Every business needs to stay in touch with their customers, and your pharmacy is no exception. A newsletter from your pharmacy, whether you send it in the mail or through email, is a great way to contact your patients outside of your store.
A newsletter from your pharmacy does more than keep patients up-to-date on your latest product and service offerings.
When patients see your pharmacy’s name in their inbox, it builds your brand, and it’s a handy reminder for them to visit your store to refill their prescription, get that flu shot they’ve been meaning to, or pick up more antibiotic ointment.
Here are some tips to create an engaging newsletter that’ll bring patients into your pharmacy more often.
Maximize readability
It can be tempting to place a lot of text in your newsletters to appear more credible and intellectual, but your readers want their information fast.
Brevity is key with e-newsletters. Create short blocks of texts that your patients will actually want to read. Plus, you won’t have to waste time creating lots of text that will go unread. Keep in mind that patients may be viewing your email newsletters from their smartphones, and a large volume of text is hard to read on a small screen.
Write your newsletter so your patients can easily scan it and get the gist of its contents by using headlines and sub-headlines. Even if patients don’t read an entire article, they’ll still know about your new niche service or community outreach event just from skimming.
When you get to the meat of your articles or updates, write clearly and edit carefully to convey your pharmacy’s professionalism. Keep your articles moderate in length, and provide your pharmacy’s contact information if someone would like to reach out to you for more information—and encourage them to do so, too.
Use photos to your advantage
Articles are more likely to catch the eyes of your patients if they’re paired with an image. They break-up chunks of text and make the text appear more interesting and digestible to the reader. Charts, infographics or diagrams can do the trick, too.
Photos that are relevant to the topic of your article, and that quickly give the reader an idea of what the article will be about, are best. But having a non-descriptive photo is better than having none at all, as long as it doesn’t detract from the quality of your content.
Be careful when selecting photos for your newsletter. You can’t use images from a Google image search or other websites, as they’re likely to be copyrighted.
The best way to find photos to bump up the quality of your newsletter is to take them yourself. This instantly communicates to your patients that you put time and effort into every aspect of your business. Plus, using your own photos will give your newsletter a more friendly and personal feel.
When you do need to use stock photos to supplement your newsletter, you can purchase images individually or buy a subscription to a photo library, such as iStock or ingimage.
Generate intriguing content
Filling your newsletter with content that patients will actually want to read is one of the most important parts of a successful newsletter.
Be sure to share news about your pharmacy, such as any new services or products you’re offering, or about any events you’ll be hosting.
Also include educational information about healthy lifestyle choices, such as why it’s important to get a flu shot or the best vitamins for men and women over 50. This educational material can also serve as a great lead-in to the services you offer, such as nutrition classes, or diabetes care and prevention.
Also establish your newsletter as a resource for important local and national health news, such as drug recalls and information about the coming flu season.
Create an engaging newsletter that brings more patients into your pharmacy more often.
