By Steve Vargo, OD, MBA 
Regular e-mail blasts tell your patients about new products and services and keep your practice top-of-mind.
E-blastsare an effective way to keep your practice top of mind with patients.In an E-blast,an e-mail with a marketing message about your products and services is sent to many or all of your patients at one time. Since most patients only come in once a year or when a specific need arises, e-blasts are an important tool to touch base more frequently. This translates into patients who are continually conscious of your practice and, therefore, are more likely to schedule that next appointment.
To be effective, e-mails should include special offers on eyewear or updates on new frame lines added to your optical shop or special events like trunk shows. Sent in the form of a practice newsletter, once a month or even just once a quarter, e-blasts let patients know you are there for more than just their annual eye exam. As you remind patients of your products and services, patients are reminded of you, the doctor, as well. The regular communication allowed by e-blasts, therefore, also strengthens the doctor-patient relationship. In addition to the cost-effectiveness of e-mail marketing, it’s a great way to maximize your marketing dollars.
Invest in a Professional Service
The most well known e-mail marketing service is probably Constant Contact, but there are many others to choose from including iContact, Vertical Response and MailerMailer.
To create attractive and professional-looking e-blasts, it is typically necessary to invest in an e-mail marketing system. These systems also track analytics such as bounce rates (how many e-mails never made it to their destination due to incorrect or no-longer-valid addresses), who opened your e-mail, who forwarded them to friends, opt-outs (those who opted to remove themselves from your e-mail list), and even who clicked on which links in your e-mails. By analyzing these analytics, a practice will have a better feel for where to concentrate their efforts. For example, if a high percentage of people are clicking on your Facebook page link provided in the e-mail, it would be wise to invest more time in creating a strong and engaging Facebook presence.
Another advantage to using a professional e-mail marketing service is they enable you to easily insert either your own pictures or ones that they have on file. Using the e-mail marketing service’s images may cost more, though, so you may do better purchasing them from a site like iStockPhoto.
An Inexpensive Way to Mass Communicate
Pricing structures typically start in the $15 to $30 per month range. Some services charge a monthly rate based on the number of contacts in your database, and allow you to send as many e-mails as you like without affecting your monthly fee. Others charge per message. If you have an idea of how many e-mails you will be sending, it shouldn’t be difficult to determine the option that makes the most financial sense.
ROI $40 for Every $1 Spent
A general figure for e-mail marketing ROI is $40 for every $1 spent. To track ROI precisely, use a redemption system with your e-mail marketing campaigns, like coupons that must be redeemed in your office.
Get Patients to Opt-In to Avoid Becoming Spam
It’s important that you get patients to opt-in to receive your e-mails. This can be done by having them sign up on your web site, or by simply asking your patients at check-out if they would like to join your e-mail list. You should limit the content and frequency to what they agreed to. In addition, be sure to include an opt-out or unsubscribe option in every e-mail your practice sends.
Set Aside At Least One Hour Per E-Blast
Needed preparation time by you or your staff varies depending on the length of the e-blast. The more information, the longer the task. One e-blast may combine new products, frames and/or services along with a “deal” of sorts (i.e., sunglasses sale) or party (art gallery, trunk show, etc). An average e-blast takes about one hour to complete. Finding the right graphics takes the most time, as well as organizing the layout.
Gauge Patient Reaction to E-Blasts
Typically patients will mention that they read our e-blast and heard about our “deal” or party. If you want a more quantified metric, you could track coupon redemption or inquire on patient information forms about what motivated the patient to come in for a visit.
Measure Open and Click-Through Rates
In addition to hearing yourself from patients about their reaction to your e-mails, professional e-mail services offer metrics related to what is known as the open and click-through rates. The open rate is how many recipients simply opened (rather than deleting without opening or just ignoring) the e-mail while the click-through rate is how many recipients not only opened the e-mail but then clicked-through the links featured to wherever you wanted to send them, whether that’s your practice web site or another site like a Facebook page.
E-blasts typically have a low open rate (around 20 percent), mostly due to a high rate of spam and irrelevant messages. Considering that as ODs our e-mail communication tends to be more targeted and relevant, 20 to 30 percent would be considered a good open rate. Occasionally reviewing the analytics will provide insight into what type of content gets the highest open and click-through rates.
What is Good E-Blast Content and How Often?
We send e-blasts about once per month and usually if we have something fun or important to share with our patients. For example, we might deploy an e-blast if we bring in a new frame line, a new doctor or staff member, new technology or if we have a reminder (i.e., “The end of the year is here! Use your insurance or flex money before it’s too late.”).
Optimal frequency of e-mail communication varies based on industry.For the optometric profession, I would limit e-mail blasts to once a month. To increase subscriber rates and keep opt-out rates down, always focus on providing value to the subscriber while limiting overt marketing messages. For example, a monthly newsletter that provides relevant vision tips is a great idea. If your subscribers perceive value as opposed to marketing, they will be more likely to open and engage with your messages.
Stratify Who Receives E-Blasts
Once in a while you will want to send an e-blast to all patients. For example, if your practice is relocating to a new spot in town or if you just opened a new optical shop, all patients should be informed. But, for the most part, e-blasts should be targeted to specific subsets of your patient base. For example, once a quarter you might send an e-blast to your contact lens patients about the latest enhancements to your contact lens ordering system or news of rebates on annual supply sales. You could even get more specific than that alerting only wearers of silicone hydrogel or only specialty contact lens wearers of new products available in the same category as the kind of lenses they wear, urging them to come in for an appointment to see if the new exciting lenses are right for them.
Similarly, you could isolate those patients who purchased two pairs of eyewear over the last six months with a thank-you discount of 20 percent off their next pair of plano sunglasses. Or you could alert only those patients who spent at least $200 on their last pair of frames of an upcoming trunk show.
The more targeted the e-blasts, the more relevant they will be to recipients. The more relevant, the less chance of getting ignored or deleted.
Expect E-Blasts to Be Opened on Computers and Mobile Devices
Most e-mail templates offered by e-mail marketing services are designed to render well on both desktop computers and mobile devices. Most e-mail templates are limited to around 600 pixels wide, which allows mobile viewers to easily scroll up and down for a user-friendly experience on both desktop and mobile.
E-Mail Marketing Success Action Plan
Be relevant. Irrelevant and unwanted e-mails will reduce open rates and potentially drive recipients to unsubscribe.
Segment your database. Make your messages more relevant and targeted by creating smaller lists based on vision needs and purchase habits.
Use compelling subject lines. Your subject line should entice the subscriber to read more. Put as much thought into the subject line as the body of the text. This is your only line of defense between your subscribers and the delete button.
Get social. Add social media buttons to your e-mails to encourage subscribers to share your content. You can also publish your e-mail campaigns to your own social networks.
Resources
E-mail Open and Click Rates: Benchmarks and Trends
E-mail Marketing Metrics Report
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Steve Vargo, OD, MBA,is president of iMobile Communications in Indiana which specializes in mobile communication and marketing for doctors. In addition, Dr. Vargo is a partner with Vision Quest Eye Clinics in Merrillville, Ind. To contact him:svargo@iMobileCommunications.com.
