Email newsletters can be a powerful tool for dentists.  If your practice is like the majority of dental practices, it’s either not using a newsletter or it’s not using the newsletter effectively as the marketing tool that it is. 

Newsletters should be used to build your relationship with patients, educate them about dental hygiene and your practice, and offer them services that they might otherwise not know about.  Just as important, it gives you the ability to cost-effectively stay in touch with them.  Timing is everything and monthly email newsletter keep you in front of your patients.

Below are some of te benefits and tips to help create a more powerful marketing package.

1. Educate Your Patients and Cater the Newlsetter to Them
   All to often, practices create newsletters as a brag book.  They discuss awards or talk about practice happenings that are not relevant to the patient.  Patients will quickly start deleting your email if it does not interest them.  Write interesting, educational materials that will spark their interest.  Discuss the main causes of teeth discoloring or introduce gum sculpting as an easy option to completely transform a person.
2. Personalize Your Newsletter
   Most dental practices do not find the time to write email marketing campaigns and prefer to use cookie cutter templates and pre-written content.  While this method can still be effective, we encourage you to use some personality.  A monthly newsletter gives you the opportunity to bond with your patients and build a relationship.  Included personality and emotion can work wonders.
3. Make It Brief and Visually Appealing
   You will only have the patient’s attention for a couple minutes (if not a couple seconds.)  Make it visually appealing to attract them to read the newsletter and then keep it brief and interesting.
4. Send the Newsletter Often, But Not Too Often
   Timing is everything.  If a friend makes a comment on a patient’s teeth and he walks back to his desk to an email newsletter with a solution then he may pick up the phone.  However, if you send daily newsletters, then it won’t be long before you are considered an annoyance and patients send you to their spam box.  Once a month is just fine.
5. Promote Your Products and Services
   At the end of the day, you do want to use the email newsletter as a selling tool.  While you shouldn’t send patients a list of specials without content, you should offer monthly specials and promote services through patient education.  Discuss the top five things that cause teeth discoloring and in the same breath offer a solution and a special: “Quick in-office bleaching.  $100 off for the month of June.”
6. Include Your Contact Information and Make It Prominent
   Patients know how to eventually get a hold of you but they may not call or forward your information if they need to go find it.