3 Keys to Dental Practice Postcard Marketing

Joy Gendusa

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Postcard marketing can seem like a complicated process, but there are some basic fundamentals you can learn to start getting results for your dental practice right away.

The more experienced you get, the more tricks you’ll learn; but these 3 fundamentals are the necessary building blocks to a perfect postcard marketing campaign. The Big Three of postcard marketing are Size, Design, and List. When you get these three correct, you’ll start bringing in new patients right off the bat.

Let’s breakdown The Big Three of Postcard Marketing…

Size

“What size postcard do I need?”

“Can I get away with a smaller card?”

“What is the benefit of a bigger card anyway?”

The size of your postcard is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when setting up your marketing campaign. It plays the biggest role in catching the eyes of your prospective patients and capturing their attention. After all, the bigger a card is, the easier it is to see. Depending on your area, the dental industry can be quite competitive, so you need to make your cards stand out amongst the other marketing materials in your prospective patients’ mailboxes.

With most direct mail companies, you’ll get a few size options, usually something similar to this: Small (4x6), Medium (5x8), and Large (6x11). You need a variety of sizes to find the best one for your practice.

Not sure what size you need? Answer these questions to find out:

1. How much do other dental practices market?
   1. Not at all/I’m the only one (You can lean towards a smaller card)
   2. Light to Moderate Amount (Lean toward a larger card)
   3. Moderate to Heavy Amount (You need a large card)
2. Do your competitors also mail postcards?
   1. No (You can lean towards a smaller card)
   2. Yes (You need a large card)
3. How much explaining does your offer require?
   1. Not that much/Easy to grasp  (Smaller card is fine)
   2. A little background info (Medium should do the trick)
   3. A lot/Details are important (Go big or go home)

Design

Getting their attention is just the start. The design of your card needs to keep that attention, so your marketing message has time to do its work. You’re going to be competing with bills, letters, and most likely other postcards, so you need to take care when designing your card or approving its design.

Here are the 10 elements every marketing postcard needs to be successful:

1. Clear Headline
2. Supporting Graphic
3. Color that Pops
4. Intriguing Sub-Headings on the back that lead into benefits
5. Benefits!
6. Enticing Offer
7. Practice Name and Logo
8. Call to Action and/or expiration date for the offer
9. Contact Information – website, map, phone number
10. Return Address

Elements 1-3 turn your prospective patients’ attention into interest in what the rest of your card has to say. In Elements 4-6 you take the customer from interested to intrigued by growing their interest level with sub-headings and packing your copy with the benefits you offer your patients. Then, you give them an offer they can’t refuse. Not like the Godfather, but an offer that is actually too valuable to pass up. Elements 7-10 seal the deal. Once the reader is intrigued enough to call your office, you need to make sure they have every opportunity to do so. Give them all the contact information you have (phone number, mailing address, email address, website, social media, etc).

Finally, you absolutely must end with a call-to-action. People are busy. If you don’t tell them exactly how they can take advantage of your special offer, they won’t take the initiative to find out.

List

The mailing list you choose to send your postcards to is a critical aspect of your postcard marketing efforts. This can’t be overstated.

If you send postcards to people who don’t have the need for—or the means to take advantage of—your dental services, your response will be terrible, and you’ll be wasting money investing in the postcards and the postage. The good news is you can find out exactly who needs your services, because they have already chosen you.

Your current patient list tells you who your ideal patient is. Look at your patients. What do they have in common? With postcard marketing, you can get really specific. You can target households with children from the ages of 7-18 with a household income over $100,000 if that’s your ideal patient. You can target as narrowly as you want. The more narrow the target the more relevant and compelling you can make your postcards.

Postcard marketing is proven to bring in major revenue returns for dental practices. I’ve seen it work time and time again for our 3,442 (and counting) dental practice clients when they have a firm grip on these 3 fundamentals. Put these principles in place, and enjoy the results they bring your practice!