Direct Mail Marketing Tips –
Part 1
Direct mail works better when implemented in conjunction with at least one other marketing medium, such as a website. In our experience, mailers without a web address and live website do not make for the most successful campaigns.
Consumers are more visually sophisticated and exigent than ever, and people actively seeking a dentist want more detailed information. Well-staged and well-taken photos of the office and doctor have proven to be a component that gives a piece an edge over others with little to no photography, or lesser quality images. Seriously, we like to load our mailers with great photos of the office and doctor(s) whenever possible. We know this requires a little more work on your part but, believe us, it’s worth it because of the difference it makes!
Almost all of our direct mail pieces, with the exception of a select few, have some sort of new patient gift in them. We always say that an offer should not be the main attractor for new patients to come to your office, but it can be an appreciated additional incentive for people to choose you. Kind of like a thank you for letting you take care of them. A coupon also adds purpose to your direct mailer. The key is to decide on an offer that works well for you and your practice. Let us know if you’d like help brainstorming possible special offers.
The majority of practices we work with start out by mailing to a list of 8,000-10,000 households, with our typical list rounding out at 10,000 records. Studies have shown that most dentists draw their main patient base from within a 3-10 mile radius around their office. Our preliminary mailing list counts will check out the numbers from 3-5 miles around your office (5-7 miles in newly developing and more rural areas), and then we can adjust parameters accordingly to arrive at an optimal list for your campaign. The mailing lists we coordinate for clients, once purchased, are good for one year. After a year, parameters and radii for a new list can be modified in line with future campaign plans. Ask us about the other good points of the list provider we use. Also, when you purchase a mailing list through our turn-key direct mail services – and as long as you remain active in your mailings – we will protect your list. This means that we will not coordinate the purchase of a list or handle mailings that would go to the same households as your active campaign. Please keep in mind that we cannot prohibit former clients from coordinating their own printing, purchasing their own list, and handling their own mailings. We can simply reassure you of our commitment to do what is within our control to protect your mailing list and marketing investment.
The vast majority of our clients mail to single-family dwellings only (no apartments or condos), but in markets such as New York City, parts of New Jersey and Florida, and downtown areas of cities like Los Angeles, multi-family dwelling units (apartments) are appropriate – and pivotal – to include. Without them, you’d not only be neglecting a principal segment of your market in such areas, but you’d also be hard pressed to pull high enough list counts within a reasonable radius.
Any advertising with real potential for success builds momentum as the target market repeatedly receives pieces. We sincerely hope that our clients notice an encouraging response after a first mail drop, with plenty of calls and new patients. However, sometimes results are slower in coming. When this is the case, we like to remind clients that consistency and patience are important in marketing efforts. Sometimes it takes a little while for a campaign to start bringing in the results that, with time and its subsequent mail drops, it eventually will bring in. Sometimes, it’s the third mail drop that seems to be the “charmed” one. This varies from area to area, but our experience is that direct mail campaigns mature between the third and fourth drops.
Continued in Part 2...
