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Secrets to Powerful and Effective Email MarketingHealthcare Leadership & Education Summit

June 29, 2015

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Meet Your Presenter

Nick Hajdin

Email Marketing StrategistFathom Healthcare

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• Determine Your Goals

• Build a Healthy and Engaged Database

• Create an Effective Design

• Everything is Testable

• Use Your Data for Long-Term Success

• Maintain Engagement

Agenda

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• Email has nearly three times as many user accounts as Facebook and Twitter combined.

• Highest ROI of any marketing channel available, beating out social media, paid search, TV and radio among others.

• Email is incredibly effective because it is based solely on effort & intent.

• Email represents almost all signal and very little noise.

Email is Still the Killer AppFocus on the right marketing channel

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Determine Your Goals

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• Brand Awareness

• Patient Acquisition/Volume

• Physician Engagement

• Event Promotion/Invitations

• Patient Satisfaction Surveys

Determine Your GoalsWhat do you want to accomplish with email?

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Approach to EmailWhat do you want to accomplish with email?

• Brand awareness / drive traffic to your website

• Patient acquisition / volume

• Lead generation / conversions

Mold your content and calls to action to achieve your goals

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• What is your goal?

• What tactics are you using to meet your goals?

Once you build a loyal audience, they will naturally seek you out first for health care.

Align Your Goals and Tactics

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Build a Healthy and Engaged Database

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• Put the sign-up form on your blog, website header, website menus, and content hub

• Create a unique newsletter

sign-up page

• Promote signing up for email on your social channels

Build a Healthy Subscriber DatabaseGrow your email list relentlessly

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• Tap into patient portal as an entry point to acquire opt-ins for further communications

• Collect emails on the phone when appointments are made, or in person when patients arrive for appointments

• Collect emails at conferences and events

Build a Healthy Subscriber DatabaseCollect emails from in-person touchpoints

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1/2/

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525000

30000

35000

40000

45000

50000

55000

60000

65000

Cleveland Clinic Be Well Subscriber Growth

Subscr

iber

Count

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• Access to a list of 800,000+ email addresses

• Verified validity of email addresses• Sent to ~710,000 email addresses over

10 day period• 19.27% open rate• 17.80% click rate

Take Advantage of Existing DatabasesTaking a look at Cleveland Clinic’s Opt-In Invitation to Be Well

Increased Subscribers by 10,350

25.75% growth in one month

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• Subject line needs to be compelling, short, and sweet• Limit to 40-70 characters• Use a call-to-action or question rather than simply stating the contents of

the email

• Must invoke curiosity, urgency, or excitement

• Set appropriate expectations for inside content

Capture Your Audience’s AttentionCreate eye-catching subject line

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• Pre-headers serve as a secondary subject line in many email clients

• How are companies using pre-headers?

• Provide an offer, coupon or CTA• Include content that does not fit in

subject line• Provides summary of email• Option to view online version of

email or forward to a friend

Capture Your Audience’s AttentionInclude a pre-header in your message

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• Select content that appeals to your audience - “what’s in it for me”

• Most content should be about them, not you

• Your best content is not always your newest

• Review stats each month to see what content is generating the most clicks. The results may surprise you.

Engage Your AudienceTalk with Your Audience, Not at Them

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Engage Your AudienceLeveraging email with social engagement

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Engage Your AudienceLeveraging email with social engagement

1,500 Cleveland Clinic subscribers have shared at least one article through a social channel.

Twitter is the most popular social sharing channel for Cleveland Clinic email.

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• If a user does not want to engage with your brand, they should be easily able to end communication

• Limits complaints/spam flags – protects deliverability

• Improves engagement performance metrics

• Follows CAN-SPAM Act regulations

Make it Easy to UnsubscribeAvoid complaints and protect your brand

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• Make sure recipients have opted in

• Follow CAN-SPAM Act

• Protect deliverability• Use list cleaning services to ensure addresses are valid• NEVER purchase lists

• Don’t get caught in spam filters

Ensure Your Emails Are Not Sent to SpamMake it into the inbox

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Create an Effective Design

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• Ensure template design renders properly across all major email providers and most popular devices

• Messages render differently across platforms and devices

• Ensure all links, personalization, and formatting are correct

Quality AssuranceQA across all devices and providers

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Outlook 2013 Outlook 2010

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• 66% of emails were opened on a smart phone or tablet*

• 80.3% delete an email if it doesn’t look good on their mobile device**

• 75% of consumers say a poorly-designed email negatively affects their perception of a brand**

Create a Mobile-Friendly/Responsive DesignThink mobile first

* Moveable Ink, US Consumer Device Preference Report Q4 2014, 2015**Blue Hornet, Responsive Design for Mobile Rendering, 2014

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• Responsive design results in a 15% increase in unique clicks for mobile users*

• The first link in responsive emails on mobile have a 30% higher click rate than non-responsive emails*

Create a Mobile-Friendly/Responsive DesignResponsive design increases engagement

* Litmus, The Science of Email Clicks: The Impact of Responsive Design & Inbox Testing, 2014

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Create a Mobile-Friendly/Responsive DesignCleveland Clinic – Continuing Medical Education Responsive Template

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• Limit text to short blurbs and teasers

• Use images appropriately – illustrate the message, don’t replace content

• Layout message so readers can quickly take in vital points

• Evolve layout and design

Create Crisp Copy and DesignDon’t overdo it

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• Links and CTAs are what drives clicks and traffic to your site

• Don’t make the reader search

• Use strong and provoking CTAs• Stay away from “click here” and “learn more”• The more action you describe, the more enticing the message is for the

audience

Links and CTAs Must be ObviousSpeak to emotions and feelings

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Everything is Testable

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• Send variations of your message to split segments of your distribution list• Use 50/50 split to track success over time• Use 10/10/80 split to choose a champion performer for a single campaign

Test, Test, Test!Optimize your campaigns with A/B Testing

• Test different subject lines, CTAs, and other content

• Test time of day and day of the week

• Test different layouts and design

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Best Practices: Test Your TemplatesTesting Be Well template design

54.67% CTR

56.75% CTR

60.50% CTR

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Best Practices: Test Your TemplatesAnalyzing the results

2012 AVERAGES

OPEN RATE: 29.24%

CLICK RATE: 44.56%

AVGS. SINCE

REDESIGN:

OPEN RATE: 35.41%

CLICK RATE: 52.76%

REDESIGN

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Spread Learning Across Your OrganizationShare what works

2013 AVERAGE

S

Open Rate: 28.14%

Click Rate: 43.61%

2014AVERAGE

S

Open Rate: 28.75%

Click Rate: 48.99%

REDESIGNREDESIGN

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Use Your Data for Long-Term Success

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WHAT DEFINES SUCCESS?

• Performance metrics – open and click to open rates

• Use unique tracking codes

• Compare your data to industry averages

Use Your Data for Long Term SuccessTrack and analyze your results

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Industry Benchmarks: Open Rates

 Industry Average Open Rate

Constant Contact Study¹ 24.87%

MailChimp Study² 23.08%

Silverpop Study³ 26.20%

Unique Opens

Messages Delivered

Open Rate

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1. Write engaging and effective subject lines.

2. Send at the best time and frequency based on your audience.

3. Avoid spam filters.

4. Send quality content.

5. Keep your list segmented and clean.

5 Tips for Improving Your Open Rates

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Industry Benchmarks: Click-to-Open Rates

 Industry Average Click-to-Open Rate

Constant Contact Study¹ 7.24%

MailChimp Study² 11.82%

Silverpop Study³ 16.70%

Unique Clicks

Unique Opens

Click to Open Rate

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1. Review your CTA. It may not be strong or clear enough.

2. Review your copy. It may be too long, burying your CTA.

3. Review the subject line. Did you set your contact’s expectation’s appropriately?

4. Create mobile-proof emails.

5. Experiment and test different layouts to see what increases engagement.

5 Tips for Improving Your Click-to-Open Rates

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Industry Benchmarks: Bounce Rates

 Industry Average Bounce Rate

Constant Contact Study¹ 12.21%

MailChimp Study² 1.66%

Silverpop Study³ 1.03%

Bounced Addresses

Messages Sent

Bounce Rate

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1. Use list cleaning services before importing bulk lists.

2. Routinely monitor deliverability.

3. Monitor your communication’s Reply Email Address.

4. Use instantly recognizable From Email Address.

5. Use spam checker tools.

5 Tips for Improving Your Bounce Rates & Deliverability

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Maintain Engagement

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Evolve Layout & MessagingKeep your subscribers engaged

Be Well Bonus has seen on average

33.46% open rate 48.44% click rate

since it debuted in June 2013!

EVOLVE LAYOUT AND MESSAGING

More Email Sends = More Traffic and

Engagement = More Subscribers = Better

Retention

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• Plan so your reader knows when to expect your message

• Send 1-2 messages a month

• Goal is for engagement, not fatigue

• Allow user to update preferences

Don’t Overwhelm Your SubscribersCreate a consistent schedule

Flagship Campai

gn

• Send first Tuesday of every month

Mid-Month

Campaign

• Send 3rd Tuesday of every month

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• Average inactivity for a list is 63%

• Can harm deliverability

• Negatively affects performance metrics

• Lost leads/traffic

Create a Smart Winback CampaignRe-engage inactive subscribers

63%

37%

Subscriber En-gagement

Inactive SubscribersActive Subscribers

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1. Segment Your List

2. Pick Your Metric

3. Determine Your “Unengaged”

Window

4. Plan Your Cadence

5. Change Up the Copy

Implementing a Winback Campaign

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Conclusion

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• Determine what you want to accomplish with email marketing

• Build a healthy database and keep the subscribers engaged

• Create an eye-popping, mobile-responsive design

• Test EVERYTHING!

• Use your data to improve performance and create long-term success

• Maintain engagement and win back inactive subscribers

Secrets to Powerful and Effective Email MarketingApply these tactics for long-term success

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Secrets to Powerful and Effective Email MarketingQuestions & Answers

Nick Hajdin

Email Marketing StrategistFathom Healthcare

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Appendix

Industry Averages Sources

1. Constant Contact Resource Center – FAQ. What are the average open, click-through,

and bounce rates of other Constant Contact customers in my industry?

http://support2.constantcontact.com/articles/FAQ/2499

2. MailChimp Research – Email Marketing Benchmarks. Average Email Campaign Stats

of MailChimp Customers by Industry

http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/

3. 2014 SilverPop Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study http://

www.silverpop.com/Documents/Whitepapers/2014/Email-Marketing-Metrics-Benchmark-Study-2014-Silverpop.pdf