Email marketing is a powerful tool that all therapists should be utilizing to build and maintain relationships with clients, both current and potential.
When done well, email marketing can be a great way to stay top-of-mind with your contacts, share helpful resources, and promote your services.
Not sure where to start? Check out these seven tips for creating an effective email marketing strategy tailored specifically for therapists.
What Exactly Does a Successful Email Marketing Strategy Look Like?
Before we dive into the tips, let’s first define what a successful email marketing strategy looks like for therapists.
A successful email marketing strategy is one that:
1. Is focused on building relationships and providing value, not selling services
2. Is tailored to the specific needs of the potential client
3. Incorporates a mix of content types, including video, blog posts, infographics, and more
4. Is sent on a consistent basis (at least once per week)
5. Makes use of segmentation to send targeted messages to specific groups of contacts
6. Incorporates strategies for growing your email list
7. Includes a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages contacts to take action
With these elements in mind, let’s now take a look at seven specific tips you can use to create a successful email marketing strategy of your own.
1. Use an Email Service Provider That’s Right for You
There are a number of different email service providers (ESPs) out there, each with its own set of features and price point.
Some of the most popular ESPs used by therapists include MailChimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, and ConvertKit.
The key is to choose an ESP that’s right for your specific needs. If you’re just starting out with email marketing, you’ll want an ESP that’s easy to use and has a low learning curve.
As your email list grows and your needs change, you can always switch to a more robust ESP that offers more features (like automation) at a higher price point.
2. Keep Your Emails Focused on Building Relationships
The goal of your email marketing should be to build relationships with your contacts, not to sell them your services.
With that in mind, every email you send should be focused on providing value in some way. This could be in the form of helpful resources, interesting articles, or even just a personal update on what’s going on in your life.
The goal is to create a connection with your contacts so that they think of you as a trusted resource, not just someone trying to sell them something.
3. Know Your Audience and What They Want
Before you can start creating content for your emails, you need to first understand who your audience is and what they want.
This involves segmenting your email list so that you can send targeted messages to specific groups of contacts. For example, you might have a group of potential clients who are interested in your services but haven’t yet committed to working with you.
Your emails to this group would be focused on building relationships and providing value, with the goal of eventually converting them into paying clients.
On the other hand, you might have a group of past clients who you want to stay in touch with and keep updated on your practice. Your emails to this group would be focused on staying top-of-mind and providing helpful resources, with the goal of eventually re-engaging them as clients.
4. Create a Mix of Different Types of Content
Your email list should never be one-dimensional. In other words, you shouldn’t just be sending emails with articles or blog posts.
Instead, mix things up and include a variety of different types of content in your emails. This could include articles, blog posts, infographics, video content, personal updates, etc.
The goal is to keep your emails interesting and engaging so that your contacts actually look forward to receiving them.
5. Send Emails on a Consistent Basis
One of the most important aspects of a successful email marketing strategy is consistency. You need to make sure that you’re sending emails on a regular basis, at least once per week.
This might seem like a lot, but if you batch-create your content in advance, it doesn’t have to be time-consuming or difficult. The key is to create a schedule and stick to it.
6. Include a Call-to-Action (CTA) in Every Email
Every email you send should include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages your contacts to take some sort of action.
This could be signing up for a free consultation, taking a survey, or even just visiting your website. The goal is to get your contacts to interact with you in some way so that you can continue building relationships.
7. Keep Your Emails Short and Sweet
Your contacts are probably very busy, so it’s important to keep your emails short and sweet. Get to the point quickly and don’t include too much fluff.
If you have a lot of content that you want to include, you can always link to it in your email. This could be a blog post, an infographic, or even just a simple landing page on your website.
8. Make Sure Your Emails are Mobile-Friendly
More and more people are reading emails on their smartphones, so it’s important to make sure that your emails are mobile-friendly.
This means using a responsive email template and keeping your images small so that they load quickly on mobile devices. You also want to make sure that your CTA is big and easy to tap on a small screen.
9. Offer Value, Not Just Sales
Your email marketing strategy should be focused on providing value, not just selling products or services.
Your contacts are much more likely to engage with you if they see you as a trusted resource. So make sure that the majority of your emails are focused on providing helpful information, not just pitching your products or services.
10. Test, Test, Test!
Finally, don’t forget to test your email marketing strategy before you launch it. Send test emails to a few friends or colleagues to make sure that everything looks correct and that your CTA is working properly.
Then, once you’re ready to go, launch your strategy and start building relationships with your contacts!
Final Thoughts
Email marketing can be a great way to stay top-of-mind with your contacts, share helpful resources, and promote your services. When done well, email marketing can be a powerful tool that all therapists should be utilizing.