The physicians most likely to open emails are specialists such as trauma surgeons, hepatologists, dermatopathologists, and preventive medicine specialists. This group had open rates consistently above 10 percent, according to SK&A’s latest customer metrics. Typically, email marketing campaigns targeting specialty physicians will have distinct subject lines, messages, and calls-to-action that are uniquely related to their practice area.

The physicians least likely to open emails are pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, and general practitioners. This is a group frequently targeted with email campaigns, often with subject lines and messages that are not specific or unique to their practice area, and thus of lower interest to the practitioners. Their average open rate, according to our metrics, was under 4 percent.

The campaign type also had an impact on rates, regardless of the physician being targeted. Campaigns touting medical reports, CME invitations, and job opportunities had the highest open rates, while campaigns advertising products and services had the lowest open rates.

SK&A deployed more than 4.8 million emails last year on behalf of its customers. We keep detailed records of every campaign, so we know which professionals by job title are receiving, opening and clicking. These metrics are available in the Email Performance Archive on our Website.