Did you know that…

- more than 70% of patients are turning to the Internet before they turn to doctors for help?
- every month the word „pharmacy„ in Google search engine is entered by almost 6 120 000 users?

This means that with suitably selected marketing tools you can reach thousands and thousands of users who would not have to search for the information themselves, but you can serve it directly in front of their eyes, in their e-mail inboxes. Of course it is fair to say that we are assuming you are not going to spam them, but they are going to receive your e-mails based on previous communication and request for information on a given topic. Good targeting and audience knowledge are of course a must.

What are the most important rules which make the user open your e-mail?

Make your e-mail subject shorter – Shorter subject lines results in dramatically higher open and click rates. Be aware of subject looking like spam – it certainly discourages your customers. So don’t use words such a „free“. 

Make your content interesting – If your message is not interesting for your target audience your campaign loses the effect. Very popular types of e-mails in pharma are those with image links to video interview with physicians or other healthcare professionals.

Personalize your e-mail – personalized messages results in higher click rates. Make your recipients know who is writing to them.

Find the best day to send – statistics show that professional and work related e-mails are most read on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But non work or business e-mails are read the most on Sundays and Mondays.

Watch trends – if you want to have modern and interesting e-mails you need to watch out for the latest trends. It is the same as in fashion – a different year, a different style.

Furthermore, it is the “present-day” thing! Just think about the last few subscriptions you’ve done for an e-newsletter. How many of them were delivered to you in a plain text style? Answering myself – NONE. I also have to say that I like the variety, the look&feel, which is typical for each and every e-newsletter provider.

However, the preferences and expectations of all of us differ. What I like, you may dislike. Therefore it is clear that email in HTML format may not work for everyone. You should always have the chance to choose what email format you prefer … and … to have this chance, what would you choose?

Sometimes, simple differences such as using a company logo vs. using a brand logo can result in double digit difference in the e-mail response rate. Also some optimal size of the e-mail should always be maintained and the wording of your subject line carefully thought through. All these little things can contribute to first, your e-mail not being trapped by the recipient’s spam filter and second, the recipient’s willingness to actually open the e-mail and read it.