9 Easy Email Campaign Ideas to Keep Patients Engaged

Highlights

• Email remains the top digital marketing channel for businesses worldwide.
• Email campaigns are a great way to engage your patients and remain top-of-mind.   
• According to HubSpot research, email automation campaigns have an efficacy rate of 71%.   
• Email campaigns can range in size and scope depending on the desired results of the campaign.  
• Sharing positive patient feedback is a great way to build trust with potential patients.  

Easy Patient Engagement Email Campaign Ideas

Chances are, you already know you need to maintain constant contact with your patients via email. But what most practitioners struggle with is having an email marketing strategy that defines what to say and when.

The solution: automated patient communication.

According to most marketers, these tools are invaluable for engaging customers. A recent Statista study found that an overwhelming majority (97%) of marketers find success in automating their communication.

Fortunately, Doctible has your back. Our automated patient communication tools, combined with easy-to-implement email campaign ideas, will help you better engage patients. Implement these time-saving strategic campaigns to engage patients in a way that’s organic, unassuming, and effective!

Here are our top nine email campaign ideas for boosting patient engagement and encouraging repeat visits:

1. Send Appointment Reminders

Sending gentle reminders to patients about upcoming appointments is a great way to stay on their radar. At first glance, appointment reminders may seem like a simple formality. However, they're highly effective tools for creating a stronger relationship between patient and practice.  

Furthermore, an appointment reminder doesn’t just tell your patient that you’re excited to see them. It reinforces the expectation that they'll arrive as scheduled.

Appointment reminders are an especially effective tactic in combatting “no-shows.”  

Pro-tip: Include preparation instructions, or forms patients need to fill out beforehand, to streamline the check-in process.  

2. Develop an Educational Series

This marketing strategy might require a bit more legwork from your team. However, it's a proven method for attracting more business.  

Recent reports indicate education and training emails see an open rate around 36%. For example, topics like the importance of regular check-ups, product education, or health tips can encourage patient visits.  

You never know what might inspire a past patient to return or prompt a future call!

Pro Tip: Try referencing current events, addressing industry advancements, and linking to sources to increase your credibility.  

3. Reveal a Seasonal Promotion

Everyone loves a deal, and offering seasonal discounts on services is a great way to entice patients to visit. And your promotions don’t have to be big to be effective, either. Even 10% off a normal visit can be enough incentive for a wayward patient to schedule an appointment.  

The best part about a seasonal promotion? Even if someone doesn’t take advantage of your offer, you're still at the top of their inbox! Anything you can do to stay top-of-mind is a win, and a promotional email is a great way to gain visibility.  

Pro Tip: Use this strategy sparingly and try to select times that make sense for your practice. For example, a back-to-school or Black Friday special makes a lot more sense than an Arbor Day sale.  

4. Share Patient Feedback and Ask for Reviews

Any time you solicit more reviews, it’s always a good idea to share a link to a page that displays your strongest reviews. This helps your patients know what to write and reinforces that your practice is worth praising.

Catchy email subject lines like “See what others are saying about us!” or “Have you shared your 5-star experience yet?” are a great way to get patients to open your email. They serve as a great lead-in for requesting more patient reviews.

Great reviews and review requests are two sides of the same coin; be sure to use these two elements together in the same campaign.  

Pro Tip: Need a hand with online review management? Use Doctible to boost your online presence and garner more positive reviews.  

5. Introduce a Referral Program

Encourage existing patients to refer your practice to their friends and family by offering incentives. Discounts on future treatments, a free service, or a gift card can go a long way toward encouraging referrals and building customer loyalty.  

This campaign is a great evergreen asset, which means that it can always live in your email rotation.

Nothing to send this month because you’re strapped on time? No problem! Just re-send your referral program email (provided it’s been at least a month or two since you sent a referral program email).  

Pro-Tip: Try including pictures of online reviews here to remind your patients that your practice is worth a referral.  

6. Provide Tips, Tricks, and Preventative Care Solutions

Providing tips on maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be especially effective for reminding patients to book a visit. This campaign shows you care for your patients’ well-being while reminding them that there’s nothing quite like an office visit.  

Additionally, this campaign type is a great way to experiment with audience segmentation! With Doctible, you can tailor email content to specific groups of patients. This allows you to create a specialized message specifically for your target audience.  

Pro Tip: Always end with preventative care messaging to tie in the need for patients to come into the office and see you!  

7. Reveal New Services or Technologies

In a culture that places a strong emphasis on the latest and greatest, sending an email about a new service or technology really helps get your patients excited about visits. Additionally, revealing that you have something new to offer can set you apart from your competition!  

Obviously, this campaign is only effective when you truly have something new to offer. Discerning patients will likely see through any attempt to label recycled services as “new.”  

Use this campaign sparingly as an effective method of boldly introducing new services, technologies, or practitioners. You should also be sure to explain why it benefits your clients.  

Pro Tip: This works even better when you offer a discount on the new service!  

8. FAQs and Myth Busting

Like educational emails, FAQ campaigns are a great way to address questions and concerns about your practice.  

An FAQ-style email can alleviate patient apprehension, perhaps caused by industry misconceptions or even a lack of online information about your organization.  

Patients are naturally curious. Giving them extra insight by peeling back the curtain is a great way to earn trust and build rapport.  

Pro Tip: Try including some fun facts about your practitioners and staff to foster feelings of relatability. Patients like to know that their providers have a life outside the office.  

9. Recall Reminders and Feedback Requests

Automated emails should be a staple in your marketing arsenal. Recall reminders and feedback requests are especially powerful retention-focused campaigns.  

Sending follow-up emails is the number one driver of patient feedback.

Gathering data directly from patients is critical for your long-term success. However, follow-up emails don’t need to be feedback-focused. You can also check on patients' well-being, provide post-treatment instructions, and offer ways to follow up with your office.  

Recall reminders are another hyper-effective automation for enhancing patient retention. Use this type of email campaign to encourage lapsed patients to come back and remind current patients to schedule their next appointment.  

Doctible’s powerful retention tools, like automated patient recall campaigns, monitor visit history and automatically contact patients to schedule follow-up appointments based on procedure type, appointment timeline, provider, and more!  

Pro Tip: Try embedding your ratings and review tool within the email so patients can easily and quickly leave their feedback.  

Create Effective Email Campaigns with Doctible

There truly is a wealth of options available for creating engaging email campaigns.

In addition to the campaigns above, you can also create a series of emails around special occasions. Examples include patient birthdays or anniversaries, email newsletters, and community outreach. You can even send random acts of kindness emails that offer patients exclusive offers as a token of appreciation.  

Connecting with patients should be easy. That's why Doctible offers a suite of tools and resources to maximize your marketing efforts and simplify patient communication.  

From automating email campaigns to sending SMS messages, Doctible has the solutions you need to easily manage patient engagement for enhanced productivity and profitability.  

Team up with Doctible today to implement these top-notch campaign strategies for unprecedented results in driving more business.