Strategies To Deliver New Patients Fast

Direct Mail

Direct Mail is the best way to accomplish this in an expedient way. Nothing else has the ability to directly target those people who live in close proximity to your practice - who are most likely to come there.  A direct mail piece has a very high likelihood of getting in the hands of one head of household: no other marketing has the same level of penetration.

Direct mail gets people to do things quicker - it activates the consumer that needs your services but would not make it a priority until later without it. If you are not the one that has activated them - your competitors are then more likely to get them - by searching online or flipping through the Yellow Pages.

You should send as many as your budget requires as often as possible. Four times per year is a minimum (to same household) and every other month is probably sufficient. 

PPC

PPC - Pay Per Click online advertising is a fast way to find patients that are "currently" looking for a dentist. However, each community has different levels of online activity. 

Often the bidding process is complex and in larger metro areas requires significant funds to activate a large number of responses. I believe it should be a supplementary source for most dentists - especially if their online presence/website is fairly rudimentary and if significant competition will make your presence a much more costly endeavor.

Newspaper Inserts

Newspaper Inserts - have some benefits over direct mail - the cost is often much lower, which can help with frequency and consistency. 

But penetration of a newspaper insert is less specific and can miss many homes that either do not read their "free newspaper" (if that is the type of paper in your area) or do not get the paper if it is a paid subscription (and fewer people are getting the newspaper).  The insert is better than an ad because full color is more affordable and the insert is not "stuck" on a page they might not read.

Dental Marketing Treatment Plan Recommendation

The best case scenario is to combine all three of these in a campaign (along with developing a website if you do not have one). It is not something you need to do all at once - but to build up to a "complete strategy" should be the goal. 

Think of it as "quadrant or phases" dentistry - all quadrants should be restored at some point and maintained - but getting started is more important than putting off everything until restoration is considerably more complex and expensive. 

While some practices will need other strategies - to overcome significant competitive and economic challenges or to achieve a leadership image - the three noted above plus a website - can propel most practices into the next level of revenue they desire.

We are looking forward to helping you have a Gr8 2008!

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