursuing. You may achieve this by incorporating material that offers your readers quick and clear value.

A dull email about getting your teeth cleaned is not likely to be forwarded. Instead, consider adding:

• An eye-catching infographic

• Photos of the before and after

• An enjoyable video

Plain text is less likely to be shared than visual content. You may increase your reach without increasing your spending if you keep shareability in mind.

Fine Tune Your Emails

Overdoing their dental email marketing efforts is one of the most common errors dental practices make. By that, we mean sending emails incessantly to the point of annoyance.

Nobody desires daily communication with their dentist. One or two emails a month are typically plenty to keep your patients interested, however, there may be instances (a lead nurturing sequence being one of them) where you wish to send more frequently.

As we mentioned earlier, you should also limit the number of emails you send out for direct sales and promotions. Only one of your two monthly mailings should contain a direct promotion.

Integrate Social Networking

You are already aware that social media is a useful tool for connecting with your followers, raising their level of engagement, and gaining their loyalty. Connecting your social media accounts to your email is one approach to maximize the effectiveness of your dental email marketing. Here are a few ideas.

• Include a direct link to your Facebook review page or Instagram post if you want your subscribers to make comments or reviews

• Include follow links for social media in your emails

• Utilize a plugin to let readers click to Tweet important details or figures from your emails

There is no reason why you cannot increase the number of people who follow you on social media by using your marketing emails.

All About HIPAA-Compliant Email Marketing

All healthcare providers must abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. It outlines how clinics use client Electronic Health Records (or EHRs), which include Facebook, email, SMS, and other services. It was enacted in 1996. The act essentially addresses everything involving the digital transmission of protected health information (PHI).

 If your company deals with healthcare, you are aware of HIPAAs rules on email compliance. HIPAA compliance is required for each patient you treat in order to safeguard their Protected Health Information (PHI).

Lets examine the HIPAA Privacy Act of marketing.

According to this act, marketing is the act of communicating about a specific service or goods in a way that motivates the receivers to buy or avail the usage of service and goods. In general, when conveyance is marketing, it can only take place if the company or platform first has permission from the person on the receiving end.

Additionally, HIPAA mandates secure PHI transmission and storage.

For this, HIPAA compliance is required for healthcare marketing communications.

So how can you be sure HIPAA regulations are being followed by your email marketing campaigns? Observe the advice given below.

Verify That Your Clients Agree To Receive Emails (Even Promotional Ones)

Three things must be done when patients join your mailing database:

• Tell them again why they chose to receive your marketing messages such as the news from your practice, medication reminder, promotional vouchers or discounts, care packages, etc.

• Add a no-hassle unsubscribe option

• Provide written notice to your patients informing them that emails pertaining to marketing efforts will be sent to them

Healthcare firms must adhere to additional rules for marketing communications in addition to confirming your email marketing platform is HIPAA certified.

Verify That Your Marketing Campaign Complies With HIPAA

Every healthcare provider must utilize a HIPAA-certified email service in a position to implement immediate secure email to patients. The very same security requirements must be followed when sending emails for advertising purposes.

Actually, based on studies, neither the best marketing firms will consent to the signing of a BAA and allow businesses to write messages including PHI utilizing their system at the very same time.

Instead of depending on out-of-date gateway alerts, which are terrible for the recipient, users of BAA-signed verified email marketing campaigns could receive email campaigns like conventional emails. You cannot utilize the usual promotional tools to write an email including PHI though as they are often not HIPAA certified.

You may use it to expand your business while remaining HIPAA compliant by using it to categorize your market and deliver encrypted messages that also include PHI.

Only Utilize A Ready-Made Marketing Platform To Send Promotional Emails Devoid of Protected Health Information

When you select a traditional marketing vendor, be careful to send only the simplest email blasts devoid of protected health information.

Think for a moment, you send an email drip to a list of 100 or 3,000 patients, later to discover that you forgot to include a specific piece of patient information before you clicked the send button. That is a  breach of HIPAA, bam.

A HIPAA breach carries a yearly maximum fine of $1,500,000. For each instance of wrongdoing, standard fines of a minimal offense vary from $100 to $50,000.

HIPAA-Compliant Email Distribution

In order to comply with HIPAA, it is the responsibility of every healthcare practitioner to send emails properly. The good news is that sending compliance email marketing doesnt have to be difficult. Just make sure your email opt-in and opt-out procedures are simple and clear and avoid using any customization or PHI.

Every client (and even every potential client) should have their PHI secured by your medical practice (protected health information). This holds true for all marketing initiatives as well; your practices must make sure that their email marketing campaigns and newsletters are HIPAA compliant.

Clear Opt-In/Opt-Out Option

This is straightforward and ought to be something you already do. When someone gives you their contact information, they need to understand that they are joining your email marketing list. This is a plain sense, and relationship development is the foundation of marketing. What your leads will receive in return for their information should be made clear.

Avoid Personalization

Personalization is a key component of email marketing, and it makes sense why: tailored emails have a far higher conversion rate. But in order to be HIPAA compliant, youll need to avoid using segmentation variables like location, treatment preference, or drug preference, as well as personal information like names.

Why? Because any personal information utilized for customization is considered PHI (protected health information). Additionally, PHI is only permitted for usage in a patients chart.

Within the Website

For instance, if you use a form on your website to collect contact information, you should specify the close to submitting button:

• That at any point they can choose not to opt-in

• Your promise to keep their information private

• How frequently they can anticipate receiving these emails

• That they may anticipate communications from you

Simply said, you want to let leads know what kind of information youll send them and how frequently.

On Customer Intake Forms

In addition to any opt-ins they may have for PHI-related contact, providers should have an email marketing opt-in on the initial intake forms that clients fill out. Each opt-in should be unique and it can all be collected at once.

The key justification for doing this is that you dont want to accidentally go beyond the bounds of HIPAA regulations, especially in light of the 2013 HIPAA omnibus judgment. You may be certain that you have their consent to utilize their email address for marketing if the intake forms include an opt-in form for marketing communications.

On The Emails You Deliver

Your emails must be simple to unsubscribe from. If a subscriber decides they are no longer interested in your content, we advise including an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email you send.

A Timeline for HIPAA-Compliant Marketing Emails

You also need to follow specific timelines to send emails to remain compliant with the HIPAA act.

Heres how:

When To Send

• Whether you publish a weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletter, now is the moment to shine and inform your readers of whats happening at your practice.

• Holiday greetings, happy holidays, a prosperous new year, and more

• Send out welcome emails to new subscribers to let them know what to expect and how to contact you

When to Avoid Sending

• Keep track of your list by having an unsubscribe link that is prominently displayed on each marketing email you send, especially if theyve requested to be removed-doing otherwise is a big no-no

• You wont be HIPAA compliant if the email targets a specific group of your clients, if you use any knowledge you have of a particular demographic of your client base, and if you only send it to them. So, you probably shouldnt press send

Some Vital Dental Email Marketing Parameters to Monitor

Tracking your outcomes is crucial once you start using email marketing for your dental office. By doing so, you can determine your ROI and modify your campaigns as necessary. Here are the most crucial parameters to take into account.

Click Through Rate

The number of people that click on a URL in your email is known as your CTR, or click-through rate. If you want to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns, this indicator is more trustworthy than the open rate.

By dividing the sum of emails distributed by the number of distinct clicks, you can get your CTR.

Depending on the kind of email you send, CTRs will change. Emails that remind you of appointments and those that are promotional will probably have a high CTR, whereas newsletters will likely have a lower CTR.

Rate of List Growth

The rate at which you are adding new subscribers to your list gives you an idea of how rapidly you are doing so. By deducting your total number of new subscribers from your hard bounces and unsubscribes, you may determine your list growth rate. To calculate your growth rate, divide that amount by the total number of members you initially had.

Attrition rates for email lists are typically around 25% each year. To put it another way, if you began the year with 500 subscribers and didnt add any more, you would end the year with just 370. By actively promoting the acquisition of new subscribers, you should counteract subscriber loss.

Bounce Rate

You can determine the number of your emails bounced by looking at your bounce rate. Two distinct types of bounces exist:

• A temporary problem is the cause of a gentle bounce. Examples include a downed recipient server or a full email mailbox

• A hard bounce signifies an invalid email address

Review the most well-known email providers and make sure youre adhering to their best practices if you want to avoid soft bounces.

Emails that hard bounce should be removed from your list. If youd like, you can ask your employees to try reaching out to current patients for an updated email address, but storing outdated emails on your list will only make matters worse. The majority of automated email services base their fees on the size of your list.

You should generally have a bounce rate of 5% or less. In order to reduce bounce, you might need to use best practices in your emails if its higher.

Rate of Conversion

Your conversion rate, which gauges the proportion of people who heed your call to action and take the desired action, is the last metric you should monitor. In other words, they schedule a meeting, print an offer, or complete a form.

Remember that other elements, such as the caliber of your landing page and the worth of your offer, may have an impact on your conversion rate.

Dental Email Campaigns Objectives

Here are 4 goals you can have for your dental marketing emails if youre beginning email campaigns to expand your practice.

Increase Participation

Patients interactions with dentists in the 1990s or the early 2000s were limited to periodic dental checkups.

Once the patient departs from the dentists office, communication is terminated. The dentist-patient interaction is now more engaging because of the development of online communication.

Patients appreciate the suggestions and guidance they get from their dentist. Additionally, you can use the information to improve your practice and raise patient involvement.

Several days after a patients appointment, send them a straightforward follow-up email to accomplish that. Your patient would feel unique and stay connected to you if you sent them a straightforward follow-up email.

You can set an aim or an expectation to enhance patient involvement since email marketing puts you in regular contact with your patients.

Establish A Personal Network

Making personal connections is another effective email tactic for a dental practice.

You can anticipate getting questions, queries, etc. as long as you come off as approachable to your patients or potential patients.

This gives you the chance to respond to their inquiries and win them over as patients.

Organize Appointments and Bookings

You should manage your contacts logically if you use a website to advertise your practice or to assist potential patients in making appointments.

So proper email list maintenance is the final thing you can anticipate from your dental practices email marketing.

Returning Patients

Compared to generating and converting new leads, it is simpler to win-back patients who have already interacted with you.

To keep your current patients interested in your practice and encourage them to come back in the future, use email marketing. By doing this, youll be able to retain your patients and prevent them from switching to a rival practice.

It enables you to handle your patients in one location and do away with disorganized Excel sheets.

How to Gather Email Addresses from Patients

Once youve made the decision that email marketing is what you want to do, you can begin creating your campaigns. To create a comprehensive list, the first step is to gather as many email accounts as you can. It may take a while, so start early and continue consistently.

You can increase your contact list in a number of ways, including the following strategies:

• Make an eye-catching graphic of your business card to add to the email as a downloaded file

• Install a widget to collect addresses on your website

• An invitation to register for a bulletin on social networks

• Asking patients to share their contact information in exchange for a valuable content

• When patients arrive, request that they complete information forms

Once youve begun gathering patient email addresses, try to be as consistent as you can. To ensure you receive the most up-to-date information, keep checking in with patients during their appointments. Create additional content for social media and your blog. Your chances of connecting with patients increase as you accumulate more email addresses.

Strategies For Involving Patients

Dental professionals and their care recipients should develop a relationship that goes beyond just the initial encounter.

There are various ways to use healthcare email marketing to engage your patients. Lets look over the top 4 interesting approaches.

Share Oral Hygiene Advice And DIY Techniques

Online searches for health information are done by 80% of internet users. These people frequently search online resources for information about illnesses or present conditions.

Sharing wellness advice, videos, blogs, and other content will keep your patients or potential patients interested, which will benefit both of you as a dentist.

This makes their interaction with you as a specialist more valuable in the eyes of the patients. Finally, you remain at the top of their minds when they need dental-related information. Share Homemade oral health advice and how-tos by using batch emailing.

Acquire New Patients By Continuous Marketing

According to research by Think With Google, 1 in 5 patients is now making appointments online.

You may take advantage of this to automate communications with your patients and keep them interested between the time they schedule an appointment and when it really happens.

Set up email ad campaigns like the ones below to engage your patients:

• Exchange contact details for emergencies
• A confirmation of your reservation
• One day before the appointment, send a reminder email
• Request reviews and comments from patients about their interactions with you
• Describe your team and highlight your medical technology

Similar continuous marketing keeps clients interested and draws them near the dentist. It gives them a sense of importance and provides them with crucial knowledge.

Divide Your Connections Into Groups

The guiding principle every healthcare practitioner should follow is, Your patients are diverse; dont approach them all the same way.

When conducting email marketing for dentists, remember to abide by this guideline.

Why? Read on.

Some of your readers might be interested in products for teeth whitening, while others might be interested in remedies for foul breath.

These two parts should be handled individually because they are not seeking the same value.

How do you do that?

Your subscribers can be divided into groups based on:

• Consumed content from your website

• History of medical therapy

• Register with sources on your website

The activity of your subscribers can be tracked, for instance, based on the pages users view on your webpage, using website monitoring.

It is preferable to put up a scheduled email that is sent in response to their surfing history, such as when they view a blog post regarding teeth whitening.

You can in this situation:

• Send some advice for teeth whitening

• Query them regarding scheduling an appointment

• Give them a deal on a teeth-whitening appointment

By doing this, you can adapt your content to their interests and increase the likelihood that they will click on your emails and become clients.

Here is a perfect example of email automation directed at readers who have read content about teeth whitening.

There are 3 components to this email automation:

• Trigger: To cause the emails to be sent when a contact visits a particular website page

• Tag: To give subscribers a tag and categorize incoming emails based on interests

• Email: Individualized email sent to contacts based on topics they were looking into

Similar automation may be put up without any technical knowledge in under ten minutes.

Discounts and Interesting Office Updates

By providing them with team updates, you may encourage your patients to feel a part of the practices culture. Have you recently hired a new dentist or hygienist? Has anyone recently received a promotion to a new role? Are you joining forces with another business? Informing patients of the news can make them feel valued, no matter what it is.

In a similar vein, providing discounts or other special deals to your clients will encourage them to stay with you for a long time and give them a sense of appreciation on the part of you and your staff. What better approach to demonstrate to your patients how much you care than to say its not just about the money?

Create a patient education email course

Another tactic professionals can use to engage contacts and offer free value is an automated email marketing campaign.

A successful email marketing strategy can:

• Nurture potential patients

• Establish credibility and confidence

• Provide a useful explanation

• Get your patients involved

An email strategy, to put it simply, is a sequence of emails that convey educational content over a limited period of time. You can design a one-week email course where you send out a new piece of instructive content each day.

Would it take a long time? Definitely not.

Types of Email Formats for Dental Email Marketing

Now that you have ideas for keeping your patients interested, lets look at six different types and instances of email marketing campaigns that dentists use to reach out to their connections and patients.

Confirmation Emails For Appointments

For dentists and other healthcare practitioners, sending appointment confirmation emails is a no-brainer.

If a potential patient completes your appointment form but does not receive an email confirmation, they might believe:

• They are not invited to attend

• Whether they should visit you at the time they scheduled

• Their requested position was rejected

• Their reservation was unsuccessful

You have a responsibility as a dental professional to make your patients feel at ease and to clear up any confusion.

Using confirmation emails, you may greet new patients and assure them that their appointments went well and that they will be well taken care of.

The following dentist email sample confirms the scheduled appointment and provides a link to request that patients complete an advanced oral and health history questionnaire.

Eliminating the need to fill it out in the office, not just guarantees the schedule but also helps the visit run more easily. Additionally, if people dont have to fill out documents on the spot, you can service more patients.

Introduction emails for new services and products

Emails announcing new products can help you increase sales and the value of your products.

Examples of emails include the ones below:

• A complete user manual

• A compelling heading

• 2 calls to action, one at the top and one below the email

The emails final piece, which demonstrated the technologies and safety protocols, was utilized to boost brand authority.

Announcement Emails for Special Offers and Other Sales

Marketing Sherpa reports that 91% of consumers actually want to get marketing offers.

When purchasing a good or service, consumers are always on the lookout for great bargains and ways to save money.

As a dentist, providing a discount can help you attract new clients or encourage existing ones to come back. Such promotions encourage clients to use your services and return again.

The following email campaign sample should be used in email marketing for dentists:

• URL to use to find a dentist in your area

• Free handbook for clients with dental-related problems

• Clear CTA for scheduling appointments

• An alluring offer

Regular Office Update Emails

To inform their patients of the most recent upgrades, Trident General Dentistry opted to send them a straightforward design announcement email.

Patients who receive comparable emails from their favorite doctors feel important and included in important information.

Anniversary/Birthday Emails of The Patient

Your patient engagement plan must include sending birthday pleasantries and wishes.

Its crucial to keep steady contact with patients. If you dont, you run the danger of missing appointments, developing toxic connections, and ultimately losing money.

Your patients undoubtedly receive numerous emails from companies every day. What distinguishes and qualifies yours for consideration?

Your patients count on you as a healthcare professional to look out for their well-being.

Additionally, you are interacting positively and tenderly with your patients by wishing them happy birthdays via email.

An excellent example of a birthday email template for the healthcare industry was provided here.

Review Emails

Social proofing is useful for all types of businesses to demonstrate their longevity and popularity.

Dentists might use social proof to encourage potential clients to make an appointment or purchase a product after reading a favorable review. You should include this tactic to your dentists email marketing toolbox.

Encourage current clients to write reviews and discuss their experiences by sending them emails. To encourage patients to provide a review, you can give them a discount on their subsequent visit or purchase of your goods.

An example of an email campaign from the New York & New Jersey Family Dental requesting reviews is provided below.

A huge, clearly visible CTA button is positioned in the midst of a brief email. Most importantly, a responsive design for various devices.

Recall Emails

As you are surely aware, getting business from an established customer is more cost-effective than getting business from a new one. Because of this, recall initiatives are a well-liked, very effective dental marketing strategy.

Create a group of patients who ought to have made a follow-up visit but didnt in order to develop a recall campaign. After that, send those people an email reminding them of their missed appointment and explaining why the service is important for their dental health. As stated by Dr. Hackney Customer education regarding the effects of subpar oral hygiene is of the utmost importance. You wont go if you are aware that you have an appointment but dont understand the need.

Dental Newsletter Emails

Additionally, several clinics issue monthly or quarterly newsletters to their patients. The latest information from your clinic can be shared in newsletters, which can help to promote your company. Make sure you arent just generating and sending your email to meet an internal deadline by keeping in mind that it must offer actual benefit to the reader.

Top Rated Email Marketing Software For Dentists

The term email marketing software refers to a tool or program that can fuel your email marketing campaigns.

Email marketing solutions enable you to expand and interact with your subscriber base on the most fundamental level. Commonly, the softwares primary features are as follows:

• Schedulers and auto-responders

• Analytics and reporting

• Templates for email editors

• Form creators

Even marketing automation and consumer segmentation are included in the most sophisticated packages, allowing you to scale up customized campaigns.

There are many different options for email marketing. Finding the best one for your company can be difficult, but doing so is necessary if you desire your email campaigns to be successful.

Weve compiled a list of the most well-liked email marketing programs available to help with this phase.

This should act as a good beginning point for your exploration of different software.

●     Mailjet:

Mailjet makes it simple to create engaging, relevant emails.

Since Mailjets templates are responsive and optimized across all email clients and devices, you can be sure that the emails you produce always look perfect.

Choose from a variety of ready-made templates or start from scratch. Using Mailjets adaptable drag-and-drop Email Editor, you can add material for your company, such as images, links, and videos.

You can directly construct emails in Mailjets Mail Designer with your team thanks to its effective collaboration features. You may assess, discuss, and make changes to email templates in real time just like you can with Google Docs.

Set user rights and lock particular parts in your templates to safeguard your brand elements and maintain brand consistency.

Recommended For: Small dental practices seeking deliverability-optimized email marketing tools at a reasonable price.

Pros:

• Ability to send several emails quickly
• Exceptional customer service
• Reasonably priced, making it appropriate for small businesses
• 200 emails daily are included in the free lifetime package
• Simple email tracking
• Easy-to-use email design software

Cons:

• The primary list of contacts cannot be erased
• There is a chance that campaign tests will take longer than expected
• There are not many template options
• Issues with List Management
• SMTP occasionally experiences problems

Price:

Mailjet also boasts among the most affordable membership rates, with a free tier that permits a maximum of 200 emails daily and no contact limitation.

Mailjet can also be used to send transactional SMS. The cost of each SMS varies depending on the receiver country and the volume of messages sent; the more SMS you deliver, the less each SMS costs.

All options have an unlimited number of contacts, so the choice will be based on the features you need. To be honest, the majority of individuals will probably think the Essential plan is a little too simple.

●     Constant Contact:

For dental practices, Constant Contact offers technology that make digital advertising easier to use and more successful. Constant Contact wants to help users build strong relationships and get things done, whether those things are boosting sales, gaining more clients, or captivating an audience.

Constant Contact has widened the reach of its email promotional tool to encompass e-commerce-focused marketing in addition to conventional brand marketing. Included are a fair 60-day free trial, a good variety of basic features, and a fantastic assortment of third-party interfaces. Even while its easy to use and integrate with other web services, its feature set is definitely tailored toward small clinics and practices.

Recommended For: Practices who desire in-depth email marketing with a good budget

Pros:

• Records which contacts clicked on and opened each email
• Helps to organize constituents by enabling the creation of lists and tags
• Offers vibrant and lovely email templates
• Straightforward directions for use
• Quite responsive when used

Cons:

• Email templates need more in the wide format
• Reports are not the most accurate
• Customer service was a bit slow
• Packages could be more affordable

Price:

Additionally, you can use Constant Contacts automated service to send emails regularly in response to customer activity, guaranteeing that you are ready to answer when clients express interest in your products or services.

●     Sendfox:

With SendFox, users may create and send an endless number of personalized emails. This email marketing solution was created exclusively for small businesses but also widely applicable for dental emailing purposes. Ranging from surveys and analytics to email advertising and functionalities, SendFox, which was developed specifically for small practices, helps with meeting all essential email marketing needs.

SendFox uses automation and customization to speed up the creation of straightforward, attractive, and successful emails. Fans will receive content right in their inbox thanks to SendFoxs bundled biweekly Intelligent Campaigns and RSS content updates.

Through its interface, it is possible to quickly view emails, automations, contacts, and high-level performance metrics and information. Ultimately, users can build simple, personalized messages and sales funnels on an unified platform to grow their practice and track the success of their efforts.

Recommended For: New practices who just need something to start with.

Pros:

• Sending emails in a single blast or a series automatically is simple
• Customers can be divided into different lists, but only one list is charged

• Charges are billed as a lifetime package for a certain number of contacts rather than monthly

Cons:

• The email builder could be more customizable
• Landing pages could be customized more
• The graphics on forms are outdated and offer little adjustability

Price:

SendFox includes all the necessary capabilities, including the ability to build various lists through opt-ins, schedule email campaigns, and send automated emails that meet the fundamental requirements of an email marketer. SendFox is a formidable competitor with its lifetime deal offer.

●     SendX:

For business owners and healthcare practices, SendX is a feature-rich, cost-effective, and easy-to-use email marketing software.

Users may build email lists, use a drag-and-drop editor to write emails, automate emails, and distribute marketing emails endlessly thanks to this feature. Additionally, SendX offers ESP migration for free, responsive email templates, 500,000 stock-free images, and 24 hour live support for your email marketing campaigns.

SendX primarily focuses on basic email marketing. Therefore, think of it as an uncomplicated SaaS service designed for people who want the best email marketing available.

Recommended For: New users who can easily use the basic functionality.

Pros:

• Cost-effective email marketing solution
• A simple user interface that makes email marketing easier
• Unlimited email sending
• Appropriate for any website
• Use more than 500,000 royalty-free photos in emails, landing sites, and forms

Cons:

• Not offering a free package
• For complex automation sequences, not flexible enough
• The SendX Business Plan may support up to 15,000 subscribers
• The amount of targeting and customization options is rather limited
• Only a CSV file can be used to import contacts

Price:

SendX does not offer a free alternative, but its starting costs for its packages are some of the lowest on the market. SendX may cost as little as $7.49 per month if you pay annually, which is much less costly than its competitors.

Unlike other email marketing systems, which offer a variety of alternatives, SendX only offers two plans: a standard one (Business), designed to meet the demands of the majority of users, and a unique one (Enterprise), designed for marketers with larger lists.

●     Pardot (Salesforce Email Management):

To bridge the gap between the marketing and sales departments, Salesforce developed the Pardot marketing automation solution.

The marketing and sales departments may work together to generate and verify lead generation, shorten cycle time, and track marketing ROI with the help of Pardots lead management capabilities. These technologies include lead fostering, lead scoring, email marketing, CRM connection, and ROI reporting.

On a website, users can track all interactions with prospects, from downloads to page views, and then score them based on predetermined standards. Other features, like real-time sales alerts and automated lead nurturing, help salespeople focus their efforts.

Pardot offers a variety of features, including email drip campaigns, lead management with nurturing and scoring, and campaign segmentation. Analytics are also included in the product for monitoring marketing ROI.

Recommended For: Practices with big chains and a huge budget for detailed and specific email marketing

Pros:

• Emails with enticing visuals are simple to make
• Integration with Salesforce List segmentation
• Actions taken to complete forms are good
• Email language changes can be made quickly and easily

Cons:

• Its reporting possibilities are restricted
• Insufficient automated tracking redirects
• Little choices for modification
• Lacks a powerful drag and drop constructor

Price:

Administrators can define the Pardot bulk email limitations, which range from 0 to 500 emails. However, the standard cap ranges from 200 to 500.

Pardot and Salesforces own customer relationship management (CRM) solution connects well, offering SalesForce CRM users a competitive advantage. With Salesforce CRM, syncing can be finished in half the time or less than with competing systems. Pardots user interface is rumored to be more modern and user-friendly than those of its competitors. Pardot receives flak for giving less analytics than some of its competitors.

●     AutoPilot:

You can produce new leads with Autopilot from your webpage, application, or blogs which you can then groom with appropriate emails. Automate time-consuming tasks including arranging appointments, integrating new team members, assigning leads, and following up on sales leads.

You may utilize this technology to build a personal attachment with each consumer by communicating with them on the appropriate channel and at the appropriate time.

Make every customer interaction special without employing manual labor to win devoted admirers. Automatic interactions can be used to deliver enticing mailings, offer speedy service, solicit client product feedback, lower churn, and retrieve abandoned items.

Additionally, autopilot eliminates the need for tedious and repetitive chores. Marketing automation enables time savings and keeps you in contact with your customers. The simplest method to manage and personalize your advertising throughout the whole customer experience is with the help of Autopilots marketing automation software.

Recommended For: All types of dental practices; franchisee or personal clinic. Very adaptive

Pros:

• Uncomplicated coordination
• Excellently user-friendly interface
• AP assistance
• Robust integration options
• Extraordinary automation abilities
• Automate tasks across applications

Cons:

• Quite expensive when compared to rival products
• No CRM integration
• Fails to measure up to full-service CRM
• A smaller opportunity for extra analytics and reporting

Price:

Autopilot compensates for its lack of affordability by offering a high-quality experience.

All of Autopilots capabilities are available with any plan, along with unlimited email sending. Contrary to other software providers, the business provides access to its more complex features on cheaper contracts.

AutoPilot price scales along with your growth. Your plans cost can be decreased if you agree to a one-year agreement and pay for the complete year upfront.

If you want to test it out first, there is a 14-day trial available.

Closing Thoughts

Maintaining a consistent online presence will improve your odds of success with your dental business email marketing.

You can gauge and monitor your progress if you consistently send marketing emails. To increase your metrics, you need to prepare to test various aspects of your emails. Additionally, youll start to strengthen customer loyalty and brand recognition, which will be represented in the expansion of your practice.

To improve patient interactions and economically expand your practice, use email marketing. Campaigns like mailings, promos, appointment reminders, and recalls can help with this.

It takes time to develop, test, and scale numerous email campaigns, and as you stack one promotion on top of another, your mail stream will grow more complicated. However, it will ultimately be worthwhile for your dental office.

Dentists must put the same effort on behalf of their patients to maintain patient engagement and knowledge as other businesses do to attract and acquire new customers.

Read for a new marketing journey?