Why Chiropractors Need to use Email Marketing Software
Over the years, most chiropractors accumulate a substantial list of contacts, made up of a mix of both current and past patients, as well as of connections that you’ve created by networking at various events. Email marketing can be a powerful tool for capitalizing on that base of contacts, and ensuring that you are the first name that comes to mind when they think of quality chiropractic care. Investing just a few minutes to send emails to your contacts every month can pay off by attracting more appointment bookings and referrals over time.
Why is email marketing important for chiropractors?
Email marketing is an effective way to stay in touch with your patients, by providing them with something of value, such as tips for improving posture or 10 stretches to relieve back pain. Regularly providing this type of content can help assert that you are an authority in the field, and that you should be the first name people think of when they need chiropractic care. This type of email marketing strategy can be the crucial deciding factor that finally convinces a patient who has been on the fence about booking an appointment. Plus, even if your email goes out to a former patient who doesn’t currently need care, it can increase the likelihood that they will refer you to their friends, because it gives them a convenient way to share your contact information by forwarding your email.
Executing your first email marketing campaign
Now that we understand why email marketing is important for increasing referrals and enhancing patient loyalty, let’s get into the details of actually executing your first email marketing campaign. Some chiropractors will maintain their mailing list themselves, and will just send emails through their email account, and BCC the recipients. Though this is straightforward to do, it can also be ineffective. Many mail clients will flag these emails as spam, so you may not even know if your emails reached your prospective clients. In addition, there’s some risk that if you’re not careful, you’ll accidentally expose your list of contacts, which can hurt your credibility.
Email marketing software, such as MailChimp and Constant Contact, were created specifically to address some of these issues. Based on the number of emails you send, and the size of your contact list, these services can be free or low-cost, but they make a world of difference when it comes to sending out a professional marketing campaign.
The benefits of email marketing software
Email marketing software offers several benefits for chiropractors, some of which are less obvious:
- The software is specifically designed to reduce the chances that your email will be marked as spam, so that your emails have a high chance of actually landing in people’s inboxes.
- These systems typically provide professional templates that make it easy to create eye-catching emails from scratch, without requiring any technical expertise.
- Software will automatically track analytics on the success of each of your email campaigns, so that you can get fine-grained visibility into metrics like open rate and rate of links clicked (e.g. a “Book an Appointment” button in the email).
- It’s easy to set up different campaigns that target various segments of your contact list (e.g. runners, Crossfit, 9-to-5 office workers), so you can create tailored content that increases the chance that your patients will find your emails valuable and relevant to their interests.
Create your email marketing strategy
Email marketing software is a great asset that can help chiropractors manage and experiment with email marketing campaigns, so that they’re more likely to end up with a successful outcome. Taking a few minutes to explore a no-cost or low-cost system like MailChimp or Constant Contact can pay off handsomely in the long run. Emailing your patients is a great way to stay in touch, get patients back into your practice, and attract more referrals. Plus, you can use it as an outlet to provide additional value for your patients -- so that when the moment comes when they need chiropractic care, you’ll be the first person they think of to call.
If you’re interested in getting started, you can read our tutorial about how to create your first MailChimp newsletter.