Efficient and memorable communication should be at the top of your priority list as a dental practice. This is an essential part of getting patients through the door and providing quality patient care.

For every email you send out as a practice, you should have a specific purpose in mind. This curates straightforward and streamlined communication between you and your patients. 

Knowing the answers to questions about transactional email vs marketing emails sets your practice up for success. What’s the difference between these emails? Why does it matter? 

Understanding these distinctions helps you organize your dental marketing and communication efforts and ensure they fulfill their purpose.

All About Transactional Emails

A transactional email is a message your practice sends directly to a single patient. Practices use them for confirmation and transactional purposes. 

Typically, transactional emails include things like confirmation numbers, contact information, and receipts. The patient triggers them, rather than your office sending them unprompted. To receive a transactional email, a patient must interact with you in some capacity: booking an appointment, purchasing a product, creating an account, etc.

Transactional Email Examples

A few types of transactional emails you might recognize include: 

• Order confirmation email or receipts
• Form requesting patient feedback
• Account security check or password reset emails
• Account updates
• Notification emails
• Double opt-in
• Shipment notifications

Each type of transactional email targets a specific patient about their individual experience. To make your dental practice stand out, turn these obligatory emails into opportunities. Use engaging language that will entice the patient and help you stand out. 

If a patient receives a transactional email, they’ve interacted with your practice in some way already. Now, you just have to keep them interested. Include a CTA, or call to action, prompting your patient to interact further.

All About Marketing Emails

Practices use marketing emails for advertising purposes. These emails draw in new or existing patients, then prompt them to make a purchase or otherwise participate in your campaign. 

You can send marketing emails strategically to enhance your marketing campaign. Plan marketing emails to go to a specific audience segment at a specific time with a specific purpose in mind. You can send them using a platform designed for marketing emails. With dental marketing by Dental Intelligence, you can set up marketing emails and use pre-made email templates.

Marketing Email Examples

A few types of marketing emails you may recognize include: 

• Newsletters
• Content promotion
• Sales alerts and offers 

As you can tell, these emails are sales oriented. Email newsletters build a closer relationship with your existing patients. Essentially, their purpose is to keep your practice in your patients’ minds even after they leave the office. 

Similarly, content promotion and sales alerts are more direct ways of urging your patients to take action. They usually include engaging imagery, minimal but attention-grabbing text, and a CTA button.

The Difference: Marketing vs Transactional Emails 

Now that you understand both email types individually, it’s important to stress a few distinctions. The main differences between these email types include:

• Content: Transactional emails contain personalized content specific to each patient. It’s typically shorter and straight to the point. On the other hand, content in marketing emails is broader, friendlier, and more brand-specific to go to multiple patients at once.
• Purpose: The purpose of a transactional email vs marketing email also varies. You send marketing emails to build customer relationships and to promote services. Meanwhile, you send transactional emails to confirm information with individual clients. 
• Method of sending: Transactional emails are automated emails that a patient triggers by interacting with your practice. Marketing emails, on the other hand, are planned, strategic emails you send through a third-party email marketing platform that tracks engagement rates.

The distinction between these email types is important because when you’re communicating with your patient base, your email’s purpose should always be clear, and your language should reflect that goal. 

Transform Dental Practice Communication

The next time you send an email to a patient, ask yourself: What type of email is this? What is its purpose? How can I best accomplish this goal?

Your communication with your patients is everything. By knowing the difference between a transactional email vs marketing email, you can move forward with clearer goals for every email you send. 

Find out more ways to improve your communication and marketing, including how to boost email marketing for dentistry, by scheduling a demo with Dental Intelligence today.