Drip Marketing for Your Medical Practice (Email Marketing Part 3)

As ravenous explorers of the unknown, we would be remiss if we did not cover drip marketing to some degree. But, here is the thing: drip marketing is not for beginners. If you haven’t set up your first regular email campaign or become comfortable with whatever platform you are managing your email marketing on, you might want to wait a bit.

Indiana Jones studied for years before fighting the Gestapo, navigating a booby-trapped Peruvian temple, and finally recovering the Golden Idol… so, you know, get your chops up as well before taking on this kind of project.

What Is Drip Marketing?

If we return to the automation concepts we covered in previous parts of this series, we can find a more advanced method of using automation to communicate with potential patients. This method is known as drip marketing. 

Drip marketing is a way of sharing information with people little by little over time. Instead of sending everything at once, companies send small pieces of information over several days or weeks. This helps people remember what the company is offering and keeps them interested without overwhelming them. Each message builds on the one before, gradually helping people learn more and feel ready to make a decision.

This is achieved by setting up what appears to be a flowchart of patient communication. Think of it as a sort of choose-your-own-adventure type of marketing, where different emails are delivered based on the actions of the audience members you are reaching. 

Every email marketing platform worth its salt will have some way to set up this kind of flowchart communication. Generally, it will look something like this:

‍

Each of the boxes in the flow represents a different email being sent over a period of time based on the behavior of someone in the ecosystem. This means you are creating an entirely curated and tailored brand experience, not just a singular email. 

But, this is all really theoretical, and we Indiana Jones types are much more practical, so let’s take a look at it in action.

An Example of Effective Drip Marketing Strategies for Medical Aesthetics

We created an example of what a real targeted drip marketing campaign would look like for a client named — drum roll please — Dr. Automation. The goal of this drip campaign is to encourage patients to sign up for breast augmentations.

Step 1: The Initial Survey 

Our campaign kicks off with a survey designed to identify those most likely to book a breast augmentation. The survey helps us segment the audience into three groups: those ready to book, those needing more information, and those not interested. Anyone who selects "No" is automatically removed from the campaign, ensuring that only engaged prospects continue to receive further communication.

Step 2: Tailored Follow-Ups 

For those who selected "Yes," we immediately send a follow-up email with the message, "We're thrilled you chose us." This email reaffirms their decision and encourages them to take the next step in booking their procedure.

For those who selected "Not yet," we keep them in the funnel by sending an educational email, featuring an informative ebook. This content is carefully crafted to provide valuable insights into breast augmentation, addressing common concerns and questions. The goal here is to nurture these leads by providing them with the information they need to feel confident in moving forward.

‍

Step 3: Creating Urgency 

If the "Not yet" group engages with the educational email but still hasn't booked their procedure, they receive a final follow-up: a limited-time offer. This email is designed to create a sense of urgency and provide an exclusive incentive, nudging them toward making a decision. By offering something special, we aim to convert these hesitant leads into scheduled appointments.

By responding to their actions and providing relevant content at each step, we increase the likelihood of conversion by tackling their most likely objections. This is just one example of a very simple but effective drip campaign that your practice can use—they can get much more complex, but, well, that’s a whole adventure on its own.

Taking Advantage of A/B Testing

Once you have your footing firmly set in the email marketing world and have dove into drip marketing, you will want to start working on setting up A/B testing as soon as possible. This method is used by marketers to compare two versions of an email to determine which one performs better. 

This process involves sending variant A (the control) and variant B (the test) to two different segments of your audience. By measuring the performance of each variant, marketers can identify which email yields better results in terms of key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.

The system will then automatically deliver the most successful variant to the bulk of your email list. You can do this manually whenever you send an individual email, but it gets interesting when you start to work A/B testing into your drip campaign.

Using our previous example, let’s consider the following:

We have a drip marketing campaign set up to send three consecutive emails that address the following three potential objections for a patient considering breast augmentation:

• Patient is unsure about the practice and the surgeon
• Patient is concerned about the cost of the treatment
• Patient is concerned about the recovery from the surgery

We assume that uncertainty about recovery is the most dissuading objection, so we send out an email explaining breast augmentation surgery safety, protocol, and statistics on surgical complications. Only two patients reached out for more information from that email.

However, we often hear that cost is a big factor in pulling the trigger, so as part of our A/B testing, we sent a different email to 50% of the recipients: a coupon for 10% off a breast augmentation. From this email, we received 10 follow-ups from patients. 

Now we know that cost is likely a bigger factor in whether someone signs up for treatment, and we can use that information to shape future drip marketing campaigns that achieve conversion in as few emails as possible. 

Note: Please do not take this example as law—your audience will always behave uniquely, so what works for them will be different from what works for any other audience. Cost may be effective for this practice, but there are dozens of other factors that may be paramount for your own. 

How to Set Up A/B Testing

If you are looking for a quickstart guide on how to actually go about A/B testing, here is one for Mailchimp: 

1. Click the Create icon, then click Email.
2. Click A/B test.
3. Enter an email name and click Begin.
4. Select the audience or segment for your test.
5. Click Next.
6. Choose the variable to test: subject line, From name, content, or send time.
7. Add or remove variations (up to 3).
8. Set the percentage of recipients for the test combinations using the slider.
9. Choose the winner criteria (open rate, click rate, total revenue, or manually) and test duration.
10. Click Next.
11. Enter Email subject, From email address, and From name.
12. Configure send time variations if applicable.
13. Check the boxes for preferred settings or tracking options.
14. Click Next.
15. For “subject line,” “from name,” or “send time” tests:some text
    1. Select a template.
    2. Design and preview your email.
    3. Click Confirm.
16. For content tests:some text
    1. Click Add Content for each variation.
    2. Select a template and design the email.
    3. Enter a description for each content variation.
    4. Repeat for all variations.
    5. Click Next.
17. Review the pre-delivery checklist.
18. Click Resolve or Edit to make changes if needed.
19. Click Send to send the test immediately or Schedule to send later.

For a complete Mailchimp walkthrough, check out this link.

Want to See More Examples?

Are you feeling inspired? Good. In Part 4 of this series, we are going to show you plenty of real-world email marketing examples that you can use as inspiration and guidance for your own email marketing. it's one thing to understand the theory behind something, but another ball game entirely to put that theory into action. These examples in the next article will show you exactly what you could be producing to win over your audience. Or, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. We are happy to provide any kind of education you need.

‍