10 Ways To Improve Your Practice’s Email Communications For 2021!
Email communication is really important between any practice and its audience – we’ve already talked before about how to start building your email list. But today, we’d like to talk about how you can ensure your regular practice newsletter is as impactful as possible in 2021.
If you’ve been debating how to get your community in conversation and keep in touch more effectively, here are the tips you need to make the most of your email communications:
1. Answer a real need that aligns with your goals
It’s a good time to start reviewing your goals for your communications more broadly and thinking through the offering your newsletter makes more specifically. What are the needs of your audience, right now? How can your newsletter answer this need? It’s important to recognise the power of an email to start building your community – the true fans of your work, who really want to know more about the expertise you have to give them. After all, 61% of consumers have been seen to feel much better about companies that send relevant content.
So, think through how your knowledge can respond to the questions your community has, how you can act as a supportive guide through their health journey. Pair up your services and special offers or any products you want to sell with the information that people really need in order to make the most of these offerings. Always check if this would be an email you’d want to receive and open!
2. Keep the message short and simple
You might have lots you want to say but emails aren’t usually essay length! Keep it short and sweet. Try to keep the scrolling required to read the email to a minimum. With an uncluttered design to make things easier to read, you can ensure your audience are getting the most important part of your message. If you want to carry on into a longer piece, include a link to your blog.
3. Mix up your subject lines and preheaders
Sometimes we get a bit stuck on what to use as our subject line and the opening lines of the body message. But it’s a good idea to mix this up just enough to inspire reader attention. Don’t be afraid to use emojis – they can give your audience a feeling of what to expect, alongside the words you use. Choose subject lines that are mobile-friendly, too – so not too long!
4. Include worthwhile links
Whether it’s to a blog post or another place full of great information, choose your links carefully! Of course, it’s good to direct traffic back to your main website, but you might also include interesting or enjoyable pages that you have thoughtfully curated from across the health community. This can help build up your email reputation as a place with useful, interesting things to read.
5. Get visual
A picture says a thousand words, but not everyone allows images in their emails – many clients disable images altogether. This means that you really need to think about the visual impact of your newsletter, both with and without imagery included.
Even if you have the best possible words in place, they also have to be readable and sit on a visually pleasing background. Think about how you break up the text, any colours you use, whether you have any subheadings or bullet points… and so on! Online readers tend to absorb information in an ‘F shape pattern, so keep this in mind when designing your revamped newsletter.
6. Use web-friendly fonts
No crazy fonts please! Choose fonts that will work across devices and operating systems. These fonts are the ones that are considered web-safe:
Arial
Courier New
Georgia
Lucida Sans Unicode
Tahoma
Times New Roman
Trebuchet MS
Verdana
Try not to use more than one unless you absolutely need to – keep it simple and only introduce a different font if absolutely needed, for emphasis.
7. Personalise your emails
This isn’t the time to be aloof! Give your emails a distinct voice and point of view. Think about how you can insert your personality into your emails to really give them a personal, accessible feel that will turn your readers into fans. Don’t be afraid to share the vibe and ethos of your practice.
8. Segment your audience
Not everyone in your community will need the same type of email. If you can segment your audience and send more tailored emails, this will always be more effective and appealing to readers. For instance, we can help you create a specialised email campaign to be executed alongside new appointments, to help introduce patients to your practice.
9. Brand your email design
Beyond rethinking how you lay things out, your emails should represent a continuation of your branding elsewhere. This might include your logo, similar photos or avatars as on social media and your website, and similar colouring. Think about how you can integrate your name and branding into this space, so that your emails offer up a smooth experience from the waiting room right through to that regular ping in the inbox.
10. Test out your emails
Emails look different in different email clients, and different things appeal to different people. Test both the visual and the verbal impact of your emails out with various potential readers. Research suggests that most people use Apple Mail and Gmail, so those are good places to start testing first. Send out test emails to check the details – both on a desktop and a mobile phone!
There you have it. Ten ways you can revamp your email newsletter the smart way this year and connect with more of your audience, more regularly. For help with starting your first campaign to really reach out and connect with your audience, get in touch with us at Blitz and we can help you grow in 2021!