What an Email List Can Do for Your Medical Practice

A client of mine (a functional medicine doctor) sent out a survey and received 149 responses. One of the questions asked how people prefer to hear from him and his practice. The options included Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, and blogs. Would you believe that 83% of respondents said they prefer to hear from his practice via email? I was floored.

Many of us worry that we will seem annoying, pushy, or “salesy” if we show up in people’s inbox. Granted, there will always be a certain percentage of people who despise your emails and unsubscribe. Fine. There will be many more people who appreciate the knowledge and insights you share.

Statistics show that you are more likely to connect with your audience via email than via other digital channels. As the algorithms for social media platforms change, only an estimated 10% to 20% of your followers might actually see your posts. Compare this to a typical open rate for a mass email, which is in the 30% range. Also, your email list belongs to you. You own it. Your followers on social media could vanish in an instant if that platform were to go away.

Consider the ways you could capitalize on an email list to benefit your medical practice. In addition to providing ongoing, valuable content, you could send out timely and relevant emails to promote any of the following:

• Testimonials or reviews
• Referrals of friends and family to your practice
• Reminders for why patients should stick with their follow-up appointments
• Clinic specials
• Group programs
• Seasonally relevant supplement sales
• Any big launch

Emails should never be purely promotional. Educate first. Sell second. Deliver something of value in every email. That value could be in the form of education, entertainment, or inspiration. When you show up in an email with your authentic voice, people will come to know, like, and trust you.

The goals you have for your practice and career are unique to you. Those goals will define your digital marketing strategies. I expect that most medical practices, however, could benefit from placing “email list growth” at the top of their digital marketing priorities.