Dentists as marketers

Today's direct mail piece is from a local dentist. Since the advent of teeth whitening, bleaching and cosmetic dentistry, most of which are not covered by traditional insurance plans, dentists have become marketers. These cosmetic procedures are big money-makers for dentists, so it pays to have a solid marketing program. The piece I received is so chock full of information that my first instinct was to throw it out. An effective direct mail piece should be brief, uncluttered and have a specific, appealing call to action. A typical recipient might give a piece 20 seconds or less before getting rid of it. This piece, unfortunately, does not accomplish the clear, enticing call to action.


My suggestion to this dentist is to not fear "white space." White space is that clean, straight-forward look that a direct mail piece will have when words and images do not completely cover it. There is just too much going on. http://www.fundraisingsuccessmag.com/article/white-space-akin-fresh-air-direct-mail-letters-31762_1.htmlPerhaps, a postcard would be a more economical format. As the recipient, I do not know what to look at first in the current format.


Another suggestion is to target the list. There is mention of a special rate for a children's exam. Perhaps, send a postcard to those who have young children with this offer.

Further, I would recommend a postcard format with a specific enticing and easily actionable call to action. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-operate-an-effective-direct-mail-campaign.htmlIn this case, the dentist wants to offer free teeth whitening to new patients, as a way to get the patient in the door (so to speak). I envision a postcard with brief descriptions of the dentist's stellar credentials, the services she offers and a coupon, including a phone number, website address and street address, with the free teeth whitening offer. Once the potential patient is in her office, the dentist can (soft) sell her other services. A demonstration of her services in the office would be a more effective marketing technique than trying to sell all of her services all at once on a direct mail piece.

The dentist's office should also have a way to track the effectiveness of this campaign. Perhaps, the office staff answering the phone should ask how the potential patient heard about the offer. Later, the dentist should track how many referrals came from this promotion and how much business can be attributed to this direct mail piece. (Perhaps, the dentist is already doing this.)



With a little marketing expertise, I think that dentists could build their businesses.
(I won't even go into the fact that the piece was addressed to: Mr. Dana A. Krug. Yes, MR., when I am clearly not a Mr. This leads me to believe that the list the dentist recommended was not a high quality one.)