Most senior care companies have a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter account and they watch anxiously to see how many visits, likes and retweets they get. But there’s one online marketing tool that doesn’t require drawing an audience to you (“pull” marketing) and, instead, uses “push” marketing to get your message in front of your audience – email.
Email is one of the most overlooked elements of online marketing and it is also one of the most effective. According to McKinsey & Company, email is 40 times more effective at acquiring customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. One reason it’s so effective is that checking your email is a necessity in today’s world – 40 to 60 percent of your target audience checks their email daily. And open rates for emails in the elder care field typically range from 20 to 30 percent (Constant Contact, one of the largest email marketing companies, lists the open rate for Health and Social Services at 29.8 percent).
If you’re trying to increase occupancy in your senior living community, or get people to connect with you to learn more about your care management services, or want more referrals from the medical community for your rehab services, you can’t afford to overlook email marketing. Here are some tips to help your program be as successful as possible.
Build Your Mailing List
Building a strong email list starts with figuring out where your customers and prospects engage with you. If someone stops in for a tour of your facility, get their email address. Have a place on your website where people can request to receive valuable information from you – a newsletter is a great way to share information. Whenever someone contacts you about your services, get their email address and explain what you’ll use it for and how often they can expect to hear from you.
Nurture the relationship
Online relationships need to be built over time. When someone gives you their email address, send them a welcome note immediately and thank them for subscribing to your newsletter or joining your community. It helps to include a sample of the kind of information they can expect to see from you, or providing a coupon for a free tour or consultation – something to let them know you’re providing a service of value and they made the right decision in signing up. Research shows that subscribers who receive a welcome note show 33 percent more brand engagement.
Provide great content
Most of your emails to your list should be informative, not overtly promotional. Provide information that your audience will find useful and they’ll be begin to view you a trusted source of information they’re interested in. Regular emails will keep your company’s name in front of your customer, even if they don’t open them. Staying connected to your prospects through a steady series of valuable information positions you as an expert in your field and makes the transition from subscriber to customer much more likely. Blog posts can be a great source for your email content, as this will drive people back to your website.
Personalize your email
Although it seems silly – no one really believes that you’re taking the time to send a separate email to your entire list – starting your email with “Dear Sally” (as opposed to “Dear Friend”) works. Personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14 percent and conversion rates by 10 percent.
Make sure your email is mobile friendly
People check their mobile phones up to 150 times a day and checking email is the number one activity. So if you’re sending a newsletter, make sure it looks good on a smartphone. Eighty percent of people will simply delete an email if it doesn’t look good on their phone.
Send your email in the morning
Fifty-eight percent of adults check their email first thing in the morning. This may also be a time when they’re most receptive to your message, while they’re still feeling fresh.
IlluminAge has over 20 years of experience in developing strong email programs for our clients. Our EngAge program combines all the elements of successful email marketing – blog posts, social media and email – into one turnkey program. If you’d like to tap into the power of email marketing, contact us today!