Creating the Perfect Orthodontic Marketing Email

Successful marketing for any small business in today’s world, or any company for that matter, relies on messaging that feels relatable, conversational, and trustworthy. With so many marketing channels getting flooded with content, especially social media, email marketing is starting to increase in importance in the digital sphere. Email presents a fantastic opportunity for effective lead conversion with the right strategies, and it all comes down to what goes into your orthodontic marketing emails. Here are some essential ingredients to create an ideal email for your potential patients.

Create an Attention-Grabbing Subject Line

The first trick to effectively using email for orthodontic marketing is getting people to click. This is often the most difficult achievement in email marketing, so it’s worth taking the extra time to create a good subject line. There are several strategies that are known to boost your click rates. FOMO, or, the fear of missing out, is a reliable strategy for gaining more clicks. Subject lines like “Don’t miss out” create a sense of urgency that will earn a click.

Tapping into curiosity is also important. If your office offers free assessments with a digital scanner, a subject line like “See what your perfect smile looks like” could be an effective subject line to get patients in the door. Of course, your approach should also be personal, with emails sent to people on a segmented list with subject lines to match. Subject lines that are around seven words or 41 characters have been found to work the best, so try to keep them at the appropriate length.   

Get the Preview Text Right

After reading the subject line, the recipient may still not be convinced to open your email, but your preview text could compel them to see what comes next. There should be a decent amount of space after the subject line where the reader can see the first several words that start the email. Because of this, you should also make sure your email content starts out very strong. For example, if your email is about payment options, a good start to the first sentence could read, “We have the payment plan for your budget…” Nail this first line, and you’ll see your click rates soar.

Keep Your Content Relevant

Your email addresses should be segmented into lists based on how the leads were obtained and what services they have expressed an interest in. The actual email content should reflect this through subject lines and content you know is relevant to that particular reader. You should also create marketing emails that fit the season, such as promotions for Mascot Braces in August before college football starts, or emails about why it makes sense for kids to get braces in the summer that you send a month before school lets out.

Make Your Content Conversational and Organized

The number one thing to avoid when creating email content is writing that feels spammy. Readers are readily prepared to delete at the first sign of spam, so content that feels conversational is essential. Framing subheaders as questions or using the second-person voice can go a long way in making your emails go from feeling mass-produced to feeling personal and targeted.

It’s also important to make everything highly readable and easy to follow using subheaders, bullet points, and concise paragraphs.

Include Links with Compelling CTAs

Sending a nice email potential patients enjoy reading is certainly a win, but your emails should also have a goal in mind. Are you trying to get more followers on social media? Are you trying to get more people through the door? Your email subjects and content should send this message and be capped off with links to corresponding calls to action (CTAs).

In general, your emails should be limited to two CTAs at most to avoid looking spammy or feeling overwhelming the reader. CTAs should be concise and direct and are very effective when included on buttons that correspond to the links you want readers to follow. Simple directives like “Schedule Your Appointment” or “Browse Treatments” will get you clicks and earn new patients for your practice. 

When done correctly, emails are an affordable, effective way to stay in touch with potential new patients and keep you top of mind.