Attracting new customers with direct mail remains a tried-and-true method for your dental practice to earn new customers, as long as it’s done right.
Direct mail allows you to deliver a targeted message to your audience with a personal touch and can help enhance any digital marketing efforts, as well.
If you need reassurance that direct mail is still thriving, just take a look at the numbers.
In 2019, consumers engaged with 91% of all direct mail, and by 2020, this figure had risen to 96%. So, direct mail is, in fact, increasing in effectiveness, according to the UK Data Marketing Association. Direct mail also helps facilitate a multi-pronged marketing strategy.
Direct mail drove 87% of consumers to make online purchases and prompted 92% of customers to learn more about a business by conducting research online.
To reap the benefits of direct mail marketing, it is essential to take a targeted approach and incorporate the latest advances in technology.
Here are just a few ways to make certain your direct mail campaign converts in a digital world.
REACH THE RIGHT AUDIENCE
One of the advantages of using direct mail is the ability to reach your target demographic with a personalized message. Using Every Door Direct Mail to blanket nearby zip codes with postcards can help add new customers, but targeting potential customers by income, age, and household size can increase your return on investment.
Dentistry offices can also send direct mail reminders to customers who missed a six-month visit or to advertise tooth whitening specials to current patients.
ACTIVATE THE SENSES
One of the hallmarks of direct mail postcards is their low cost and simple design. Savvy brands are kicking up their direct mail efforts and incorporating innovations in technology to help their campaigns stand out. Companies are adding sensory components to their mailers, such as textured paper or visual effects.
Some companies are even using scented paper to make potential customers take a second look.
NEW MOVER MARKETING
Having the right mailing list is essential to ensure your campaign converts. Whether you are adding new customers or reminding existing patients to schedule an appointment, having a list that is up-to-date makes all the difference.
New mover marketers rely on a list of new residents to help dentistry practices capture new movers before they form loyalties with the competition.
Nearly 27.1 million people moved in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
As part of new mover marketing, new residents receive an upscale welcome package filled with proven offers from local businesses shortly after they arrive at their new home.
Having a gift certificate to the local pizza shop or the offer of a free cleaning at a nearby dentist’s office is a welcome relief for new customers who are busy unpacking boxes, starting new jobs, and helping children adjust to a new neighborhood.
My company, Our Town America, uses a multi-step approach to ensure its new mover lists are accurate. We have a long history of managing new mover marketing mailing lists and the expertise in data management to receive and store large blocks of data from up to 11 sources nationwide each month.
We standardize the list for postal validation and scrub it for redundancies to eliminate duplicate addresses.
In addition to providing a service to new residents, new mover marketing is easy to track. Redemptions can be tracked at point-of-sale or at your leisure to confirm your return on investment. Our Town America also takes this opportunity to send new residents a thank you postcard with a second proven offer to encourage repeat visits.
The outbreak of the pandemic caused dentistry practices to revamp their safety protocols and in-office procedures. Complying with new guidelines required a steep learning curve.
After two years of change, being able to rely on a trusted marketing approach is a welcome relief. Direct mail marketing is a surefire technique to help you rebuild your practice and provide a valuable service to patients.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After serving our country as a US Army Medic, Michael Plummer, Jr. returned to the family business (Our Town America – the nation’s premier New Mover Marketing franchise started by his father in 1972) in 2001 to work in the IT department. More than fifteen years later, Plummer now leads the business as its CEO and CTO – using his extensive technology/data experience to make Our Town America the savviest analytical player in the industry.
A technology expert with more than 15 years of leadership experience, Michael Plummer, Jr. has helped Our Town America establish itself as the nation’s fastest-growing and most successful New Mover Marketing franchise. With dozens of franchise partners located from coast to coast, Our Town America helps thousands of local business spark long-term, loyal relationships with countless new movers each and every year.
