The Top 5 Ways to Get More Dental Patients with Direct Mail

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

How to Get More Patients with Direct Mail

My company is one of the largest direct mail providers in the country, and for the past decade plus, we have been tracking the results of every campaign our clients send. This includes the campaigns of more than 2,400 dental practices both small and large all across the country.

From the data we’ve collected, I can tell you exactly what mailing strategies have worked for your peers. This means I can tell you exactly how to get the same results for your practice.

We have tracked and analyzed the results of thousands of dental direct mail campaigns to figure out exactly what works and what doesn’t. The results of this decade plus of research are yours for free.

Here are the top 5 successful marketing actions for dentists:

1. Offer Matters Most

The most important element of a dental postcard design is the offer. Nothing does more to impact response. What is a good offer, you ask? Well, based on our tracking, here are nine good ones. Simply pick the one that best fits your practice:

  • FREE Whitening for new Patients
  • Complimentary Exam
  • $25 Children’s Cleaning & Exam
  • $250 off Laser Whitening
  • FREE Consultation & X-Rays
  • FREE Children’s Cleaning + Check-up
  • $59 Exam, Full Set of X-Rays and Cleaning
  • FREE Sonicare Electric Toothbrush with New Patient Exam, Cleaning + X-Rays.
  • $150 off Any Restorative Procedure (fillings, crowns, root canals, etc.)

2. Make the Offer Easy to Spot

This might sound like an obvious follow-up to the first point, but it’s often overlooked in importance. Our research finds that postcards with the offer printed on both sides perform significantly better than those with the offer featured on only one side. Put the offer on both sides and you’ll be on your way to success.

3. Include a Picture of the Dentist and His or Her Bio

People like to know with whom they will be dealing (i.e. whose hands will be in their mouth), and this info helps them connect to the practice. Our data shows postcards with a picture and short biography of the dentist performed better than those without this information.

4. Simple 3-Step Format

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with your design. Just stick to what works. Your messaging should accomplish the following three goals as quickly and clearly as possible:

  • This card is from a dentist! (It should be obvious within 2 seconds what kind of business the card is from)
  • Here is my offer!
  • This is what I look like and a little about me!

Accomplish those goals and you are golden.

5. Bigger is better

Our most successful dental campaigns use 6x8” postcards or larger. Practices that mail 4x6” cards generally don’t get the same level of response, even if the design and offer are the same. By and large, dentists are heavy marketers; you need to stand out.

Voila! Proven marketing data that can help grow your practice. I test and track all the marketing I use for my own business, and I believe in passing on what I learn. This data is ready for application to your campaigns. 

Want to see these concepts in action? My company has compiled a report of real dental marketing successes that’s free for you to download.

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