Does your practice have a high unsubscribe rate? Do you even know how many clients open your emails?
We have all been on the tail end of an email that bombards your inbox. No one likes receiving information that isn't relevant to their needs or desires. This is why targeting marketing is vital to practice success. According to Jupiter Research, “Customer segmentation conversion rates (whether via direct mail or email) improve 355%, leading to increased revenues of up to 781%, if you segment based on customer data such as customer spend, brand interaction, and customer life cycle management.”
If I owned a senior black cat, I would not be interested in receiving emails every week about Goldendoodles or parakeets. If the information does not relate to my pet or appointment information, then there's a strong likelihood that I would not like to be part of the email list. If a client unsubscribes to your email list, chances are slim to none that they will resubscribe, thus missing appointments, refills, and promotions. According to Rightnow's Customer Experience Impact Report, 89% of customers say they’ve stopped doing business with a company after one poor experience. Don’t let poor email marketing be a reason that 89% of your clients stop coming to your practice.
One size does not fit all when communicating with your clients. Think about it, why would a lab owner care about senior cat care? Receiving mass, unrelated emails reduces clients' interest in your practice. Even worse than mass emails would be no emails at all.
Email is still key to communicating with clients if done correctly. Mass emails may have worked a decade ago when your inbox consisted of 10 emails daily, but now clients are receiving hundreds of emails daily. With years of progress in technology, your clients expect and deserve more from your practice. Your email will likely head to the trash bin if the message doesn't pertain to them. Targeted marketing allows practices to narrow the search criteria and send specific information to their clients. The black cat owner would only receive information about cats, black cats, or senior cats. This increases client compliance and click-through rates on emails.
Targeted marketing also has the ability to increase appointments and the overall health of pets by educating pet parents on signs, symptoms, and overall education of their pet’s age/breed. If I receive an email informing me that cats over the age of 10 often develop symptoms of arthritis, I will know what to look for. If I notice my cat doesn’t jump as high as she once did AND isn’t making it to the upstairs litter box, I can infer that she might have arthritis and take her to the vet.
