How To Increase Patient Retention With Email
New patients are great. But patient retention is where the real growth happens. Email is the most cost-effective tool you have for keeping patients loyal and booking.
- Patient retention is a more cost-effective growth strategy than new patient acquisition.
- Email is the most cost-effective tool for keeping patients loyal and booking.
- Onboarding, behavior-based sends, segmentation, and re-engagement campaigns drive retention.
New patients are great. There's something undeniably exciting about attracting someone to your clinic who might not have found it otherwise. That's the reason that new patient marketing gets all the attention. It's the glitziest way to grow a dental clinic.
But guess what? It's not a very cost-effective way to grow a clinic, which is why it never ceases to amaze me that local clinics ignore patient retention as a growth strategy.
If you're wondering the best way to increase your patient retention, look no further. Email is the answer.
Onboard New Patients And Subscribers
Your plan to retain patients should kick off at the beginning of your relationship. The first email you send should be a welcome email. After you've welcomed a new patient you should consider getting them to engage with your clinic brand in another way.
Send Emails Based On Patients' Behavior
One of the best methods is to use a patient's behavior as a trigger for an email. For example, say a patient has just booked an appointment for one of your dental services. You may want to consider sending a confirmation email that suggests up-sell or cross-sell services to them.
Segment Your Emails To Increase Their Appeal
Segmented emails feel more relevant and personal. Common segments for dental practices include new patients, long-term patients, patients who are overdue for a check-up, and patients who have inquired about a specific service.
Re-Engage Lapsed Patients
Even your best patients can drift away. A re-engagement campaign – a series of emails designed to remind lapsed patients why they chose your practice – can win back a significant percentage of those patients at a fraction of the cost of acquiring a new one.
Ian Cantle
Founder & Chief Marketing Strategist
Ian Cantle has spent over 20 years helping independent dentists and orthodontists dominate their local markets, build strategy-first marketing systems, and increase practice valuation.
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