direct mail

Dental Practice Marketing Campaigns (video)

March 12, 2010 By Jim Du Molin 6 Comments

Dentists picked direct mail as their most effective avenue for dental practice marketing. Other favorites include yellow pages advertisements, TV ads, and dental websites.

“Sixty new patients per month with the new dental sign!” said one dentist.

“A mini dental implant ad can help many people with denture problems," offered another dentist. "Oh yeah, and my campaign brought in thousands in restorative revenue."

“My radio ad with dental website support led to over 200 calls in 4 days!" boasted an Illinois dentist.

Read more about this dental patient marketing survey: Dental Marketing Campaigns

Filed Under: Dental Marketing, Dental Videos Tagged With: dental marketing, dental websites, dentist website, direct mail, yellow pages

Dental Marketing: Dentists’ Most Effective Strategies (VIDEO)

April 3, 2009 By Julie Frey 2 Comments

When asked about their most effective dental practice marketing campaigns, direct mail marketing was the top choice among dentists.

However, most use multiple marketing avenues simultaneously, including (but not limited to) yellow pages advertisements, TV ads, and dentist websites.

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: dental marketing, dentist websites, direct mail, yellow pages

Dental Marketing Starts with Direct Mail (VIDEO)

January 12, 2009 By Julie Frey 3 Comments

You’d think it would be clear to dentists that using direct mail to get more new dental patients makes financial sense…

However, when a Wealthy Dentist survey asked dentists if they do a regular mailing to their patient base, dentist respondents were split right down the middle! While 51% said it didn’t seem worth the effort, 49% think it pays to keep in touch.

Grow Your Dental Practice wth Direct Mail Marketing

July 28, 2008 By Melinda Spitek 2 Comments

Considering Direct Mail to Grow Your Practice?

Special Marketing Feature (Part 1 of 3)
By Melinda Spitek, CEO, Hycomb Marketing

Direct mail can be a hugely rewarding stimulus to your practice. Emphasis on can be. The perception is often, “I’ll mail stuff to the community; soon the phones will be ringing and patients will be flocking.”

The reality is more like the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.

And the secret is: know who you want to attract, know what sort of communication motivates them, and target them appropriately. That’s how you get the most bang for your direct mail marketing buck.

And the best way to start, believe it or not, is working on a direct mail campaign to the most important patients of all: the ones you already have!

Dentists struggling with a lackluster patient base have told me, “Melinda, it’s like they’ve forgotten I exist!” I would respectfully respond: you have it wrong. You have forgotten they exist. What have you done lately to motivate your own patients?

Test the Waters While Motivating Existing Patients

There’s no better (or more cost-effective) way to test a direct mail strategy than with current patients. (This is also known as internal marketing.) So, you might start with quarterly communications to patients that can double as your direct mail piece. But to get the most pop for your penny, pick your time, pick your location and, most of all, be consistent.

When should you begin this endeavor? Come October, Americans are going to be inundated with election materials. Who’s going to win? If you don’t already have direct mail up and running, don’t try to compete with that. Wait at least until November 10 this year before you send your first direct mailing. That’s a while away, but it gives you months to work on your pre-planning.

Getting Your Ducks in a Row

Initiate a quarterly newsletter, starting in November, to existing patients wishing them Happy Holidays. This is the test. The second week in January 2009 is the perfect time to begin a direct mail campaign (external marketing). The hullabaloo of the Elections and the Holidays will be over. The audience will be targeted, and therefore more apt to pay attention.

Ready your team. Make sure that they are prepared for the (often unexpected) calls and responses that are to come. Make sure your stationery is high quality (a unified logo that carries through on everything you send out is a must) and your practice brochure is up to date. You will need these to include in a welcome packet to send to all new patients who call – especially from a direct mail effort.

Until my next installment, there are questions you need to ask yourself:

How much do you want to invest to get a new patient (or retain an existing one)?
What appeals to patients you want to attract?
If you’re processing 25 patients a month from direct mail, how many are accepting treatment?

Hycomb has been doing direct mail for dentists – exclusively – since 1997. And one size doesn’t fit all. Want to chat about what sort of direct mail campaign would work for you, in your marketplace? Give me a call.

Melinda Spitek is CEO of Hycomb Marketing Inc. Hycomb is an authority in marketing for dentists. Melinda has had plenty of hands-on experience as well, having worked 23 years in dental offices. For help with marketing, just call Hycomb at (800) 523-6961 or visit www.hycomb.com.

Filed Under: Dental Editorials, Dental Marketing Tagged With: dental, dental practice, dentist, dentistry, dentists, direct mail, Hycomb, marketing, Spitek

Patient Retention Marketing: Dentists Split on Mailings

March 12, 2008 By Julie Frey Leave a Comment

Dental Practice Marketing and Existing Patients

Dental Survey Results

In this survey, we asked dentists if they do a regular mailing to their patient base – and you dentists were split right down the middle! While 51% said it didn’t seem worth the effort, 49% think it pays to keep in touch. But fully 90% of dentists say they send out appointment reminders. “The best advertising is treating the patient as a guest in the office,” said one respondent.

We also asked dentists what communication methods they use to stay in touch with their patients.

Appointment reminders/postcards 90%
Regular US Postal mailings 35%
Email patient newsletter 31%

Urban, suburban and rural dentists Geographic location also played a particularly interesting role.

Two out of three urban dentists in this survey do regular mailings.

Half of suburban dentists do.

Only one in five rural dentists reports doing so.

What else do dentists think about internal marketing?

For more insight, check out these comments!

“It’s a complete waste of time. Patients ask not to send them any more junk mail. This is not the 1970′s.” (California dentist)
“Dentists must offer these services and make it known to their patients that they do, otherwise patients will seek it elsewhere.” (Illinois dentist)
“Most of the marketing that is successful in the no-growth area that I live in is distasteful to me. Internal marketing to my own patients works well and is cost-effective.” (New York prosthodontist)
“Profitable enough, but very competitive.” (South Korea dentist)

Read the complete patient retention marketing survey results or post your own comments on this story.