Email, SEO, Marketing Strategy - Health sector

Other Online Marketing Strategies For Health Sector Contact Person: Address: Phone: Email:

1: Email Marketing: ....................................................................................................... 3 1.1: Back Ground: ....................................................................................................... 3 1.2: Creating Database: .............................................................................................. 4 1.3: Special Offers and Broadcasts: ............................................................................ 5 1.4: Email Message Strategy: ..................................................................................... 7 1.5: Bulk Email Software: ............................................................................................ 82: Search Engine Optimization: ................................................................................. 12 2.1: Why to use SEO?............................................................................................... 12 2.2: SEO Activities: ................................................................................................... 13 2.3: On Page SEO: ................................................................................................... 13 2.4: Off Page SEO: ................................................................................................... 13 2.5: Reporting and Monitoring: .................................................................................. 153: Choosing the Right Outsourcing Vendor: ............................................................ 16 3.1: Pricing:............................................................................................................... 16 3.2: Choosing a Good SEO Company:...................................................................... 16Powered by: 1

EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY: 2 Why to Use it: o Growth of sales o Increase brand awareness o Establish and maintain customer loyalty o Rapid leads generation o Repeated Business o Save time and resources Components of Email Marketing Strategy: o Creating Database o Decide Offers to attract the customers o Creating effective Email Letters o Choose Right Software o Tracking results & reports o Generating Leads Building Database: o Collecting Email Addresses via Website o Collecting Email Addresses from Customers o Lucky Draw and Other Offers o Purchase Database From Data Mining Companies: Special Offers: o Special Pricing Offers o Last Minutes Offers o After Sales Emails o Personal Greetings o Reminders o Seasonal discounts o Discounted price on timely response, or respond with the coupon number pertain to your marketing campaign. o Free trails and free gifts.Powered by:

1: EMAIL MARKETING:1.1: BACK GROUND:Emails can be used as one of the most flexible, powerful, and cost-effective marketing tool forany businesses in the current competitive environment. Gradually its importance is recognised bythe businesses, it helps in the following: Growth of sales Increase brand awareness Establish and maintain customer loyalty Rapid leads generation Repeated Business Save time and resourcesSome Amazing Facts Email Marketing?Following are some facts extracted from an email experts.org. There are over 3.2 billion email accounts throughout the globe. Approximately 95% of the online customers use email account. Approximately 91% of the customers check their emails at least once in a day. According to UK brand marketers email marketing helped in 78% customer retention rate. Approximately 64% of the decision makers use mobile devices or tablets for reading their emails. The average return on investment of email marketing is $44.25 per $1 spent. People who receive offers through emails are more likely to spend i.e. 138% as compared to those who don’t receive email offers. - Convince and Convert The world has over 897 million mobile email users.Email marketing is very under utilised medium with respect to small businesses, althoughcorporate clients are fetching benefits from this most cost effective and result oriented channel,however it is very under utilised in small and medium sized entities.Powered by: 3

Effective Email Marketing is more than flooding recipients’ inbox with emails and asking them topurchase. There are numerous effective ways to execute email marketing campaign, but the rightstrategy for any business is depend on the consideration of the following factors: Objectives of the company, Target market (who you sell to), The nature and scope of the business, and Availability of time and resources (time, money, and personnel).Essentially, Following are the key ingredients to an effective Email Marketing campaign: Creating database Decide offers to attract the customers Creating effective emails, with respect of design and contents (Campaign) Choose right software for email marketing Tracking results & reports ( Software mentioned below provides vast reporting facilities) Generating Leads (Through Other supporting channels, like Social media and SEO).1.2: CREATING DATABASE:The Correct / Relevant database plays a vital role in the success of any email marketingcampaign. We should have a minimum of the following information about the target customer. Email Address Nature of business Address / Area (Zip code will be fine for that)Additional informaiton may include, lead source, purchase history, phone, social media link, keydates, etc.These chunks of inforamtion can be gathered from the following methods.Collecting Email Addresses via Website:The company can gather the above mentioned data by using contact form or through onlinebooking / registration form of the website, customer feedback sheet etc.Powered by: 4

Collecting Email Addresses from Customers:You can grow and maintain your email database from new and existing customers, you can askyour customers for their phone number, email address, business cards and can add the relevantdata into your database.Lucky Draw and Other Offers:Discounting offers and lucky draws are also a good mean to collect information, build customerbase and credibility. You can post these offers through social media, like; those who book throughthe website / or fill the form and submit on social media will be included in the lucky draw and 5winners will be entitled one time free dinner or some free gift. This will work in two ways: 1. It will help in getting email address of targeted customers only, i.e. those are in the area. 2. Increase customer base and create goodwill as it is an incentive offer.The company can use any type promotional offer attached with the incentive while using thistactic.Purchase Database From Data Mining Companies:You can easily purchase target market database from data mining companies.Following are few examples of data mining companies:www.emaildatauk.comwww.approvedindex.co.uk/emailmarketing/Once you have the ball rolling, you can move to the next step, i.e. Write and Design emails andexecute the promotional campaign.1.3: SPECIAL OFFERS AND BROADCASTS:You cannot deny from the fact that your competitors are also getting benefits from this economicaland result oriented medium. Your next challenge is to design the message in a way that it willattract the targeted audience to read the message. This is the area where your attractive offerswill differentiate your marketing strategy. You can use:Powered by: 5

Special Pricing Offers; these offers must be time sensitive, you can use the words like “ Yo will 6 get 25% discount in the month of March or discount on all medical products in the first quarter of 2015. Last Minutes Offers: You can use last minutes offers at various places a good example would be “if you have empty slots in your therapy, health massages you can also add discounting offers with that”. After Sales Emails: A simple after sales email can create a big difference, it will convey a hidden message to the clients that they are not forgotten after the payment of fees. Following types of emails can be used as an after sales emails: “Thank you for your business” emails. Health tips. Special Offers Post service satisfaction surveys. Help and frequently asked questions. Personal Greetings: You can send personal greetings to your customer base on various events. These activities help a lot in building, maintaining and strengthen relationships with customers and create sense of belongingness. Birthday e cards, Christmas e cards, are the best example of this. You can also use “We haven’t seen you for a while” messages to let the customers know that they are not forgotten. Reminder: You can use timely reminders to connect with your clients, one of the best example for a Health sector is to remind customer about last dates of offers, new products and / or services etc. Some other tactics that can give value to the prospective customers without hurting your profit are as follows: Seasonal discounts Discounted price on timely response, or respond with the coupon number pertain to your marketing campaign. Buy one get 1 free offers on medical products like books, small equipment. Discounting / gift Coupons Free advice and tips Flexible payment optionsPowered by:

Frequently asked questions.1.4: EMAIL MESSAGE STRATEGY:The Following guidelines should be used to create an effective email message:Message Design:Design of any email message gives the audience first impression. It’s the first element that basedon which our whole campaign will be rated and perceived by the audience. Currently emaildesigning scenario has totally changed and you can develop responsive emails just like landingpage of your website. These responsive emails automatically adjust according to computerscreens, mobile devices, tablets, etc. as the case may be. Create strong brand image with your emails Use quality images Do not overload the email with the information Use professional designer to design the email.Message Content:Message content must have the following attributes:Personal: It is the fact that we are more likely to open a personal message rather than a general,it is advisable, to send personal message all leading email marketing software allow to usepersonal message.Recipient Benefit: Always draft the message with receiver point of view, show them theirbenefits. Just put your foot in customer’s shoe and ask yourself that, “What’s in it for me”. If youfind it attractive and action oriented, your message is perfect.Simple, Concise and Clear: Try to keep your message simple, concise and clear, use short andsimple and easily understandable words.Action: You should add information about required actions in order to get further information.A call to action is as simple as:“Visit us at www.www.yourdomain.com or for further information call us at #########.“Email us at [email protected] by: 7

Here the key point is to tell your recipients that how they can take our desired action.Repetitive Messages: Use repeated message in a different way, don’t use the same phrasesover and over again.Add Value and Credibility:To add the value and credibility, your marketing message should include; Relevant information Updates on new services Case studies from previous clients Testimonials from satisfied clientsTesting:Test every email before sending, because errors can make your best email to worst and maydamage your reputation. Following guidelines will help you to avoid embarrasing mistakes. Setup a “Test Group” list, and add your key staff memebers’ email address including you. Always send every email to this group before executing the campaign. Ask all of them to check the email details. Check for typography and other errors. Confirm all links are properly working Look at the images for appropriateness. Mark and make modifications where required. Repeat this process unless you are completely sure the email is ready for campaign.1.5: BULK EMAIL SOFTWARE:There are various bulk email senders are available in the market, we have filtered out top two. Allof these softwares have similar features the only difference is the price and the interface.According to the top 10 review top two bulk email software for 2013-2014 are: iContact Benchmark EmailPowered by: 8

Email Reporting Features: Email Creation Features:Opened Emails Add ImagesForwarded Emails Add HyperlinksBounced Emails Basic FormattingView Unsubscribed Contacts Create Plain-Text MessagesExport/Download Reports Create HTML MessagesSocial Media Integration Create Messages From TemplateClick-Through Tracking View Overall Product PreviewDelivered Undeliverable View HTML Source CodeCompare Message Reports Add Email Footer Create Web Forms Create Auto Response Email Setup Wizard Create Surveys Image HostingContact Management Features: Email Sending Features:Import Mailing List Email Job SchedulingRemove Unsubscribed Contacts SPAM TestGroup Email Contacts Test EmailCustom Demographics Email Aliases CreationAutomatically Detect Require Opt-inMonthly Pricing iContact Benchmark EmailUp to 500 Contacts $ 14.00 $ 9.95Up to 1,000 Contacts $ 19.00 $ 12.95Up to 2,500 Contacts $ 29.00 $ 19.95Up to 5,000 Contacts $ 47.00 $ 35.00Up to 10,000 Contacts $ 74.00 $ 60.00Up to 25,000 Contacts $ 149.00 $ 112.00Powered by: 9

Apart from the above two mailchimp is another good option, initially you can use the freeversion of mailchimp, and once you have good database you can choose any of thepremium / paid software.Don’t Worry About Reporting If You Have Outsourced Your Email Marketing:You don’t need to worry about reporting as all of the bulk email marketing software have adynamic reporting system and you can get a detailed report on the following: Opened Emails Forwarded Emails View Unsubscribed Contacts Bounced Emails Export/Download Reports Click-Through Tracking Social Media Integration Delivered / Undeliverable Compare Message Reports Number of clicks on a particular linkAsk your vendor to provide you weekly report for each campaign.Powered by: 10

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:Why to Use it:Either you are small business or large, selling services or products, if you have website, youneed to optimize it to get best out of it. If your website is not registered on search engine andnot optimized you will missed out an incredible opportunity of driving traffic to your website. Approximately 75% of the visitors never go beyond the first page of their resulted search query.On page SEO Activities: Off page SEO Activities: o Key Words Research o Blogging o Competitors Analysis o Forum Posting o Website Structure Analysis o Directory Submissions and Classified o Site Map o Google Account. Add Submission o Compatibility Check o Social Book Marking o Link Check o Business Reviews o Crawling and Indexing o Article Submission o Meta Tagging o Document Sharing o Articles and Blog Section o Social Media ActivitiesPowered by: 11

2: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process of promoting and improving of website ranking,on a search engine like Google, Bing, yahoo etc. It helps in diverting huge number of visitors /prospective customers to the website.A significant portion of the web traffic is driven by the leading search engines like Google, Bing,and Yahoo. Despite of the fact that social media drives the traffic to your website but still searchengines are the leading source to bring visitors to your website.Either you are a small business or large, selling services or products, if you have website,you need to optimize it to get best out of it. If your website is neither registered with searchengine nor optimized, you will miss out an incredible opportunity of driving traffic to yourwebsite.2.1: WHY TO USE SEO?There are various reasons that make SEO vital for growth, few of them are mentioned below. Approximately 70% to 80% of the traffic comes from organic links and ignore paid ads. Approximately 75% of the visitors never goes beyond the first page of their resulted search query. Search and e-mail are considered as two leading internet activities. It is also cost effective method and it is considered that it is 61%, cost effective than some traditional marketing activities. According to a study by Outbrain, search is the number one traffic driver to content sites which is 300% more than social media. Optimization on Google is important as it holds approximately 70% of the total market. According to marketing charts, more than 39% of the customers comes through search. There are over 100 billion monthly searches conducted throughout the globe.References (Search engine Journal, Google, MarketingSherpa, Slingshot SEO, Hubspot,eConsultancy)Powered by: 12

2.2: SEO ACTIVITIES:SEO activities can be divided in to two broad categories: On page SEO Off page SEO2.3: ON PAGE SEO:On page SEO activities includes all the activities that are required to make your website moresearch engine friendly to get optimum results. One need to do following on page SEO activitiesto get good results: Key words research, and finalization Analysis of competitors website and SEO strategy, identify for what key words competitors are optimizing its website. Checking of the URL, and ensure that whether these are user friendly. Analysis of website structure is required to ensure that flow of information is correct and in right direction. Creation of XML site map Creation of Gmail account for site submission Setting up and register Google webmaster account to index the site with Google. Also submitting the pages individually that are not indexed by Google. Setting up Google plus account by using the Gmail account to use Google analytics. Inspect mobile site working and compatibility. Verify broken links, 404 (page not found) errors, spelling and grammar. Inspecting of content crawling and indexing. To finalize which keyword target which page and area of the website, and additional content and pages will be required where required. Creation and implementation of Meta Tags Creation of Articles and Blog section if you don’t have one.2.4: OFF PAGE SEO:Off page SEO activities includes but not restricted to the following:Powered by: 13

Blogging: It is one of the most powerful tools that marketer use while optimizing / promotingwebsite. This requires writing a lot of quality unique content that somehow provide usefulinformation to targeted audience. You can divert visitor to your blog / website by adding links inthe comment section of relevant blogs that allows crawling by the search engines.Forum Posting: Online forums can be created to discuss the topic of interest, moreover friendsshould be invited to take part in the discussion. Apart from that preexisting forums can be utilizedby responding threads.Directory Submissions and Classified ad submission: There are many directories with highPR, these directories provide strong links and drive traffic to your website. Some of the topdirectories include, Yell, Yahoo listing, etc. Apart from this there are classified directories toadvertise your product / services free like Gum tree, Craig list, Angie list etc.Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking is also a result oriented tool to drive traffic to yourwebsite. Some of the leading social bookmarking sites include Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious,Propeller, etc.Linking: This includes, Link exchange – exchange of links with other service websites, Crosslinking – linking of internal pages within the website.Business Reviews: This includes writing reviews of leading business review sites like RateitAll,Kaboodle, Shvoong, etc. You can ask your clients / friends for reviews about your business.Article Submission: Writing and submission of quality article on leading article sites, like, Ezine,SEO lense, Squidoo, Now Public, Go Articles, Buzzle etc.Document Sharing: This includes sharing of documents, flyer, and brochures, etc. on Googledocs or slide share type sites. In addition to the above social media activities like photo sharing, and video sharing through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube etc. provide great support in optimizing your site on any search engine.Powered by: 14

2.5: REPORTING AND MONITORING:It is obvious that you need a lot of varied skills for Search engine Optimization so most ofthe companies either recruit a full time staff or outsource these services to specialisedcompanies, so that they can focus on their core activities.Following are some reporting and monitoring methods so that you can have better control andensure that you are provided quality work. Ask for weekly reports, containing list of tasks. Check out a few randomly. Randomly choose key words and check out site ranking and compare it with previous ranking. Checkout weekly traffic report through Google analytics, it is as simple as browsing a website. Check Caching and Crawling. Check out if your website is working properly with Smart Phones and Tables. Take out a few minutes and discuss the progress with the SEO team / company. Ask them explanation where required. Ask them to submit monthly Ranking Report for each keyword and analytical report with graphs to look at the traffic trend.Note:To measure return on your investment, always asked your client how they have reached you. This will help you identifying the productive channels and you can take an effective decision about the allocation of your resources.Powered by: 15

3: CHOOSING THE RIGHT OUTSOURCING VENDOR:3.1: PRICING:Price range for email marketing and SEO can’t be given as it strictly depends on few factors like;Email: Email design, campaign scope, target market, nature of content required etc.SEO: Number of Key words, competitiveness of keywords, number of pages of website, extent ofoff page activities, turnaround time of results, quality of backlinks etc.3.2: CHOOSING A GOOD SEO COMPANY:Following are some guidelines that will help you in choosing right SEO firm. Identify their method of choosing targeted keywords – It must be based on research. Will they analyze website thoroughly as mentioned in on page SEO activities like, design, coding, navigation, content and links etc. Will they make competitors analysis? Do they have good content writers? Ask the list of their on page and off page program and compare with the activities mentioned in this document. Request for credible references, and verify them Request for some samples of best work in the leading search engines like, Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. Check out their history and years of experience. Verify if they have given good results to any other related business. Check out SEO team Experience. What are the other marketing activities the company is engaged in also check out their success rate. Beware of the firms that promise you quick results, they might be using black hat SEO methods or making false promise. Beware of the firms that promise unrealistic outcomes, like number 1 rank on Google.Powered by: 16