Direct Mail Doesn’t Work. Hah.
Fella just asked this question on DentalTown message boards:
I have a question about direct mail and post cards. I am ready to mail out post cards using postcardmania. Because of the time of year I am thinking I should wait until early January for the first mailing. I think if I start the first batch at this time of year it will not be as effective. Does anyone have any comments or experience they can share? Thanks!
Here were some of the responses:
1.) Post cards are not on my list of the top 20 things I have done to market my practice – I don’t do them, they were never as effective as many, many, many other things.
We will top 200 new patients this month in my practice…
2.) I definately agree that sending out postcards right now would not be nearly effective as other times. With the holidays coming up, most people are not thinking about, or are concerned with their dental health. Scheduling one for a “New Years special” would be the way to go. Getting it sent out the first week of January would be ideal. People are all about “New Year’s resolutions” and having a great smile can be added to that list.
3.) Mailings were never effective in my office either. I spent over $20,000 on one campaign, and I got one new patient. When it was done I didn’t even own what I had printed. I was told that I could not legally distribute what I had left over. I was left with very expensive bird cage lining. In order to have a very effective postcard marketing campaign, you will need to do it over and over again. How much of a connection can you truly make with a postcard? Will you only find patients looking for a deal. Where does the mailing list come from? What is the quality of the list? How old is the list? There seem to be a lot of dentists in nearby Rochester, yet only one is on Facebook. Only a couple of them have reviews on their Google profiles. You have a lot of options out there. I would definitely think twice about the post cards.
Here’s my reply – as usual, the Business Anarchist approach, 180 degrees the opposite of the flow of traffic, but that’s one reason it’s so damn effective! Everyone believes it’s a poor time – because conventional wisdom says so…
I’m going to disagree with almost everyone here. I respect their opinions, but my experience is 180 degrees apart.
Postcards are effective year-round. The message and timing is critical.
We tie them, especially the day-after Thanksgiving, into holiday promotions. It gets people’s attention when they are tied into the holiday, ultimately using the holiday as an excuse to mail.
For over a decade as the only advertising firm in the US operating turn-key dental practices, advising our other 600+ clients around the U.S. in similar fashion with results that certainly merited the mailings…so much so that we do them every year. In fact, I just planned the day-after Thanksgiving drop of postcards today for my own office.
Postcards are effective to this day. And, I’m not selling them; I just hate to see only one side of the fence being painted.
In fact, just yesterday, I wrote an article on my blog about Social Media. It’s a great concept; use it myself (I’m on Twitter, have a linkedin.com account and a facebook account), but I invest TIME into it vs. MONEY with direct mail. it’s a trade-off and you merely decide what you want to give up – money or time. Sometimes time is OK, sometimes money. So mix the strategy and NEVER rely on just one thing to get the job done (putting butts in seats).
With direct mail, I can measure my ROI very, very accurately. With Social Media (SM), it’s fuzzier oftentimes – and it’s an intense time commitment. Not by my coaching, but if you want to see a guy that uses it to the hilt, get on Facebook and get friends with Robert Herron Jr. He’s got it down to a science and is very active.
All things considered, don’t fall for the illusion that Social Media, pay per click or whatever (even direct mail) is the panacea. I use all of it simultaneously. And, we also throw in a lot of public relations stuff, too.
Not to again plug my blog, but go there and you can read and download (without opting in) the whole plan and promotion we put together with the local Salvation Army for a holiday food and clothing drive. 26 patients and counting. Total cost: about 2 hours of my time. Upsides: giving back to the community, getting our brand/name out into the community (we did something similar with local kids in August), getting new pts in the door, etc. So many positive things. And the cost again, just 2 hours of my time total. You could invest maybe 15 minutes since I’ve created the process for you.
Direct mail (postcards, letters, flyers, free standing newspaper inserts) all built my practice – even insurance has been helpful. Just resist the temptation to be a one-trick pony. My old postcards are still building practices all over the US today as I write this! No reason they can’t work for you, too.
Last thing – and it’s really a disclaimer: You can take the best postcard in the world, but if it’s mailed to the wrong list, wrong side of town, even wrong day of the week, it can bomb. And, you can have the worst postcard in the world, lacking all but a phone number, and it can work like gangbusters if the community has a pent-up demand for your services. That alone can make a newbie in direct mail look like a hero! You have to have the message/market/media match.