3 Ways to Perfect Your Pharmacy's Digital Marketing Strategy

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The world of Internet marketing is a burgeoning business.

The world of Internet marketing is a burgeoning business. Today’s marketing agencies are beginning to look a lot less like an episode of “Mad Men” and a lot more like a computer hack-a-thon.

Think about when you are most receptive to being "informed" of new services, sales, or products from your favorite retailers. Are you more likely to run to the mall after seeing a new Banana Republic commercial, or are you more likely to use the handy-dandy coupon code on its website?

This probably occurs so often that you don’t even think about it.

Chances are your e-mail inbox is filled every day by companies marketing directly to you. This is a very efficient use of marketing dollars, especially when you think of the time and hours it takes to design, shoot, and run a traditional media campaign.

Now, social media experts are using companies like Facebook and Instagram to market to their consumers, but the bread and butter for the company still lies in its ever-growing e-mail list.

1. Build a subscriber list.

For a small monthly, quarterly, or yearly fee, a company like Aweber or MailChimp will help you gather e-mail addresses from your website or Facebook page, and then you can enter them manually with permission from the customer. These services are super easy to use and people can subscribe or unsubscribe as they choose. You do not have to do anything except send out a marketing e-mail sporadically.

An e-mail list is becoming increasingly important for all businesses, and it will continue to be going forward. Aging patients are no longer looking at the Yellow Pages or the local paper for information. Many patients are going online to find the information they need, whether it’s to check store hours or even price match.

Chances are that most patients have an e-mail address, especially the younger generations, even if they only got one so they could get on Facebook!

2. Leverage the power of social media.

Many pharmacies are overwhelmed by the thought of “going digital,” so they stick with expensive and ineffective traditional marketing. On the other hand, those that are looking into online marketing are looking in the wrong places—not to say that Facebook isn’t a viable marketing strategy, but it might not be the best option when connecting with patients.

A Facebook page may be a great idea, but if it isn’t placed with the sole purpose of gathering e-mail address, then it is useless.

3. Create powerful digital connections.

Companies want to connect with you for a reason: to retain you as a customer.

This isn't a bad thing, as it allows you to process the information sent on your time, which is also when you will be most receptive to their marketing. This is a plus if you need a new outfit from Banana Republic and the company just happened to see you drop by its Facebook page and then sent you a code for 20% off.

You can take advantage of this easy-to-use marketing strategy and implement it in your pharmacy business.

Want to host a flu shot clinic? Tell your e-mail list and you might get a great turnout

Having a sale on some short-dated OTC products? Tell your e-mail list and liquidate your inventory.

Clearly, being able to market directly to a targeted list of active subscribers is going to be effective, as you can easily connect with your most active patients while staying very cost-effective.

If you could send an e-mail directly to every one of your patients right now, what would it say?

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