Two of our oral surgeon’s old email lists had been hanging around so long, serving no useful purpose, so our oral surgeon decided he might as well discard them. But wait; not so fast!

A closer look at his lists revealed why they also failed to serve a useful purposewhen they were pressed into action: The lists were being used for “email blasts,” an off-putting term that refers to the practice of “blasting” the same message to a large group of people. Often, the message is also topped by an equally off-putting greeting, such as “Dear Future Patient.”

With some fundamental tweaks – and a few changes on the back end of the campaign – our oral surgeon generated $250,000 in new surgeries, providing a boom to his practice at a low cost.

His experience underscores why placing your email lists in the right hands can spell the difference between exponential success and abysmal failure.

Adding Up The Benefits of Email Marketing

Fortunately, our oral surgeon understood the fundamental benefits of email marketing. His only mistake was viewing them as “old school” compared to other, newer forms of multichannel marketing, such as social media. But what's “old” is new again, meaning that email marketing is making an inbound marketing resurgence, and for good reason – and actually eight good reasons. Consider that email marketing can:

• Greatly reduce the traditional lag time between creative development and implementation of a marketing campaign
• Cost very little compared to the money it generates
• Deliver an astonishing return on investment
• Generate immediate response
• Allow for more frequent communication (though you don't want to overdo it, either)
• Afford you the ability to test new messages and calls to action – and quickly make changes based on the results
• Be shared by others with the simple click of a button
• Be tracked with ease

Achieving These Benefits

As the oral surgeon discovered, all of these benefits are splendid possibilities. They can become realities only if you put your email marketing campaign in the hands of a marketing company that will take two extra steps on your behalf:

• Segmenting your email lists (having email content designed specifically for people looking for dental implants, or teeth whitening, or wisdom teeth removal, or another high ticket service).
• Personalizing your emails (having a first and last name of the patient, opposed to “valued patient”)

Segmenting essentially dispenses with mass-produced email blasts by breaking down a group of intended recipients into targeted segments. Research has shownthat segmented emails can generate 50 percent more clicks than unsegmented emails. Choose two or choose 22 segments; an accomplished marketing company will work with you to develop criteria that are important to your business.

Segmenting emails is the No. 1 tactic for increasing the relevancy of emails, and personalization is right behind. It replaces salutations such as “Dear Future Patient” with first and last names and doesn't miss an opportunity to enhance the message with other personal touches, if and where appropriate to the message.

It takes time, effort, talent, tenacity and creativity to segment and personalize emails – qualities that only the most experienced and conscientious marketing company is poised and ready to deliver. Like our oral surgeon's practice, your business could well depend on it.

Let me help your medical practice start generating high quality leads from email lists you thought were useless. Please call me at (201) 220-0507 or click the button below and we'll be in touch shortly.