How to Grow Your Practice’s Email List

When you open up your office in the morning, what do you do? Chances are, you review your schedule, check your phone messages, and then check your email. In fact, research shows that 89% of Americans check their email at least once a day, so if you are not using email marketing, you are missing out on one of the very best ways to reach current and potential patients. Here is how it’s done.

Encourage People to Share

Your current patients are the best source for helping you grow your email list. You are already providing them with information that they want, and they no doubt have friends who can also benefit from what you have to offer. So when you email your current clients, include an “email to a friend” button. This will give you access to other people who may be interested in receiving emails from you.

So when you email your current clients, include an “email to a friend” button.

Enlist Your Employees

Ask your employees to add a link to their email signatures, directing recipients to your website landing page, where they can opt in to your mailing list.

Offer Something of Value

Of course, you want your emails to be informative and engaging, but if you want to attract new “opt-ins,” one of the best ways is by offering something of value in return for their email address. So, if someone surfs onto your landing page or finds you on social media, give them something. It doesn’t even have to be something that costs you anything, but it does need to have value. Perhaps a free e-book on a topic of interest, or a fun app that relates to the service you offer.

So, if someone surfs onto your landing page or finds you on social media, give them something.

Make It Easy

You also want to make sure that the sign-up process is as easy as possible. Forbes Magazine points out, quite rightly, that the longer the sign-up process takes, the more likely you are to lose the potential patient. So, make your opt-in form really hard to miss and easy to use and keep the clicks to a minimum.

Partner With Another Website

This is simply creating an affiliate link or running a promotion on a website that offers services that are compatible with yours, providing you with a fresh source of email addresses.

Go Old-School

When it comes to marketing, there is still a place for “old-school” methods like business cards.  Make sure to include your website and email address on your business card or other marketing materials. When people navigate to your site, again, be sure that your “opt in,” or email signup, form is very visible.

Make sure to include your website and email address on your business card or other marketing materials.

When clients visit your office, another “old-school” method that can be very effective is to have them fill out a ballot (including, of course, their email address) to win something, say perhaps a basket of products, a gift card for another local business such as a restaurant or car wash, or movie vouchers. If you choose to go this route, make sure you include a notice on the ballot that by submitting their email address, they are opting in to receive email communications from your practice.

Once You Have Them, Keep Them

We will close here with the time-honored maxim that “content is king.” You hear it over and over, because it’s true. So once you have people opting in to your emails, make sure that you don’t lose them. Always deliver high-value content on a regular basis. As long as you are engaging your audience and offering awesome content, they will be more likely to stick with you. They’ll also forward your emails to their friends, and you’ll have an organic source of ready-made leads.