Simple-Ways-to-Start-Your-Email-Marketing

Quick, Simple Ways to Start Your Email Marketing

Do you ever wonder how your emails seem to mysteriously reproduce, turning into an unorganized and unnecessary collection of things and chatter? It probably feels like you get 2,847 of them a day. 

Many of them are tossed in the overflowing trash bin. Others, you carefully pour-over, actually enjoying the content contained within. Wouldn’t it be great if all of them were like that?  

As a wellness practitioner, you’ve been told how important email marketing is for growing your wellness practice. After all, 90% of internet users use email1 and 59% say marketing emails influence how they purchase.2 It’s safe to say that email is a powerful tool that’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

But let’s get real here for a second. Collecting emails from your patients is one thing but knowing what to do with them is an entirely different beast. So, once you have email addresses, what in the world do you do next? Keep reading to find out…

Send a Welcome Email Quickly

Receiving an email address is like getting an invitation to someone’s home for dinner. As a guest who’s visiting their inbox, it’s important that you use good manners at all times. 

So, within the first couple of days of receiving someone’s email address, be sure to send them an email. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, and it should NOT be a sales pitch. Short and sweet is perfectly fine. Here are 6 “must-haves” to include in that first email:

  1. Greet them. Start an appropriate salutation. If you have their first name, use it! Personalized emails are much more likely to be opened than general ones.
  2. Thank them for opting in to receive your emails.
  3. Introduce yourself and share a little bit about who you serve.
  4. Set expectations. How often can they expect to hear from you – weekly, monthly, something else? Let them know. You’ll need to follow-through on this, so make sure and set a realistic goal for yourself!
  5. Give them a gift. I’m not talking about sending flowers or candy. It could be a fun checklist, a cool blog, or your favorite recipe. Include a link in the email to show them you’re genuinely interested in their health and aren’t in it just for the money.
  6. Tell them what to do next. Every email should include a call-to-action. But my friend, this is not where you start selling. It could be a simple “hit reply and tell me about…” or a P.S. note at the very end of your email asking them to follow you on social media. Keep it light and friendly here.

That’s it! The important part here is to be personal and timely. Welcome emails get some of the greatest levels of engagement compared to any other email. So, make sure and strike while the iron is hot.

Stay in Regular Contact With Your Subscribers

In your welcome email, you’ll have shared how often you’re going to pop in your subscriber’s inbox. So, the next step is to do just that.

Emailing consistently is the holy grail, but it’s really easy for this task to fall through the cracks. After all, when it comes to running your practice, you have a million other things going on! Here are some extra tips to help you streamline the process so you can stay on top of emailing:

  • Determine what type of emails you want to send. Are they quick tips or longer newsletters? Get clear on this so you’re not having to decide each month.
  • Choose a monthly theme. If you opt for weekly tips rather than a monthly newsletter, having a theme across your entire month helps. It keeps you from having to think of different ideas for each email. For instance, February is American Heart Month and also has Valentine’s Day in it. Your emails could give ideas around having healthy hearts – both physically and emotionally.
  • Create a template. There’s nothing worse than having to create every…single…email from scratch. This is where having a template is your lifesaver! Let’s use the newsletter as an example. What are all the pieces you’d want in it each month? Maybe you create three buckets – a mini article, a fun recipe, and a short list of events in your area. Each month, you update those three buckets with whatever your monthly theme is. It can be just that easy.
  • Batch your work. Batching is when you sit down and draft out all your emails for a month, quarter, etc. in one sitting. It may feel like a lot to do at once, but batching is an amaaaazing way to save time and make better use of your brain energy.

Maintaining regular contact with your patients offers some incredible benefits. It builds your credibility, shows you’re dependable and helps your subscriber feel valued. As you continue to show up consistently and deliver when you say you will, they’ll trust you more and more. 

When to Give Value and When to Sell

Be sure to give tons of value in your emails. But don’t forget, you’re building a practice – not giving away the farm. So, at some point, you’ll want to make an offer or showcase a promotion. This can come across sales-y if you’re not careful, so here’s some advice:

Ask genuinely. If your subscribers are used to receiving tons of value, they won’t be put off by an occasional offer or request for them to engage a little deeper with you. Make sure your offer adds value to their life so it doesn’t feel like it came out of left field. 

Know what your patients are interested in. This comes down to knowing who you serve.If you know what topics or items they would love to know more about, they’ll be far more receptive to what you’re recommending as long as it fits within the parameters of your practice or specialty. 

When someone gives you their email address, by default, they’ve given you permission to email them. So be sure to treat that gift with the utmost respect.

Take it Beyond Just a Hello

Every patient relationship begins with a “hello” but it shouldn’t stop there. When you write those emails, write as if you’re talking to just one person – a single patient – rather than the masses. People want to feel important and email is a perfect way to do just that!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get those emails drafted and start sending! 

Your patients are waiting for you.

Sources

1. (2020, July 2). • U.S. e-mail usage by gender 2019 | Statista. Retrieved January 1, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/628372/us-email-usage-reach-by-gender/

2. (2020, March 3). 18 Essential Email Marketing Statistics: 2020 Edition – SaleCycle. Retrieved January 1, 2021, from https://www.salecycle.com/blog/featured/18-essential-email-marketing-statistics/

Ronda Nelson

Hi, I’m Ronda Nelson and I help wellness practitioners grow thriving, profitable practices that allow them to work with ease, live a life they love and make an income they can be proud of.
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