When you are running a small dental practice, it can be very difficult for you to create awareness about your practice with little or no budget at all. In order for you to grow your practice and gain more patients, you need to factor in new competitors who may have a more aggressive campaign than you, lack of marketing, poor reputation and overall scarceness of resources. All of these things can hinder the growth of your practice and may even lead to the decline in the number of your patients.

As a dentist, being responsible for taking care of the dental health of your patients at the same time having to take care of your practice’s marketing campaign is a no non-sense job. In order to help you out with this daunting task, here are a few inexpensive ways for you to spread awareness regarding your practice.

1. Contribute to Local Homeowner’s Association

Tie up with local homeowners’ associations and offer to write articles or tips to them. These associations often have community bulletins or newsletters which are often running low on material. You can offer to write a couple of articles for them weekly or give talks regarding dental health. You’re not only creating awareness for your practice but you are also building trust and confidence among your prospective patients.

2. Contribute to Local Chamber of Commerce

You can also approach local chambers of commerce and offer to provide education information to the small businesses in your community. You can talk about occupational situations wherein these employees’ dental safety is at stake.

3. Run Inexpensive Local Paper Ads

Try running inexpensive advertisements in your local community paper. You can also offer to write articles or have advertorials, a mix between advertisements and editorials.

4. Befriend Local Realtors

Make friends with the realtors in your community and target new families who are moving into your community. Chances are that these newly transferred families do not have a dentist in their new area yet. You can ask realtors to refer you to these families and individuals when they are in the process of buying a new house. You can provide brochures or business cards for these realtors to give out.

5. Participate in an “Ask Dr. X” Column in Local Paper

Persuade your local newspaper to come up with a “health” section to their website. You can show your support by being available for interviews or questions should any healthcare related queries suddenly come up. You can also provide tips to readers who send in their questions or run a column.

Your Ideas

These ideas are just scratching the surface. Do you have additional low-cost methods of raising awareness for dental practices? Please share in a comment below.

When people are headed off to see their dentist the trip is often filled with anxiety, whether from anticipated pain or merely the unknown of what is actually the cause of their malady. In order to attract new patients and retain one’s current ones, dentists need to make sure that the physical office environment works in tandem with the overall branding and marketing to convey a soothing and comforting message. Of course, the message and interior also need to project competence so as to instill patients and prospects with confidence.

Strive for Consistent Branding Strategy

This is no easy task. So often dentists hire one firm to design a website for them, another to create a logo, a third to assist with print advertising, and yet another to design their office interior – none of which are ever introduced to one another or encouraged to work together as a team. Successful entrepreneurs however, realize that all of these players need to work together in concert, with a single branding message and mission in mind if they are going to achieve a positive return on investment. The goals of attracting new patients, reducing patient turnover, and increasing referrals will only be achieved if the experience patients have when visiting the website is repeated when calling to make an appointment and reinforced when stepping through the front door for the actual exam. If at any time along this path the experience changes or fails to live up to expectations, the confidence level falls, and the anxiety level rises increasing the risk for a cancelled appointment or a failure to return for future service.

Keep Brand Shapers Involved

Now, this doesn’t mean that one necessarily has to hire a redesign of the website, office, logo, and other advertising materials at the same time. While that might be the ideal scenario, as small business owners we all know that budgets rarely allow for all of these projects to happen at once. What it does mean is that once a branding message has been establishing for the practice, all future players working on aspects of the marketing for the business should be introduced to and expected to collaborate with the marketing team that developed the branding message so that the new pieces will be designed to fit seamlessly into the overall strategy and work to reinforce that which has come before.

Be sure to check out MaKenzie’s previous post post which is full of tips for setting up a postcard process targeted to retaining current patients.

Why Target New Movers?

New movers are an ideal audience to target in a dental postcard marketing campaign, since dentists are among the top services that people search for when relocating to a new area. Your postcard campaign can help those new movers check one more item off of their to-do list and bring you a new patient—or a whole family of new patients! In this post we’ll use our trusty Create-Target-Mail method to devise best practices for new mover mailings in a dental postcard marketing campaign.

Create

New movers are a different target audience than those mentioned in the first two posts in this series. Individuals and families that have recently moved are adjusting to a new environment, so make it easy for them by welcoming them into your office and your community with the following tips.

• Use “new mover” images to grab the recipients’ attention. This type of mailing has become widely practiced in many industries, and new movers look out for deals and discounts for new residents.
• Your copy should include a “welcome to the neighborhood” message. It may sound cliché, but a greeting that accepts someone new into the community is courtesy that is still appreciated.
• Consider an extended expiration date. If you typically set coupon or offer expiration dates for one month later, ponder giving a new mover six weeks from the mail date. They are still in transition mode, and it may take them a little longer to respond than normal.

Target

• Targeting a new mover list is relatively simple. If you are using an online, automated postcard marketing service, you can rent this list easily, but there are still strategies that should go into targeting this list.
• Choose a postcard service that has access to more detailed list options; you can sort by median income and even dwelling units if certain demographics are more relevant to your practice.
• Some New Mover lists include available phone numbers. You can utilize these to follow up on your mailing recipients should you choose to do so.
• If you live in a metropolitan area where commuting is common, target neighboring communities and zip codes. Today, busy people often squeeze dentist appointments between work and soccer games, so they choose a dentist based on proximity to the new office, school, or daycare.

Mail

The nice thing about online postcard marketing services is that you don’t have put much thought or work into your mailing process. Similar to our previous posts’ mail segments, here are some helpful tips:

• Consider your mailing date. If you’re considering direct mail campaigns for your future marketing plan, you may want to schedule New Mover mailings in the summer, when more families are likely to try and get settled before school starts—this will give you more candidates for your list! People are also less likely to move over the holidays.
• Use the tip in our first post again and use seed addresses. This gives you an additional alert to when your postcards have arrived to the new movers—if it is a day or two earlier or later than anticipated, you’ll be able to tie this to marketing results like leads through phone calls or website visits.
• The 250 minimum postcard discount should still always be considered. If your provider’s site does not pull a minimum of 250 addresses in its new mover data search, be sure it’s pulling data from as far back as possible—usually as much as 90 days. Even if someone moved 60 days ago or more, there’s a good chance they may still have not selected a regular dentist.

Final Thoughts

Thanks so much for checking out our guest post series for tips and best practices on your dental postcard marketing campaign! We’d love to hear your questions, comments, and past experiences with any acquisition, retention, or new mover postcard marketing.

To try designing your own dental postcard for free, visit Splash, the postcard marketing service powered by Bluewater.

Your thoughts

Have you created dental postcard campaigns targeted to new movers? Did you track your conversions? What were your experiences and results?

In case you missed it, check out MaKenzie’s previous post that highlighted the dental postcard marketing process.

When it comes to retention, some dentists think only of reminder postcard sent out to patients for their bi-annual cleaning. Though reminder cards are good, retention postcards with a broader strategy are more effective for keeping patients. Using a full service postcard marketing provider is becoming a more popular option for busy dentists that appreciate the quick Create-Target-Mail process. Let’s cover some great tips for retention postcards with this simple method.

Create

Retention cards are sent to your current patients, so make sure your card tells them you value their business by including the following elements.

• Retention postcards are a great place to use pictures of your own office or staff since they’re being sent to patients you’ve seen before. It can create and maintain a “familiar” feel about your office.
• Be sure to include and double check all your important contact information, but make your phone number the focus. For a busy individual, a phone number is easy to lose—it’s likely your card will be put on the refrigerator or office bulletin board for quick reference!
• Include an offer to boost response rates. We recommend coupons— the patient should bring the card back to redeem the offer, making your ROI more easily measurable!

Target

This target audience will be much more attentive to your message than the potential patients you mailed to in our last post. Your postcard will be seen as soon as it’s pulled from their mailboxes, so make every set of eyes count.

• To keep the best patient database possible, be sure that patients verify their contact information at every visit. The more accurate your address list is, the better your ROI on your direct marketing.
• Keep your offers specific to the demographic of patient you are mailing to. The offer you promote to senior patients will differ from younger patients. Verify that your list coincides with your offer.
• Try a mailing for lapsed patients that are overdue for their services. Offer a free product or service for those who make their appointment by a certain expiration date.

Mail

Save time and money on mailing your retention postcards by following a few simple tips that will make your campaign easier to execute.

• Choose your send date strategically. If the holidays are typically slow for your practice, mail your card in October, and include an end-of-the-month expiring offer.
• Again, consider the 250 minimum postage discount (Check out the previous post in this series for details). Don’t have 250 patients for your retention mailing? Go back to the “create” step and include a message that will work for both acquisition and retention, and add an acquisition list to your mailing.
• If you have more than 250 patients but want to be more selective with your list, implement a loyalty program for patients with that make frequent visits or are habitually punctual. Include a free gift offer to show your appreciation.

Regardless of the real statistics on the investment amount it takes to acquire a new patient versus retaining a new one, the bottom line is that investing in current patients is not only less expensive, but it builds value in your practice as you become known for being a very appreciative dentist. That reputation on its own is sure to build your practice a great patient base that appreciates you right back and will refer you to their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Your Thoughts

Does your practice have a retention program? How has it worked, and what new tactics will you implement?

To try designing your own dental postcard for free, visit Splash, the postcard marketing service powered by Bluewater.

In this series of three separate guest blog posts, we’ll be discussing the different direct mail type options dentists can take advantage of with postcard marketing, as well as sharing best practices in execution with an easy Create-Target-Send process.

Whether your dental practice is still in its infancy, or you are simply looking to gain a larger patient base, dental postcard marketing can expand your reach. Using the simple Create-Target-Mail process, here are some of the best practices for your next dental patient acquisition campaign with direct mail:

Create

The starting point of creating an acquisition postcard for your dental practice can be daunting—because, well, you’re a dentist, not a marketing guru. The key, surprisingly, is to keep your postcard simple.

• Focus on unique strengths. Do you specialize in pediatric dentistry? Have you implemented a payment plan for patients without insurance? The little things like this set you apart and can make your candidate choose you over the dentist down the street. HINT: If you’ve received a great compliment from a patient, ask permission to use their testimonial on your mail piece!
• Be sure to include vital contact information. Double and triple check that you’ve included your phone number, website URL, e-mail address, your office location, and even logos of the social networking sites you participate in. On your fourth check, be sure you have no typographical errors and your messaging is clear.
• Do include images, as they are a great way to make an emotional connection to potential patients, but don’t crowd your card with too many. Another HINT: People-centered images are best received. Also, to calm recipients that may have dental phobias–stick with smiling people NOT in dental chairs.

Target

Your mailing list has a substantial hand in the effectiveness of your patient acquisition campaign. Luckily, this step has been made even simpler by full service direct mail providers that include list building tools for you to use right on their website. Here are the best methods for targeting your recipients:

• Target a radius of your office. Convenience is still a huge factor for any consumer, whether it’s going to the dentist or picking up groceries. Take advantage of your convenience factor by mailing within a 1 to 3 mile radius of your practice.
• Target your entire zip code. This works especially well for smaller cities or practices centrally located within a community—consider yourself fortunate if your location is convenient for nearly everyone!
• Target a particular demographic. If a list with more specific demographics such as age and income seems pertinent, explore your list building options with your direct mail services provider!

Send

Sometimes just getting to the post office with a personal letter or a bill can be a hassle. Take this part of your campaign execution off your shoulders with the following tips:

• Use a “one-stop-shop” online direct mail services provider. They will send the postcards out for you and can even get postal discounts (next tip).
• Order a minimum of 250 postcards. A post-office wide discount means you’ll pay less postage per card. Many direct mail providers have made this a standard minimum to ensure the discount.
• Ask that your home and business addresses (and maybe those of another family member or friend) be included as a “seed” in your mailing. This way you can tell when it’s arrived to your recipients.

Bluewater Postcard Marketing Services

So there you have it, your best practices for acquiring new patients with dental postcard marketing. We’d love to hear your comments about what works for your dental office. To try designing your own dental postcard for free, visit Splash, the postcard marketing service powered by Bluewater.

Stay Tuned

In Part II of our dental postcard marketing series later this week, Bluewater is going to discuss the importance of retention postcards…you don’t want to miss their great tips, so sign up now to receive updates via e-mail or our Twitter for free!

Why? Because signage requires very little overhead. You determine the optimal signage placement around your building, design the sign(s), have the sign(s) constructed, install the signs and your done. Not only are signs largely a one-off expense, but they can effortlessly bring in new patients if done correctly. You can’t say that about most of the other things you’re doing to bring in new patients.

I thought it would be fun to show you some examples of the creative dental signage designs for your inspiration.

So, without further ado…here are the signs…

5 Inspirational Examples of Dental Practice Signage

1. Victoria Square Dental

Source: brandingblog.com

2. Ed Montgomery Dental Surgery

Source: danthonia.com.au

3. Beech Lake Pediatric Dentistry

Source: springvalleydesigns.com

4. Deerfield Family Dentistry

Source: springvalleydesigns.com

5. Big Smile Dental

Source: bigsmiledental.com

Your Favorite?

Which of these do you like best? Do you know of other inspirational examples of dental signage that we should know about? Point us to a photo if you can in a comment below.

The 8 jaw-dropping dental logos below stand out from the crowd and create a favorable first impression.

1. Country Living Dentistry

2. Robin Rutherford, DDS

3. Innovative Family Dental Health

4. Creative Dental Care, P.A.

5. City Dental

6. Huzur Oral & Dental Health Center

7. Garden City Dental

8. Dental Edge

Add to the List

Are you aware of any other jaw-dropping dental logos that should be added to the list? Let us know where we can see it in a comment below.