Healthcare organizations should pay attention to several key email marketing metrics to ensure they can effectively communicate with patients, provide valuable information, and comply with HIPAA regulations.
Open rate
The open rate is the percentage of recipients who open your healthcare email. This metric provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of your email subject lines. A higher open rate indicates that more patients are engaging with your health-related content, a positive indicator of successful HIPAA compliant email marketing campaigns. According to DemandForce, “The average open rate for the healthcare industry is 21%.” Consider personalizing subject lines to make them more relevant to each patient's needs to optimize your open rate. Research on future directions in interactive marketing found that "personalization offers patients information tailored to their needs, increasing engagement and satisfaction.". When using HIPAA compliant email marketing platforms like Paubox, you can personalize emails without worrying about compromising patient privacy as every email is fully encrypted. Crafting subject lines that evoke curiosity or urgency can encourage patients to open your emails.
Related: Why personalized subject lines increase open rates
Click-through rate (CTR)
The click-through rate measures the percentage of recipients who click on links within your healthcare email after opening the email. This metric helps assess the effectiveness of your email content and calls to action (CTAs). A higher CTR shows that patients are opening your emails and actively engaging with the information provided.
Ensure your email content is concise, informative, and visually appealing to boost CTR. Highlight action items, such as appointment scheduling or health program registration clearly, and include compelling CTAs that prompt patients to take the desired actions.
Conversion rate
This is the percentage of email recipients who successfully complete a desired action, such as booking appointments, downloading healthcare resources, or enrolling in wellness programs. This metric is a direct indicator of patient engagement and the ultimate success of your healthcare email campaigns.
Streamline the conversion process within your emails to optimize conversion rates. Make it as effortless as possible for patients to take action by providing clear instructions and minimizing any unnecessary steps. Additionally, consider segmenting your email list to tailor content and CTAs to specific patient groups, increasing the likelihood of conversions. Segmentation can be a powerful starting point for healthcare marketing because it lets organizations easily cater to different patient groups. A recent statistic states that 80% of organizations that use market segmentation reported increased sales.
Related: Email marketing segmentation strategies in healthcare
Unsubscribe rate
The unsubscribe rate reflects the percentage of patients who opt out of your healthcare email list. A high unsubscribe rate can hinder effective patient communication.
Balance email frequency and relevance to minimize unsubscribe rates. Ensure that your email content remains valuable and addresses patients' needs. Offering options for patients to adjust email preferences, such as frequency or content type, can also help retain subscribers while respecting their preferences.
Bounce rate
The bounce rate indicates the percentage of healthcare emails that couldn't be delivered to recipients' inboxes. High bounce rates can negatively impact your email deliverability.
There are two types of bounces to be aware of - hard bounces and soft bounces. Hard bounces are permanent delivery failures, often caused by invalid email addresses. Soft bounces are temporary issues, such as full inboxes. Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid addresses and monitor soft bounces to identify recurring problems that need attention.
Related: Solving email delivery and bouncebacks
Spam complaint rate
This measures the percentage of patients who mark your healthcare emails as spam. High spam complaint rates can tarnish your sender reputation and disrupt the delivery of essential healthcare information.
To maintain a low spam complaint rate, ensure that patients explicitly opt into your email communications. Provide an easy way for patients to unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive emails.
List growth rate
The list growth rate tracks how quickly your healthcare email subscriber list is expanding. Steady growth with engaged recipients helps extend your reach and ensure the effectiveness of patient communication.
Implement strategies such as offering incentives for patients to subscribe, like access to exclusive healthcare content or discounts on services to promote list growth.
Email engagement over time
According to Access, “Measuring patient engagement is done through a variety of methods. Patient engagement metrics include:
- Surveys
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
- Data analysis
These patient engagement types are applied to the patient experience and patient feedback, but also the performance of emails sent out to patients… and the overall activity of a patient within the healthcare system.”. Monitoring this helps healthcare organizations adapt their email content and strategies to changing patient preferences and behaviors. Understanding how patient engagement evolves can provide insights into the relevance of your communications. Regularly analyze engagement data to identify trends and patterns.
Device and email client metrics
Optimizing emails for various devices and email clients ensures patients can access healthcare information seamlessly, regardless of their chosen platform.
Ensure your healthcare emails are responsive and adapt to different screen sizes and orientations. Test your emails across various devices and email clients to guarantee a user-friendly patient experience.
FAQs
How can healthcare organizations optimize email subject lines to boost open rates?
Healthcare organizations can A/B test different subject lines, using variations of urgency, personalization, and value propositions, to find the most effective strategies for increasing open rates.
What role does email frequency play in reducing unsubscribe rates?
Email frequency should be balanced by analyzing engagement data to avoid overwhelming patients while maintaining consistent communication that aligns with their preferences.
How can email marketing help healthcare organizations measure patient satisfaction?
Healthcare organizations can incorporate patient satisfaction surveys directly into email campaigns, gathering valuable feedback on services and improving content relevance for future communications.
Liyanda Tembani
