2018-08-15
How to Improve Repeat Bookings Through Email

Email icon pushing the button to improve repeat bookings through email.

Image from pixabay.com

Email marketing is an important part of your marketing strategy and is a great way to remind customers and those who have signed up for your contact the service that you offer. It can also be an excellent tool to keep customers returning and booking further appointments with your clinic. Physical Therapy is an ongoing treatment and you may want to remind clients how beneficial your services are to them. With so many different ways of marketing these days sometimes you can forget about email as a tool to be used to bring customers back. Here are a few tips on how to use email to help to improve repeat bookings through email.

Remember General Data Protection Regulations

First of all, before you add customers to your email list or contact previous clients via email you need to ensure they have opted in to receive contact from you in this way. Maintain your reputation by ensuring you use your client’s data in the correct way and protect yourself from problems in the future. Once you know you are only contacting those who have agreed to be contacted you can start on your email marketing campaign to improve repeat bookings.

Start with a catchy subject line

In order to get repeat bookings from email, you need to make your recipients read the email in the first place. Make sure the subject line is enticing and encourages the receiver to click and read on. It should be short and to the point. Explaining or eluding to how interesting or beneficial the contents of the email will be to the reader. You need to consider your brand recognition and promotion when deciding on a subject line too. Make sure it is in keeping with your branding and business to ensure your customers know exactly who you are when they see the email appear in their inbox.  

You don’t want your customers to scroll through their emails ignoring yours or deleting without reading. Starting with a catchy subject line to engage and interest the customer is one of the first steps to getting further bookings through email.

Keep it personal

Sending out a generic email to all of your customers at the same time will seem impersonal. Although you may want to include the same general information you should add personal touches that makes your customer feel valued and important. Remind them of the benefits you can provide that will specifically help them or inform them of new treatments that may interest that particular client. Make your email personal not only to the customer but to your business too.

If the email looks too generic or doesn’t include information relevant to the recipient, then they may just think it is spam. In this scenario, they might just ignore the email or worst case unsubscribe or report as a scam. You need to ensure your email is genuine and relevant to the person who will be reading.

Make the content interesting

You shouldn’t send an email for the sake of it. Opening an email that seems like it has no point or purpose will turn readers off straight away. Make sure the content of the email is interesting and makes them want to read on. Talk about new treatments you are offering or new training you or your employees have received. Promote your clinic in a positive way without seeming like a sales pitch. You could also include good news stories or breakthroughs in the world of physiotherapy that will be interesting to those who receive this type of treatment.

You should also include visuals, be that photographs or infographics to break up the text. These types of pictures within your email will make the email easier to read and break it down into more digestible chunks.

Don’t forget about testimonials                       

If you have received some good feedback or great reviews, then why not share them? Testimonials are great things to include in your emails to showcase just how good your techniques in your clinic are. Good reviews are an excellent way to improve your brands reputation and to encourage customers to book back in with you. If you can show that others have enjoyed the benefits of your services, you can have you will boost the uptake of repeat bookings.

Including these within the content of your email will add another level of trust and confidence in your business for your customers. They will understand that you can offer results and make them want to see the same results for themselves.

Include at least one clear call to action

You need to make sure that if your customers want to find you and make a booking, that they can as soon as possible. This means you need to include at least one call to action within the body of your email. This could be through a link in the text of your content or it could be an obvious text box saying make your booking now. If your clients want to rebook you need to make it clear where and how they can do this without seeming too forced.

Clicking a link is the easiest way that customers can get directed straight to your website to book. However, don’t underestimate including your telephone number or a call now link that makes it easy to make a phone call and book an appointment there and then.

Keep it short and to the point

If you want your client to read the entirety of your email you need to keep it short and to the point. The intention of your email should be clear and you shouldn’t have to wade through lots of text to get to the call to action or to understand the reason for the email. Make it easy for your customer to click straight through from their email and make a booking there and then.

Don’t include too much information as you will only overload the reader. If you are unsure how to do this, then do some research. Look at some other emails, perhaps of competitors or emails you have received yourself that you like the layout and format of. Then use this as a template for your own email.

Make it about your brand

Include your branding, signature methods and anything else that makes you stand out from the competition. Your clients need to know why they should trust your business and want make further bookings with you as opposed to anyone else.  Clearly show who you are and what you do and why your customers should have trust and confidence in your clinic.

At the end of the email you want your readers to feel happier and encouraged by what they have read. Ideally making a booking and looking forward to their next appointment!

A few things that might put people off rebooking through email

So, there are some things that you should do to improve your re-booking but what sorts of things should you avoid when it comes to emailing clients?

  • Sending generic emails that offer little information and look entirely like a marketing email. It is a mistake to send exactly the same email to every client without tweaking it just a little. Especially if it is only relevant to a portion of customers.
  • Making your email impersonal so it appears to be nothing more than a promotion and not focusing on the customer. If it looks like a marketing email most customers won’t respond so make sure you make it interesting and personal
  • Not including anything that will make the customer believe in your business. Make sure you have branding, links and testimony’s that show you are a reputable service. The format can make a big difference to the reader.
  • Sending too many or too few emails. – Yes, that’s right, both can cause issues with your uptake. Too many will make your customers feel bored, however, too few will make them forget about you. You need to get it just right.
  • Boring the reader with a lengthy email that doesn’t keep them engaged. Keep it short and to the point. Looking at a very long paragraph with no breaks can be tough.

Do you need to improve your repeat bookings through email?

Have you thought about how to bring your customers back to your clinic? There are many different ways to encourage repeat visits but sometimes you have to remind clients to come back. Overall it is in their best interests to continue with their therapy and showing that you care and that you can deliver results is the best way to do this. Showing how this happens and how you offer your services makes a big difference in how you are perceived.

Does it all sound a bit too much? Don’t worry there are services that we offer that can do this sort of thing for your Physical Therapy clinic. If you need a hand we can take care of email marketing for you so you can concentrate on other areas of your business. You may even want help in other aspects of marketing your business. However, if you are happy to do it yourself then follow these tips to see an increase in repeat bookings through email.

Do you want to take your physical therapy marketing to the next level? Download our Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint for Physical Therapists and start creating long-term assets that generate new patient bookings for years to come.