If you’re looking for a cost-effective means of driving new patients into your physiotherapy practice, look no further than email marketing. Tried-and-tested, email marketing can be an incredibly versatile means of building your business from the ground up. For example, though just about any email automation platform (such as MailChimp) you’re able to do the following:

• Build a list of subscribers that actually want to hear from you
• Provide your potential customers somewhere to ask questions and reach you directly
• Educate your physiotherapy audience through a newsletter or engage them with deals and discounts

However, keep in mind that your email marketing efforts won’t get very far if you can’t encourage your readers to actually open your messages.

Think about the amount of spam mail that you receive on a daily basis. Even if you have readers opted-in to your list, there’s a good chance that your messages will pass them by if you don’t craft them very, very carefully. Keep in mind that the medical industry boasts a 22% open rate, so you should definitely strive to meet or exceed such a number with your own messages.

Whether you’re getting your feet wet with email marketing or simply want to boost your current open rates, make sure to implement the following tactics in every email that you possibly can to ensure a higher response rate from your readers.

Keep Subject Lines Simple

Your marketing messages will ultimately live and die by their subject lines, representing the first element that readers see when they check their inbox. When in doubt, write your subject lines so that they’re short, sweet and straightforward. Instead of writing subject lines that are likely to get cut off due to length, try to keep them somewhere between 41 and 50 characters.

For example, something like “Regarding next steps” or “So, what do you think?” are much more likely to perform versus messages formatted like lengthy sales letters. Remember: you can always elaborate on your message within the body of the email. What matters most is simply getting readers to click “open.”

Grabbing Their Attention

As you can see from the examples above, the aforementioned subject lines are purposely vague as they pique the reader's’ interest: they want to know what comes next or understand what the email is about. This isn’t clickbait or spam, either, granted that the body of the email delivers on the theme of the subject line.

When in doubt, the following techniques for subject lines are foolproof and will work for just about any audience:

• Phrase your emails in the form of a question, thus encouraging a response
• Use words like “help” or “benefit” to come off as a resource versus a sales pitch
• Incorporate numbers (numerically written, so “10” versus “ten”) which are easy for the brain to process at a glance

Applying such rules to a short subject line can be a challenge; however, the creativity to mesh these elements are what separates a great subject line from spam.

Personalization

Personalizing your emails is crucial to helping readers understanding that your message is in the right place. Some strategies for personalizing your messages to encourage a better response rate are:

• Including the name of your recipient in the subject line “Hey Joe, wanted to touch base…”
• Making sure that your email is sent from a person versus the name of a company (for example, sending from “John Smith” instead of “JS Physical Therapy LLC”)
• Having your recipient’s name in the body of the email, which lets them know that you’re addressing them versus a crowd

By encouraging users opt-in to your email list, it’s easy to gather the necessary information to personalize your messages. Thankfully, most email marketing solutions can incorporate these elements for you instead of requiring you to enter them manually every time.

Never Sound Like Spam

Although readers today are much more aware of what a spam message looks like, so are email inboxes. Algorithms can pick up on certain words, phrases and practices within emails that send them directly to the spam folder. In addition, spammy subject lines and email bodies will ensure that readers delete your message before giving it a chance.

So, what should you avoid doing so that you don’t end up being seen as a spammer?

• Don’t push “salesman” language at your readers throughout your email body or subject line (such as “buy now” or “money-back guarantee”)
• Try not to stuff your emails with bulky images or links (particularly affiliate links)
• Avoid fear or misleading language in your subject lines (such as implying that a reader is in trouble or danger)
• Make sure to include a place for readers to opt-out, which is actually required by law

Email marketing is a fantastic way to connect with potential physiotherapy patients, granted you know what makes a great message. If you’re looking to craft messages that resonate with potential business, there’s a good chance that PatientSites can help.

Get started with a Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint to learn how you can create long-term assets that will attract new patients for years to come.