This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Get the most from your email marketing campaign
Success is possible even when recipients delete your message without opening it.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
So, you have decided to start your email marketing campaign. You chose the perfect template, you customized your marketing message and you are excited about the prospects of business this could bring in. You even did a test run amongst some family and friends to get feedback on the email heading and decided the best time of the day to send the email blast.
You sent your email and, to your surprise, only 12% of the people opened it. What happened? First of all, realize that the health care industry standard open rate is about 29% and just slightly higher than the 26% for the general public. In marketing, anything north of 30% is considered success. But let me tell you about some things you could be doing to make your campaign stand out and some points that will make an email that is not opened a success all by itself.
First, realize that, just as you probably feel, most people do not want to open or risk opening an email from someone they do not know. Recognition of sender is the first step in opening an email – this is the most common reason people do not open emails.
Not all is wasted if your target does not open the email. Think of it this way: if you have identified the sender correctly, the recipient of the email will have to look at who sent it before deciding if they should open or delete it. While recognition might seem like a small detail, consider that 68% percent of consumers use familiarity with the person or product as being the primary reason to open an email.
There are two ways you can achieve this sender recognition: one is having the recipient recognize you by your name or by your business name. The easiest way to choose what name you want to be recognized by is to ask yourself a simple question: “How will people easily and quickly recognize me or my brand in an email?” For a multi-doctor office it might just be the brand, and for a single doctor it might just be his or her name. But if the doctor is better known for his or her specialty contact lenses, that could change things.
Look at your email account for branding. The email account and address you decided to register and use when you first started your email marketing account may not be the same email account that you want to use for your campaign. If you are still using a commercial email address service like Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail, try to change it for a branded business email, such as DrSmith@DrSmithEyeCenter.com. Branding and creating your image even if people do not open the email is another way to make your brand, services and emails stand out and become instantly recognized.
Look at your subject line. While you may want to keep the heading short and concise, experts agree that the most effective subject lines are between five and seven words and 30 characters or less. Placing your name in the header is also another good idea. A few examples are: “Dr. Smith’s allergy season is back,” “Dr. Smith can treat dry eyes” or “Dr. Smith monthly eyeglass special.”
Be mindful that when it comes to getting recognized, even before anyone opens an email you have to see who sent it. As such, you win even when your email is just recognized in the inbox and deleted.
So, you can improve your odds by just making sure your email stands out even if it does not get opened. Your open rate might be low, but making sure people know and trust you and can easily recognize your email in their e-mailbox is a win.
- For more information:
- Agustin L. Gonzalez, OD, FAAO, is in private practice in Dallas, serves as adjunct faculty at InterAmerican University and is a member of the Primary Care Optometry News Editorial Board. He can be reached at AG@TXEyeDr.com.
Disclosure: Gonzalez has no relevant financial disclosures.