APMA News - May 2012 - (Page 70)

Technoﬁle By Jennifer Swafford Senior Director, Vertex Communication Group E-mail Marketing Advice Editor’s Note: We recently have received many questions about email marketing. Sending e-mail messages to current patients, potential patients, and even other health-care professionals can be an excellent way to get the word out about your practice. As with all powerful promotional tools, however, there are a few caveats. We invited Jennifer Swafford, senior director of Vertex Communication Group, an e-mail marketing services provider in Frederick, MD, to share her best advice for a winning e-mail strategy. E-mail marketing can be a bit daunting when you have so many other aspects of your practice to manage. Here are a few tips, recommendations, and requirements you should be aware of when sending e-mails to your patients and other contacts. First and foremost, there are laws governing e-mail marketing messages. The CAN-SPAM Act sets the rules for commercial e-mail, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to opt out of messages, and spells out tough penalties for violations (visit http://business. ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guidebusiness to learn more). If you are using a reputable e-mail vendor or self-service product, you are likely in good hands, but it’s important to understand the law to be sure. The good news is that if you’re being courteous and using marketing best practices, you should never run into any issues. Once you understand the laws, set up an e-mail sign-up widget on your practice website and social media pages, and collect e-mail addresses at your ofﬁce. These strategies are the best ways to grow your e-mail lists. Under the CAN-SPAM Act, you are allowed to send messages to your existing customers or clients, but as a precaution, we always suggest sending a double opt-in message to anyone who signs up to receive e-mail. A double opt-in email is an automated message that asks the recipient to take action, in the form of clicking on a link, to conﬁrm that he or she would like to receive e-mail messages from your practice. Let your patients and other recipients know what they will be receiving from your practice (daily tips, weekly newsletters, appointment reminders, etc.). Then, as required by law, give them the option to easily opt out of every e-mail you send. When creating content for your e-mails, keep it simple. While beautifully designed graphic e-mails are nice, they can become extremely time-consuming. A nice graphic header and/or footer is the best route and will let you focus on the message content. The header information, “from” name, and “from” e-mail address must be valid and should be consistent. Consistency allows your customers to easily recognize who is sending the message. Your subject line should clearly reﬂect the content of the message and avoid any spam-prone phrases such as “10% OFF” or “FREE.” These phrases practically guarantee your message will get caught in spam ﬁlters. Finally, when sending bulk e-mail messages, we truly believe it is better to not re-create the wheel. There are many email marketing tools that are excellent. Ask your fellow physicians about systems they like. Cheaper is not always better, so make sure to review multiple tools and compare them on more than price. If no one is there to answer the phone when you need your e-mail to go out, the system is worthless! ■ A compliment? A response? A question? Have a gripe? Share it with us! APMA News accepts letters to the editor. If you have something to say and would like your letter to be considered for publication, contact Peggy Tresky at pstresky@apma.org. For more information, contact Jennifer Swafford at jswafford@vertexcommunication.com. 70 APMA News May 2012 http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - May 2012

APMA News - May 2012
President’s Message
Contents
92nd House of Delegates: Advancing Education and the Profession
Special Section: APMA Educational Foundation
Being a Residency Director: What’s in it for You?
DPM versus MD: Letters to the Editor
JCRSB Update: May 2012
ACO Update: Are Commercial ACOs Getting a Leg Up on their Medicare Brethren?
APMA By the Decade: 1952–1961
Profiles in Progress: Medical Staff Leadership
2011 Podiatric Practice Survey: Determination of Income/Salary for Employed Professionals
Master Your Practice at the National
Annual Scientific Meeting Preliminary Program
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
Reimbursement
Federal Advocacy Forum
APMAPAC Chair Report
IT Consultant
Website Wisdom
Technofile
Small Business 101
Awards Nominations
APMA All Stars
In Short
Worthy of Note
Affiliates Corner
New Members
Death Notices
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions
Your APMA

APMA News - May 2012