How to make your clients feel loved with email marketing

Over the last decade, digital marketing has evolved and as more businesses and organisations have started to recognise its value, there is a range of strategies and techniques that can help one company gain and maintain an edge over some of their closest competitors.

Now, brands and businesses across every industry implement particular, well-considered strategies to ensure their marketing emails make a positive impact and engage the right people at the right times. For veterinary practices, it is particularly important that your clients feel both appreciated and special, and email marketing can be an excellent tool to showcase how much you value them.

Delve into your data

From basic age and gender demographics to the pets that are part of their family, you likely hold a considerable amount of data about your client base. Additionally, there are a variety of ways your practice could choose to obtain more data (always through opt-ins, of course!), including forms integrated into your website and surveys. This data will be incredibly useful when developing your email strategy, as it will tell you which parts of your business to market, who you should be targeting, and how to connect with them in meaningful ways.

Research shows that targeted email personalisation can increase client engagement by 74% [1]. Additionally, personalised email communications can drive 20% more conversions [2] and have a significant impact on your click-through rate (CTR).

So, if you’re wondering how you can integrate a personalised element to your email marketing strategy, here are a few techniques you can use to make your clients feel loved.

Call them by their name

Seeing our names – or our pet’s names – in print or text is a guaranteed way to capture our attention. So, including your clients’/their pet’s names in email subject lines is an excellent way to engage them and make them feel as though you are talking directly to them. It is also important to use the names of your clients again in the opening greetings of your email messaging and, where possible, use the pet’s name in the body of the email, particularly because this can heighten engagement and increase trust. Don’t overuse names, however, as this can come across as overly ‘salesy’.

Identify points of connection

From major holidays to your client’s pets’ birthdays, there are a variety of occasions throughout the year that you can showcase how much you care about them. You could choose to send them a simple message wishing them well or include a unique special offer or discount code if appropriate to make them feel extra special.

Your clients want to receive emails that are relevant to them and their pets; sending out generic emails that the client gets very little value out of will only lead to unsubscribes.

The value of anniversary emails

Anniversary emails have a unique ability to immediately trigger an emotional response and deepen the relationship your clients have with your brand. Sending a simple email thanking your clients for choosing your practice will keenly illustrate that you value their continued custom and will make them feel special, largely because this is an email you don’t need to send but is one you are actively choosing to.

You can also opt to add a shareable element to this type of email, but to avoid conveying an overly promotional message it is important not to overshadow the genuine motivation behind the email.

Are you getting the most out of your email marketing? Contact us for advice if you’re not sure – we’re always here to help!

[1] https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-realities-of-online-personalisation-report

[2] http://www.monetate.com/blog/the-tipping-point-for-personalized-website-experiences/