Medical Industry Email Best Practices

Delivered August 24th, 2019. Contributors: Victor E., Eugene O., adeola and

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Medical Industry Email Best Practices Part 1

Email best practices in the B2B medical industry in the area of subject line involves being short and straight-to-the-point, as most medical practitioners are usually very busy. Unfortunately, there are no examples of B2B medical industry event email campaigns in the public domain; however, the research examined two significant B2B event email subject lines as a proxy for the required information. The needed information and screenshots of emails are in slides 2-3 of this attached Google Presentation.
B2B MEDICAL INDUSTRY EMAIL SUBJECT LINESAccording to Kuno Creative, subject line best practice for emails in the B2B medical industry is to be short and straight-to-the-point. The report observed that medical practitioners are "notoriously busy and difficult-to-reach," which demands that subject lines intended for them should immediately communicate the value they would get by opening the email. 
In the report by Kuno Creative, an example of successful email in the B2B medical industry by a medical device manufacturer had the subject line, "The Top Cardiothoracic Surgeons of 2017." As per Kuno Creative's report, this subject line was straight to the point, short, less than 50 characters. 
Also, the email subject line quickly communicated to recipients, who were cardiothoracic surgeons, that its content listed the best people in their practice, thereby increasing curiosity and click-through-rates. This email got 50.7% open rate and a 40.4% click-through rate, respectively, according to Kuno Creative's report. 
The required details and screenshots are in slides 2-3 of this attached Google Presentation. 
HELPFUL FINDINGS FOR EMAIL SUBJECT LINES REVEVANT TO B2B MEDICAL EVENTSAccording to HubSpot, all B2B email types need subject lines that are informative and compelling to pique the interest of its recipients and as much as possible. Also, it should be personalized for a specific audience. 
Among Really Good Emails list of successful B2B event email campaigns is one by Content2Convert with the subject line, "#C2C16 Helps Drive Demand For A TOUCHDOWN!" The company included a tag of the event promoted and a pain point that was relevant to recipients in the subject line, which helped to promote the event and highlight what recipients would gain by attending the event. 
Another successful B2B event email listed by Really Good Emails from Google had the subject line, "Registration is now open for Next ’19." This subject line suggests that B2B event emails could concentrate on announcing the event it was promoting in its subject line. 
According to Kuno Creative, it is difficult to reach medical practitioners due to their tight work schedules; hence, to gain their attention, a B2B email subject line should play to their interests irrespective of what it is promoting.
RESEARCH STRATEGY:To identify examples of email best practices in the B2B medical industry relevant to subject lines and B2B subject lines specific to events, we investigated directories of trusted marketing and email marketing solution providers in search of information apropos of the request. Domains we researched include HubSpot, Campaign Monitor, and others. This investigation produced a report by Kuno Creative highlighting an example of a successful B2B medical industry email, having a subject line with best-practice attributes. Also, the report by Kuno Creative showed metrics revealing how the subject line of this email led to the success of the email campaign. Therefore, we used this example for an excellent B2B email in the medical industry with a good subject line. Unfortunately, there no report in the public domain with examples of B2B event emails in the medical industry. 

Next, we investigated the Really Good Emails platform, which is a directory of successful email campaigns. Again, there were no examples of event emails specific to B2B medical industry. As a third strategy, we researched the websites of medical and healthcare companies, hoping to find information apropos of events hosted by them. We took this approach, trying to identify the subject lines of email campaigns they used to promote their events. Companies we researched include Aetna, John & Johnson, Cardinal Health, and others. Although this investigation produced reports of events hosted by these companies, there was no report in the public domain with insights into the email campaigns they used to promote such events. 

Hence, due to the lack of information specific to B2B subject lines of emails for medical events, we expanded the research the investigation to B2B event email subject lines, as a proxy for the required information. For this, we looked at successful email subject lines used to promote events in the B2B space in Really Good Emails' platform and provided highlights of them in this report. 

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Medical Industry Email Best Practices Part 2

Some of the email best practices in segmented lists include email personalization which creates a more personal feel for patients since it provides more reliable and educative content for the lists; it also demonstrates an understanding of consumer-specific interests and preferences. Moreover, building trust and confidence with patients ensures positive and long-lasting engagement with medical providers. The requested details, including screenshots, have been added to the attached presentation in slides 3 and 4. 
Best Practices in Segmented ListAccording to a report by Physicians Practice, personalization of emails can receive 27% higher click rates and 11% higher open rates than non-personalized emails. In the healthcare industry, the email marketing strategy can be segmented into a list of customers according to gender or age, thereby, sending content to the relevant audience.  
According to MediaPost, providing reliable content in emails for each distinct segment ensures the relevancy of information required for each of the target audiences. For instance, diagnosed patients vs. undiagnosed patients would require reliable and distinct content for each of the two groups.  
A MediaPost report, however, cautions that segmenting the list into dozens of sub-groups is more prone to configuration errors and misfires. Therefore, the target audience must be enrolled in these lists to organically form their sub-segments based on their real-time behavior and preferences.  
According to a Margin Media report, knowing consumer data, specific target interests, and preferences would result in making the content more dynamic and personalized; thereby, assisting medical professionals in building stronger relationships with their audience.  
Campaign Monitor reports that by segmenting the lists into smaller groups, the healthcare industry is likely to get nearly 15% more opens and 60% more clicks than the unsegmented target audience. This is attributed to the fact that the target audience in smaller groups enjoy a more personal feel with increased confidence and trust in the emails they receive.  
As per Margin Media's report, creating email segments with relevant and educative content is a best practice for emails in the medical industry. Margin Media noted that medical emails should strive to earn patients' trust by prioritizing useful, helpful, and benefit-driven content, this is easily achieved by segmentation.  
As per LyfeMarketing's report, engaging patients and keeping them up to date is one of the best benefits that comes with segmentation. The healthcare industry can build trust with potential patients as well as current customers. By providing valuable information about patient health in these lists, there is a promise of positive and long-lasting patient relationships.  
Research Strategy:To identify examples of email best practices within the medical industry relevant to the segment list, we investigated the directories of trusted marketing and email marketing solution providers in search of information on best practices as they relate to email segmentation lists in the medical industry. Some of the domains we researched include MDG Marketing Lyfemarketing, and MediaPost, among others. This investigation produced reports highlighting detailed information on the best practices for emails in the medical industry and provides examples of excellent emails with attributes to segmented lists and tailored emails to the segmented audiences. From this research, we examined specific reports where we obtained best practices for segmented lists and investigated examples of emails relevant to this topic. To further consolidate our search on segmented lists best practices, we searched Margin Media and Campaign Monitor reports to find some of the best practices that have been put in place to ensure success in segmented lists. These reports indicated personalization of emails and providing reliable email content are some of the best practices in the medical fraternity.

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Medical Industry Email Best Practices Part 3

Some of the best practices that can be employed by the medical industry include identifying key variables to be tested, customizing information for the target audience (for example, patients may be looking for specific information on diseases, while others would need information on treatment). Having suitable designs for the tests with color, content, and numerous attractive images could be appealing to ensure effective A/B email testing. Moreover, ensuring a good email headline would ensure success in A/B testing thereby improving open and clickthrough rates.

 A/B TESTING BEST PRACTICESAccording to a MediaPost report, some factors that dictate best practices for A/B general emails testing include identifying key variables to be tested and the need to isolate some certain variables in order to know what exactly influences the results. Also, test results should be large enough to gauge results and test populations should be randomized for effective A/B testing of general emails.
For effective results, A/B testing of general emails in the healthcare industry can also be applied to the types of information sent to patient groups. For instance, some individuals could be specifically be looking for information sought basic disease information whereas others could be seeking information about treatment thereby forming the basis of an education campaign sent to opt-in subscribers.
Medical industries have formulated suitable test designs to ensure successful A/B testings of general or segmented emails. By doing this, the tests are designed to cover different information, such as adding the content from email subject lines into the body of the email.
According to a True North Custom report, one of the best practices ensuring successful A/B email testing is by having two different distinct email subject lines. Normally, one of the subject lines would be more captivating, thereby increasing open and clickthrough rates.
The Webfx report clearly indicates that by testing numerous email elements, such as the number of images or the inclusion of links or different headings, then there is a significant chance that the emails sent have the best open rate possible. 
According to a Targeting Media Mag report, successful and best practices for email testing should be attributed to overcoming challenges such as knowing what to test, running valid results, and interpreting the results in the correct way possible. Overcoming these challenges would result in impressive A/B testings results. For example, a healthcare marketing test that produced 638% more leads when these measures were put in place.
To ensure the most effective email practices for A/B email tests, an Evergage report indicates that target testing should be tailored in the tests to optimize new visitor experiences whereas the A/B test customized algorithms should be tested in order to figure out which is most effective.

RESEARCH STRATEGYTo identify examples of the best email practices in A/B email testing in the medical industry, we investigated directories of trusted marketing and email marketing solution providers. 


We began our research by searching for relevant reports. These reports provided information on general email marketing metrics, but there were no specific articles or reports on A/B email testings. However, this investigation produced a report which highlights an example of a successful A/B medical industry emails, including information on best practices for subject lines. The report indicated having two distinct subject lines for the different tests (A and B), producing significantly different results. We also got some interesting information from a report highlighting some of the best practices ensuring success in A/B testing in general emails. The report indicated suitable tests designs, formulated with color and content which would ensure success in A/B testing. Also, the report indicated that the formulation of relevant hypotheses would be key to ensuring success in email testing. This report gave an example of how A/B email testing can be successful in the medical industry by producing different click and through rates. 

Next, we searched through research platforms and statistics databases to identify reports on the best email practices in A/B email testing in the medical industry. The majority of the information identified was general information related to A/B Email testing. We could not identify the required information through this strategy. 

Lastly, we investigated the platforms from which we gathered reports which gave additional best practices ensuring successful email campaigns. These reports indicated the need to have a target audience for the emails as well as including appealing content in the emails to attract more visitors.

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Medical Industry Email Best Practices Part 4

Email call-to-action best practices in the medical industry involve using attention-grabbing subject lines that are straight-to-the-point. In the content, the email copy should be benefit-driven with relevant graphics and outstanding call-to-action buttons, according to reports and examples provided by Really Good Email, Campaign Monitor, Margin Media, and MDG Marketing. The research team provided the required details in slides 8 and 9 of this attached Google Presentation. 
MEDICAL INDUSTRY CALL-TO-ACTION EMAIL BEST PRACTICESAccording to Campaign Monitor, medical emails should have "attention-grabbing subject line" as a call-to-action best practice. The report observed that people receive about 121 emails per day on average, and as such, an email subject line must be compelling to stand out from people's already-crowded inboxes with a call-to-action in the subject that gets them to click. 
In a successful medical industry email campaign by Elysium titled, "Our biggest sale ever (plus a new research initiative)," the company included a call-to-action in the subject line that prompted recipients to check out their biggest sale and new research project. 
As per Margin Media's report, creating emails with relevant and educative content is a best practice for emails in the medical industry. Margin Media noted that medical emails should strive to earn patients' trust by prioritizing useful, helpful, and benefit-driven contents, which are things that would make readers consider clicking on included call-to-action buttons. 
Also, Margin Media's report noted that in the medical industry, creating email contents with the right copywriting skills is an essential best practice for creating engaging emails, as such engagements by recipients are what moves them to click on call-to-action buttons. 
Regarding best practices for calls-to-action in emails, a report by MDG Marketing observed that excellent emails in the medical industry give a subscriber something to do by including compelling call-to-action buttons. As per the report, including a visible call-to-action increases email engagement and helps to segment subscribers based on the actions they take. 
The research provided screenshots of examples of good emails with the best practices reported by Campaign Monitor, Really Good Emails, MDG Marketing, and Margin Media, in slide 9 of this attached Google Presentation. 
RESEARCH STRATEGY:To identify examples of email best practices within the medical industry relevant to call to action in either email subject or email content, we investigated the directories of trusted marketing and email marketing solution providers in search of information apropos of this request. Domains we researched include Really Good Emails, Campaign Monitor, MDG Marketing, and others. This investigation produced reports highlighting the best practices for emails in the medical industry and provided examples of excellent emails with attributes of call-to-action best practices. From here, the research team examined these reports specific to call to action in either email subject or email content and investigated examples of emails relevant to this request. 

As per our observation, the same emails mentioned by Campaign Monitor and Margin Media were the same ones listed by Really Good Emails as excellent emails in the medical industry with calls-to-action in either email subject or email content. Based on this (being mentioned in 2-3 reports), we took it that these emails met the criteria for best practices of emails in the medical industry and provided screenshots of these emails in this report.  

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Medical Industry Email Best Practices Part 5

Detailed research could not uncover direct information on the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. Below is an overview of our findings and the research strategies utilized. 

HELPFUL FINDINGS  Medical professionals work schedules differ from one another which make it difficult for marketers to reach them accordingly. 
According to Rosemont Media, weekdays are the most common for sending emails to medical professionals, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday garnering the most traffic. 
According to MailChimp, 10 am is the peak time the majority of people check their emails. 
 HubSpot’s data reported that the peak time people open their emails is 11 am EST.
A report revealed that some people usually check their emails between 1 pm to 5 pm, as the busy first half of the day has ended. 
Another report also revealed that the best time to send emails to health care professionals is 7 pm. 
According to Campaign Monitor, the most popular time people check their emails is 10 am. 
It was also added that 9 am to 11 am is the best time to send emails. 
Campaign Monitor reported that 53% of emails are opened during the workday between 9 am to 5 pm.
A report also revealed that some people open and click their emails at midnight (8 pm) before going to bed.

RESEARCH STRATEGYTo address the research request, our initial was to search through press releases, news outlets, and marketing lead resources such as PRNewswire, Newswire, CoSchedule, OptinMonster, among others to identify various lists of email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. Here, the majority of the information identified was general information regarding the best time of the day to email based on reports across various industries, occupations, and individual responses. We could not identify the required information through this strategy. 

Next, we searched through various health reports on sites such as HealthLink Dimensions, Healthcare Data Solutions, Medical Marketing Service, Constant Contact, among others to identify lists of email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. Here, we were able to identify general information related to the best time of the day to send emails to some health care professionals. We could not identify sufficient information on the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email through this approach. 

Next, we searched through research platforms and statistics databases such as Euromonitor, Statista, among others to identify reports on the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. Here, the majority of the information identified was general information regarding the best time of the day to send emails. We could not identify the required information through this strategy. 

Finally, we expanded the scope of our search beyond two years to uncover sufficient information on the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. Here, we were able to identify information regarding the best time of the day to email neonatal nurses and other professionals, with peak time at 10 am. We could not identify sufficient information on the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email through this approach. 

After an extensive search through various databases, we could not identify sufficient information regarding the email best practices in the medical industry regarding the best time of the day to email. This could be as a result of the lack of publication of such information on public data. 

Additional information regarding the research request can be accessed here. 

Sources

From Part 01

From Part 02

8 Ways to Improve Healthcare Email Marketing

physicianspractice.com

Publication Year: 2017

Quotes

"Rather than using people's names, you can segment the email marketing list of customers according to gender or age. This segregation will help send content to the relevant audience. For instance, a campaign launched for women's health should only be sent to women."

4 Best Practices For Healthcare Email Drip Campaigns

mediapost.com

Publication Year: 2017

Quotes

"Think of high-level segments to start with (three is a good number) so that your team can create content that is relevant to each. There are some segments that must be distinct; for example, diagnosed patients vs. undiagnosed. However, a list that is segmented by you into dozens of sub-groups is more prone to configuration errors and misfires, not to mention the added administrative hassles when you want to update your campaign. The idea is to allow your enrollees to organically form their own sub-segments based on real-time behavior and preferences. Watch the data, and you will see new and different segments emerge, then go back to your team and ask whether the results warrant the formation of a new high-level segment."

Email Marketing Best Practices in the Medical and Healthcare Industry

blog.marginmedia.com.au

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Audience segmentation lets you send content according to your subscribers’ specific preferences, thus making the content more dynamic and personalized. Providing dynamic content is good because it helps you build stronger relationships with your audience"

Top 5 Email MarketingTips for Doctors and Medical Professionals

campaignmonitor.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"By segmenting emails—or breaking your subscriber list into smaller segments—you’re likely to get nearly 15% more opens and 60% more clicks than if you don’t segment your campaigns. Why is this?"

6 Best Healthcare Marketing Strategy Ideas for Your Practice

lyfemarketing.com

Publication Year: 2018

Quotes

"Speaking of engaging patients…email marketing is one of the best ways that you can keep your patients engaged and stay at the top of their minds. Email is an excellent digital marketing channel for sending informative newsletters, industry news, appointment reminders, and more."

Medical Industry Email Best Practices

docs.google.com

Publication Year: 2019

From Part 03

The ABCs Of A/B Testing In Healthcare Marketing

mediapost.com

Publication Year: 2017

Children’s Hospital Improves Email Program with A/B Testing

truenorthcustom.com

Publication Year: 2017

Quotes

"The results of the A/B testing were impressive. Subject line B had a significant increase in click-thru rates. In the case of the children’s hospital, the more detailed headline provided significantly higher click-thru rate for the “Keep Your Child Safe When Flying” and “Dental Health Starts Early”—both articles that were teased in the subject line. "

Email Marketing for Hospitals & Healthcare

webfx.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"You could A/B test numerous email elements, such as number of images, inclusion of links or different headings. Then, you can ensure that all of your emails have the best open rate possible."

The Top 3 A/B Testing Challenges That Prevent Marketers From Getting Big Lifts

targetmarketingmag.com

Publication Year: 2018

The Evolution of A/B Testing in a 1-to-1 World | Evergage

evergage.com

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"With the right solution, business users can apply rules that enable A/B and multivariate testing of experiences for user-defined segments of visitors. Referring back to the demand generation example above, instead of testing the hero banners to find which version produces the best results for the majority of visitors, companies can test to determine, among other things, which hero experience works best for visitors from specific industries (e.g., retail, financial services, healthcare), "

Medical Industry Email Best Practices

docs.google.com

Publication Year: 2019

From Part 04

Last Chance: Celebrate Our New Research with Two Months of Free Basis | Really Good Emails

reallygoodemails.com

Publication Year: 2019

Top 5 Email MarketingTips for Doctors and Medical Professionals

campaignmonitor.com

Publication Year: 2019

Our biggest sale ever (plus a new research initiative) | Really Good Emails

reallygoodemails.com

Publication Year: 2018

Email Marketing Best Practices in the Medical and Healthcare Industry

blog.marginmedia.com.au

Publication Year: 2019

Quotes

"Check out this mobile-optimized email from iFit Nourish. The subject line is clear, the copy is on-point, plus they integrated a GIF to make it more appealing."