Boo! Did Autumn Sneak Up on You?
It's autumn already. Time to get pumpkins, gourds, and squash, and time to go on Sunday drives to see the changing leaves. It’s also time for Dixie to harvest this month's crop of marketing tips! Is masked pricing leaving you feeling superstitious about marketing companies in general? Has the thought of a year-end slowdown got you spooked all the same and in need of marketing help? Searching to find honest, accommodating customer service and custom designs in the same place can feel as futile as waiting for the Great Pumpkin. At Practice Cafe, we provide personalized, effortful assistance for smart marketing year-round, and with no gimmicks or hidden fees. How's that for spine-tingling?
Candid, Upfront Pricing: No Tricks, All Treats
Halloween is on the way, and Dixie has her costume on! However, while our team at Practice Cafe loves creative getups, ghoulish garb, and humorous ensembles, we never disguise our prices. Before you decide on a company to partner with in your advertising efforts, we want to ensure that you have all the facts to make an informed decision for your dental practice and budget. We pride ourselves on having services and fees that are so transparent, you just might think you've seen a ghost! We’re real, though, we promise. No fleeting apparitions of affordability here, and no specters of surprise fees. View a direct mail campaign cost analysis here, and don’t forget to call us about financing options.
Worried About Patients Heading South for the Winter?
If you're haunted by nightmares of an empty schedule come November and December, consider adding a year-end letter to your bag of marketing tricks. We said it in September and we’ll say it again, year-end letters are a great way to touch base with all of your current patients and keep dental care on their minds. During the holiday season, when direct mail marketing to potential patients is slow indeed, it’s still a hoppin’ time for office parties, seeing old friends, and family gatherings—and, of course, photos—so everyone wants a beautiful, camera-ready smile. Sometimes patients simply need to be nudged to call your office.
A year-end letter also functions as a friendly reminder to make the most of dental insurance. As you dentists know, insurance plans have a yearly maximum, which is a set limit that a company will spend on dental treatment in a given year. As you also know, many patients do not reach their yearly insurance maximum, either because their checkups were run-of-the-mill or because they "just never got around to making an appointment." For patients in the second group, a year-end letter is an opportune way to remind them that:
- Unused benefits don’t roll over to the next year.
- They’ll still be charged their monthly premium whether they use their benefits or not, so they might as well get what’s already being paid for!
- If treatment hasn't exceeded a policy's deductible, insurance might not have even kicked in yet. Deductibles, like benefits, do not roll over, so use it or lose it.
- And the most obvious reminder: Oral health issues will only get worse. The sooner dental problems are taken care of, the simpler and less expensive the treatment will be.
Festive Ways to Scare Up Some Fun Around the Office
Instead of sending your pediatric patients (or any patient with children) home with their usual post-checkup bag, we can arrange for trick-or-treating bags with autumn designs or Halloween themes to be customized with your logo, name, and contact info. Have a cool idea of your own? For a minimal design fee, we can design a bag totally unique to your practice. Patients love them!
Other fun activities for family oriented offices include dental themed pumpkin carving contests and costume competitions. Ask staff members, patients, and their children to bring in photos of their pumpkins or costumes for a Halloween display to show off all the entries. You could reward winners prizes like gift cards, movie passes, iPod shuffles, or free electric toothbrushes.
Another October suggestion is to hand out an ad specialty item for your practice with the candy you give to trick-or-treaters who ring your home doorbell. Something inexpensive like decal tattoos customized with your contact info can be a hit with kids at the same time as catching mom's attention. Those rubber bracelets with a fun “smile” saying and your web address are another good option. These in bright colors won't be missed by trick-or-treaters or their moms, who go through their loot at the end of the night.
Last but not least, pay attention to details. Even small touches like a plastic pumpkin full of floss or little prizes for kids, Halloween decorations, and holiday themed coloring books in your reception area can spice up your office. Pumpkin, cinnamon, or other scented candles that remind people of the holidays can add to a warm and festive environment. If you have a beverage station (many of our clients have Flavia® coffee machine/drink stations), put out some pumpkin spice or cider mix. Even patients who never use it will probably notice it and appreciate your regard for details. All this will enhance the dental experience at your office, above and beyond treatment procedures.
Hair-Raising October Facts
- Jack O'Lanterns are a Halloween decorating staple, but before you throw out the rest of the pumpkin, chew on some health facts about this symbolic squash: Pumpkins, a common symbol of autumn and of Halloween, are actually fruits (similar to cucumbers). Pumpkins come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors (including blue!), and they're good sources of fiber, Vitamin A, and potassium. Plus, roasted pumpkin seeds are a tasty snack!
- For teeth, there’s nothing more terrifying than a trick-or-treating bag full of candy. Your goblins, ghouls, and gremlins worked hard for their Halloween bounty, so instead of banning candy altogether, promote smart snacking. Consuming candy over a long period of time allows more sugar to accumulate on the teeth than eating a couple of pieces and then putting the bag away. Suggest to moms that they have their kiddos enjoy a few pieces after trick-or-treating, then brush their teeth and save the rest for another day. This not only stretches out a candy supply to last longer, it also relieves teeth from feeling like their R.I.P. is coming soon.
- Speaking of candy, Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in the U.S.
- Did you know? Actor Boris Karloff, famous for his eerie, yet tragic portrayal of Frankenstein's silent monster in 1931's Frankenstein, also narrated and was the voice for the Grinch in the 1966 cartoon version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. A monster with a conscience and a grouch with a heart—what would the holiday season be without him?
- In the United States, October 12th is Columbus Day, a celebration of explorer Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. In 1492, the year Columbus first set foot on American soil, the practice of "dentistry" was not known as such. General physicians or "barbers" would perform basic dental procedures on damaged or infected teeth. The most popular treatment? Sedation-free extractions! And we thought zombies were scary.
We’ll be grateful to see you back in November, when Thanksgiving will have Dixie gobbling about more marketing tips for you and your practice!