Most marketers are now focusing their tactics on digital channels. Mobile, social media and paid search are increasing in prominence, and that means strategies are  shifting online as well.

Digital has taken the lead in large part because of both its low cost and its perceived immediate and wide-reaching impact. However, the latest Direct Marketing Association Response Rate Report has shed new light on ROI and CPA benchmarks, and what’s become clear is that cost-per-acquisition shouldn’t be the sole metric that defines where your spending goes (DMA). A good marketing mix is just that, a mix of approaches that encompasses the entire audience you’re trying to reach.

For instance, email was found to deliver the highest ROI, coming in at 21-23% compared to social media advertising at 15-17%, which puts it on par with direct mail. The CPA for email is the lowest at $11-15, with social media coming in at $16-18, and direct mail at $19. Using prospect lists increases the cost to $71 (Marketing Charts). Yet, if these are the only numbers you’re looking at, you’re almost certainly not engaging with all of your potential audience, primarily because these numbers don’t factor in response rates..

Direct mail still has one of the best response rates, 3.7% (using a house list, 1.0% for a prospect list), compared to 0.1% for both social media advertising and email — an almost 600% difference (IWCO Connect). With the rise of ad blockers, the idea of unlimited digital reach is at an end, and email lists may not include the entirety of a particular market (AdWeek). Direct mail has other advantages. A recent ethnographic study on the visibility of physical mail done by Canada Post has shown that direct mail is much more likely to be noticed, inspire, persist, and persuade (Canada Post).

Don’t leave any money on the table. Digital marketing should remain an important part of your marketing mix, but you may only be capturing half your market if you rely on it solely. Combining your efforts under a multi-channel marketing mix provides access to the full market. Using this approach allows companies to more fully realize the potential of these markets as well as establish more credibility as a brand with their audience.

The landscape of the healthcare industry continues to shift, and one of the most pronounced changes is the decline of private practices. Through a combination of market forces and changing lifestyle preferences, more and more doctors are seeking employment with hospitals and major healthcare systems. In fact, between 2000 and 2010, the number of physicians employed by hospitals grew by 34%. (NEJM Career Center)

On the economic level, there remains continued uncertainty about the long-term effects of the Affordable Care Act. Currently certain specialties and high-cost service areas are seeing declining revenue as reimbursement is redirected. Physicians whose private practices revolved around these specialties are finding themselves priced out of business and are selling their practices to healthcare systems. (DMN3)

On the other end of the scale, many new residents aren’t interested in becoming small business owners. Whether it’s because they simply wish to focus on medicine, maintain a greater work/life balance, or lack of business training – these residents are directly seeking employment with hospitals. This group also does not want to shoulder administrative and insurance costs on their own.

According to the experts, this trend is likely to continue unabated. “In another five years, the physicians who have struggled to keep the old Dr. Welby vision will have retired,” says Perry Hanson, a partner in Wipfli, a health care consultancy in Wisconsin and Minnesota. (Managed Care)

This will mean a shift for healthcare marketers as well. Marketers will need to rethink strategies and tactics geared toward reaching doctors in smaller private practices in order to navigate the complexities of marketing to large healthcare systems. For instance, marketing to a hospital administrator may require creating a completely different persona. (LinkedIn Pulse) With targeting and segmenting becoming increasingly important, it’s vital to have a data partner that can provide targeted access to changing markets and one that understands how to navigate those markets.

What are people doing on their smart phones and tablets? Checking their email. According to a recent study, this is the most popular activity on mobile devices, beating out both web browsing and Facebook. (Marketing Land) In fact, 53% of total email opens happened on a mobile device last year compared to only 36% on a desktop or laptop. (emailmonday) At the same time, there’s been a decline in click-through rates vs. open rates of 10% since 2011 (Campaign Monitor) which can be attributed to poor mobile optimization.

The most common time to click is right after opening – if you’re not optimizing for mobile you may be missing many potential conversions.

Mobile-friendly email marketing doesn’t have to be difficult; here are some best practices to integrate into your next email marketing campaign:

Build Trust – Who is the “from” name? Make sure you’re building trust by using a name your recipients will know to make sure they’ll open your mail.

Optimize the Subject Line – Keep it short and get to the point, but don’t forget to be compelling and creative. Focus on the first 4-5 words to ensure people know what you want to tell them and have a sense of immediacy to want to open your message.

Optimize the Pre-header – The text above your header is often the first thing that’s visible, especially on smart phones. Usually it’s a “to view this message in your browser” but look at it as an opportunity to offer a call to action or some other unique message.

Use Images – Most mobile email clients default to having images turned on. Select or create quality, compelling images that are linked to your content. However, it’s also important to keep your messages small and light. While mobile speeds are getting faster, they’re still not quite up to broadband internet. A good rule of thumb is to optimize your images and try to keep your email under 20k.

Optimize the Layout for Mobile< – Don’t make people hunt for your call to action, make it big and obvious. Put the unsubscribe link far from your call to action so it’s not easy to accidently click.

We all want our campaigns to have the maximum impact and reach. Optimizing for mobile is necessary to achieve your marketing goals, but is relatively simple. Keep these factors in mind and your campaigns will be ready for the most popular platforms.