Contents
PHASE I
Planning Your Email Newsletter
This first phase, the planning phase, is by far the most important, and it’s the phase we get questions on most frequently. “How to create an email newsletter?” “How to start an email newsletter?” “How to write an email newsletter?” That’s what we will cover here. We’ll go over:
- Identifying your target audience
- Determining the goal of your newsletter
- Deciding on the frequency of sending newsletters
- Creating a content plan
Identifying Your Target Audience
Determining The Goal Of Your Newsletter
Provide educational content
Use your newsletter to educate patients on oral health, including tips for healthy teeth and gums, the latest research on dental health, and updates on new treatments and technologies.
Promote your practice
Use your newsletter to promote your practice by highlighting your services, showcasing patient success stories, and sharing information about your team.
Encourage appointments
Use your newsletter to educate patients about other services you offer, encourage referrals, and remind patients to schedule checkups and cleanings.
Build relationships
Use your newsletter to build strong relationships with your patients by sharing personal stories, highlighting community involvement, and showcasing your practice’s values.
Once you’ve identified the goal of your newsletter, you can start to create content that aligns with that goal. Remember to keep your messaging consistent and relevant to your audience. Doing so will keep your patients engaged, build trust and loyalty, and drive positive results for your practice.
Deciding On The Frequency Of Sending Newsletters
How often should you send your newsletter? After all, you don’t want to spam your patients. The most important part of deciding on the frequency of your newsletter is sending it consistently. You don’t want to start a newsletter campaign that happens only periodically and not on a schedule. Your patients won’t know when to expect your newsletter and will be less likely to open it because it’s so sporadic. So, send your newsletter on a consistent schedule.
Now, how often should you actually send it? Well, this is going to be different for every practice. It’s not worth sending a newsletter if you have nothing to say, but chances are, you have something new going on or something you’d like to inform your patients of. The key here is to ensure each newsletter has something useful and helpful. Otherwise, it’s not worth sending.
If you go to Google, look up “How often should I send email newsletters?” You’ll get a generic answer of no more than twice a week but at least once a month. This answer encompasses every business that might send a newsletter! And for some, it might make sense to send it twice a week. But not for dentistry. You aren’t sharing weekly specials or product discounts. You’re sharing personalized information that helps people decide on their oral health. So twice a week or even weekly may be a bit overkill.
We recommend sending newsletters once a month. You can go send it less often, but you’re likely to get a higher open rate and more patients reading your newsletter if you send it at this frequency.
Creating A Content Plan
So, what will you say? Here are some Pro Tips to get you started on the right track.
- Write to your patients in a conversational and friendly tone.
- Send only useful information to help your patients make better oral health decisions.
- Be concise. This isn’t a novel! Be brief and write in a way that’s easy to read.
- Add multimedia to break up your text, but only if it provides some kind of value.
- Personalize your newsletter specifically for your target audience and goals. Deciding on topics will be easier, your patients will enjoy reading your newsletter, and your newsletter will have a purpose.
- Include a clear call to action! Tell your patients exactly what you want them to do next based on your chosen goals.
Even with the tips outlined above, topic generation can be hard. How do you know what your patients want to hear about? How do you make it relevant and not generic? This part will take some practice, but your topics will come easier once you start.
A great way to always have topics available is by involving your team. Your team interacts with dental patients all day! They’re a top resource for knowing what your patients are wondering and their struggles. Get a whiteboard and put it up on the breakroom wall; by the end of the week, you’ll have plenty of topics to choose from!
Make a log of those topics, and consult your topic idea log each time you write a newsletter. Before you know it, you’ll have the entire year planned out.
Another great practice to always have topic ideas is to make a note in your log when new things arise. Maybe you just introduced a new treatment or technology that your patients should know about. Or perhaps you attended some training, or your team members participated in community service. Make a note of these things when they happen, and you can add them to the newsletter when the time comes.
Just remember that when choosing topics for your email newsletters, it’s important to consider the interests and concerns of your audience. By providing relevant and interesting content to your patients, you can keep them engaged and encourage them to stay connected with your practice.
PHASE II
Designing Your Email Newsletter
Once you’ve determined the goal of your newsletter and have a plan for your content, it’s time to design your email newsletter. You’ll need to choose the right email marketing platform, create something that’s visually appealing, ensure it’s mobile-friendly, and know how to write some compelling subject lines.
Creating A Content Plan
Choosing the right email marketing platform for your dental practice can be crucial in ensuring your newsletter’s success. Here are some factors to consider when choosing an email marketing platform:
Cost
One of the most important factors to consider is the cost of the email marketing platform. Many platforms offer different pricing tiers based on the number of subscribers or the features included. Make sure to choose a platform that fits your budget. Some platforms offer free plans with a limit on how many emails and contacts you can have. For example, Mailchimp’s free version has a limit of 500 contacts and 1000 sends per month.
Ease of use
Choose a platform that is easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. This will save you time and effort when creating and sending your newsletters.
Customization options
Look for a platform that allows you to customize your newsletters to fit your brand and style. This includes the ability to choose templates, fonts, colors, and images. Make sure to keep the feel of your newsletter the same from month to month.
Automation
Consider a platform that offers automation features, such as automated welcome emails or drip campaigns. This can save you time and help you stay engaged with your patients. You could use automation features to send patients a welcome email when they sign up.
Analytics
Look for a platform that offers analytics and reporting features, such as open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber engagement. This can help you track the success of your newsletter and make adjustments as needed.
Integrations
Choose a platform that integrates with other tools you use, such as your website or social media accounts. This can make it easier to manage your newsletter and reach a wider audience.
Compliance with regulations
Make sure the platform you choose is compliant with email marketing regulations, such as CAN-SPAM or GDPR. This will ensure that your newsletters are delivered and received legally.
Ensuring Your Newsletter Is Mobile-Friendly
More and more people are reading their emails on mobile devices, so it’s important to make sure your newsletter is mobile-friendly. Use a responsive design that adjusts to the size of the screen, and avoid using small fonts or images that are too large.
While this may seem like it’s getting complicated, trust us, it’s not. Most email marketing platforms already have these features built-in, and you can preview your email on a mobile screen to make sure it looks great. Keep in mind the placement of your photos and the length of your text. Those elements look even larger and longer on mobile.
Writing Compelling Subject Lines
Your subject line is, dare we say, the most important part of your email. If you get it wrong, people won’t open it. If you get it right, your patients will read your message. Writing a compelling email subject line doesn’t have to take long, and there are plenty of free resources to check and see if your subject line is good. We suggest MailMeteor, a free resource to test your subject lines.
Here’s how you can get started.
- Keep it short.
- Use minimal punctuation.
- Use emojis, but not too many.
- Don’t mislead patients regarding what the email is about.
- Ask relevant questions that are answered within your email (ex., “Do you know the biggest threat to your teeth?”)
- Create a sense of urgency (ex., “This everyday food could be ruining your teeth…”)
- Create curiosity (ex., “We bet you didn’t know this about your TMJ orthotic”)
- Start with an action-oriented word (ex., Instead of “This new whitening system gave Jennifer Anniston her smile,” say, “Get the Jennifer Anniston smile”)
Our best advice here is to just get started testing some subject lines with the free subject line tester, MailMetior. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.
PHASE III
Crafting Email Newsletter Content
We’d be lying if we said we didn’t think crafting email newsletters are fun. And with time, you may agree! Keep reading to find out how.
Choosing The Right Tone & Voice For Your Brand
We know that most dentists don’t think of themselves as a “brand.” But the truth of it is…you have a brand. Think of your brand as your image, it’s your dental office’s personality. Your unique brand helps patients distinguish your office from others in your marketing and advertising.
Each brand has its own unique tone of voice. This is the tone you’ll use to write your newsletter, display on your website, and post to social media. Pretty much any communication from your dental office should be in your brand voice.
Odds are, you already have a brand voice, and now you’ll just need to identify it and use it religiously in all your communications. Many dental offices decide to go with a professional tone. But you certainly don’t have to. You could choose to be more conversational, silly, or nurturing. It’s up to you.
Think about the core values that you built your dental practice on. Give those core values to an imaginary person and think about what kind of things they’d say and how they’d say them. This should help you choose a brand voice.
Including Relevant & Useful Information
Your newsletter should be chalked-FULL of relevant and useful information. If you have nothing relevant or useful to say, you shouldn’t be sending a newsletter. The aim of your newsletter is to help and inform, so only send information that is going to help your patients make oral health decisions and better their oral or whole health through your dentistry niche. And keep in mind the goal of your newsletter and your target audience so you can be sure to meet your goals and your patients’ expectations.
If you aren’t sure what type of information is relevant or useful, put yourself in your patient’s shoes, listen to common questions that arise, or simply ask them!
Adding Visuals & Multimedia
This part is fun! Add some visuals and multimedia to your newsletter. These will be eye-catching and help your patients become and stay interested in what you have to say. Keep your brand voice in mind while choosing visuals.
If you chose a strictly professional tone, you probably don’t want to use GIFs. But if you chose a more conversational tone, feel free to use them!
One word of caution from the pros: Do not (NOT) add attachments to your newsletter. If you’re including visuals, add them to the body of the email. Attachments usually get flagged as unsafe, and you’ll lower your deliverability and email score. More on that shortly.
PHASE IV
Building Your Email Newsletter List
Let’s recap what you should already know:
- Who your target audience is.
- The goal of your newsletter.
- Design elements.
- Content plans.
Now it’s time to actually build your newsletter using the information you’ve already collected and planned!
Using Opt-In Forms On Your Website
Now, you can’t just email anyone you want. Well, you could, but you’ll get a lot of opt-outs, be marked as spam, and lower your email deliverability score. How not to spam your patients is a topic in itself!
For the purpose of this guide, know that our advice is here to help you get the most emails delivered to the most people. If you want to learn more about deliverability and spamming risks, read this article on UpCity.
A great way to grow your email list and to email people who actually want to hear from you is to have an opt-in form on your website. This form allows patients to voluntarily decide to receive communications from you. You’ll reach your goals a lot faster if the people you email actually want to hear from you. And there may be people who want to hear from you that you don’t know about. Trust us, an opt-in form on your website is a good thing.
Speaking of an opt-in form, it’s actually best to have a double opt-in. We know it sounds redundant. And we know that your next question is, “What if people don’t do the extra work and we lose a subscriber because of it?”
Here’s the rub. You only want to email people who want to hear from you. The more segmented and honed in your list, the better your email newsletter will work. The double opt-in is there for your protection, it shows email providers that you’re trustworthy and keeps your email score up. Again, you can read more about that in the article linked above.
Encouraging Subscribers To Forward Your Newsletter
Another way to grow your email list is to encourage your subscribers to forward your newsletter to their friends and family. Have a link to your opt-in form at the bottom of your newsletter that says something to the effect of:
“Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up for [INSERT PRACTICE NAME]’s newsletter here.”
Promoting Your Newsletter On Social Media
To reach your newsletter goals, you’ll need subscribers, and what better way to gain them than on social media? Plan to post about your newsletter every so often so you can gain more subscribers faster.
PHASE VI
Analyzing & Improving Your Email Newsletter
Okay, you’ve sent it. Now you’re done! Almost. The success of an email newsletter comes from your ability to track its results and tweak it to make it as successful as possible.
What Should You Track?
There are all sorts of metrics you can track but don’t get bogged down. Focus on the tracking metrics that will help you reach your goals. Here’s what we recommend:
Making Adjustments To Your Email Newsletter Strategy
The last part of any great email newsletter campaign is making on-going adjustments when it’s necessary. Pay attention to your metrics to find out what works and what doesn’t. After time, you’ll have a patient newsletter campaign that helps your practice meet it’s goals.
Remember, consistency is key!
Email marketing can help your practice gain new patients because:
- You reach only people who need your services.
- Email marketing can be more effective than social media marketing.
- The buying process happens 3x faster in email marketing compared to social media.
- Email newsletters help to build and maintain relationships with your patients.
- Dentists can personalize email newsletters in a way that social media and regular website traffic can’t.
- Email newsletters increase brand awareness because they’re easily forwarded to friends and family.
- Email can re-engage a patient who started a process and decided not to finish.
- Email newsletters are cost-effective and fast to create.
You’ve learned:
- How to write, create, send, and measure your newsletter’s success.
- How to build and maintain your email list.
- Some Pro Tips to get your email campaign off the ground.
- How to implement this marketing strategy into your dental practice.
- How your other efforts can support it and be supported by it.
Email Tips From The Dental Marketing Pros
We’ve talked about these in this email marketing guide, but here’s a quick list of the Pro Tips mentioned along the way.
- Write to your patients in a conversational and friendly tone.
- Send only useful information to help your patients make better oral health decisions.
- Be concise. This isn’t a novel! Be brief and write in a way that’s easy to read.
- Add multimedia to break up your text, but only if it provides some kind of value.
- Personalize your newsletter specifically for your target audience and goals.
- Include a clear call to action! Tell your patients exactly what you want them to do next based on your chosen goals. (Buttons work great!)
- Use your logo and branded colors!
- Test your email before sending it. Just send it to yourself and give it a good once-over. Check spelling, grammar, and layout on desktop and mobile.
- Segment your email list.
- Personalize your emails.
- Do not (NOT) add attachments to your newsletter.
- Add your social icons to the bottom of your email.
- Include and opt-out button in your newsletter.
- We created a free email metric tracking template. Here it is!
