Why text marketing is essential for clinics

Emily MacDowallBlog, Business, Software

e-clinic 2 makes it simple to create targeted campaigns

SMS text marketing is one of the most powerful tools available to any clinic. e-clinic 2 makes it simple to create carefully targeted text campaigns which, as our case study shows, can be extremely effective.

One of the first rules of marketing is to think like your audience and understand where they are looking. Whatever your product or service is, you need to ensure it is visible wherever your customers go. The average person checks their phone every 12 minutes, and 90% of text messages are opened and read within the first 3 minutes of receiving them. Mobile phone ownership is over 95% world-wide.

With this information in mind, it’s obvious that text marketing should be an important element of any clinic’s marketing and communications strategy.

Whether you’re launching a new treatment, encouraging dormant patients to rebook, or simply trying to fill gaps in a diary at short notice, e-clinic 2 makes it simple to select patients and send them a message.

Below, we look at some more of the key advantages of SMS text messaging as a marketing tool for clinics. At the end of this article, you can see an infographic we’ve created showing the actual income generated by one of our customers, a multi-site clinic. They ran a targeted text campaign for one month, sending over 50,000 texts to dormant clients. As a result of receiving a text, 12.7% rebooked, generating over £2 million of revenue.

Key benefits of SMS text messaging

Immediate: no need for designs to be mocked up or mail campaigns to be printed, just decide what your message is and get it out. Sending a bulk SMS to a group of patients takes no longer than sending a text on your own phone. So, not only will you free up admin time, but with over 90% of messages read within 3 minutes of being received, you should see immediate results.

Popular with patients: Most people send and receive text messages on a daily basis and are used to getting information in this way. SMS is a simple and accessible way of engaging with patients, and with an open rate of 98%, it beats other methods of communication hands down.

Eco-friendly: if your clinic is trying to be more green, texts are the way to go. Unlike flyers, leaflets and letters, a text has almost no carbon footprint, and there’s no wasted resources for landfill.

Personal: We’re all familiar with junk mail and spam, and most people’s inboxes are swamped. If your patients have opted in to SMS text messaging from your clinic, it means they are happy to interact with you and you can be confident your message won’t be lost or ignored. And as most people don’t leave the house without their mobile phone, it’s the most direct and effective way to ensure your message is delivered into the right hands, at the right time.

Cost-effective: An SMS text campaign is affordable for all budgets and you should see a good return on investment. Each message costs only a few pence, so you can craft carefully targeted campaigns without breaking the bank.

Multi-site clinic text messaging case study infographic

Multi-site clinic text messaging case study infographic
Multi-site clinic text messaging case study infographic