As you probably already know, marketing your dental practice in today’s world requires digital marketing such as SEO, Pay Per Click, and a strong website. However, that doesn’t mean you can neglect traditional print advertising. In particular, direct mail (specifically postcard marketing for dentists), is an inexpensive, high-ROI way to market your practice.
Listen to this blog post:
There
are a lot of dental postcard marketing services out there, and it can
be tricky to figure out how they compare in terms of price and services
provided.
For example, some companies do all the work
for you, from designing and printing to mailing and tracking, while
others offer a more DIY approach, where they print the card you designed
and you can take it from there. Read on to learn about the top dental
postcard marketing services and how they compare.
First things first: A note about EDDM & Dental Postcards
EDDM, or Every Door Direct Mail,
is an option available to dentists who do direct mail postcard
marketing. It is a program offered by the United States Postal Service
where you can get a deeply discounted postage rate by opting to deliver
your postcards to every address on a particular postal route. It’s a
great way for dentists to target their mailings to a particular area,
and you don’t have to purchase a mailing list.
A few things about EDDM:
- Your mail piece must be taller than 6.125" or longer than 11.5" and smaller than 12”x15"
- There is a 5,000 item per day mailing limit
- You have to be willing to accept a delivery time of 7-14 business days
You
can arrange EDDM yourself — for example, you can have a postcard
marketing company create the postcards for you, and then you take the
postcards to the post office yourself. Alternatively, some postcard
marketing services will arrange EDDM for you. If a postcard marketing
service has an “EDDM option,” this typically means they will help you
choose the right routes to target, prepare the postcards in accordance
to EDDM regulations, complete all the required postal paperwork, and pay
the EDDM postage.
Overview:
Postcard
Builder is an all-in-one direct mail company that also creates custom
brochures and many other marketing materials. Postcard Builder has many
postcard options to choose from, including digital variable printing and
perforation. The service’s First-Class mail option is overpriced, but
their EDDM rate is very reasonable.
Design:
Yes — Free graphic design service on all orders over 500 postcards
Printing:
Yes — 3 Sizes: Standard, Oversize and Jumbo (no “print only” option for postcards)
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Postcards shipped First Class, unless you choose the EDDM option
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
Yes
Pricing:
$0.57 each
for 2,500 standard sized postcards with a 2-day turnaround (First Class
mail option). This is kind of a lot, but the EDDM option is terrific at
only $0.32 each for 2,500 standard postcards
The Takeaway:
Postcard
Builder is a decent general direct mail company with lots of options,
though their First Class mail option is rather expensive. However, you
can get a great deal if you use the EDDM option.
Overview:
123
Postcards is an all-in-one dental direct mail marketing company. Their
all-inclusive price includes postage, as well as call tracking and
monitoring. They also offer 100% exclusivity to your practice (in your area) and a risk-free guarantee (guaranteed ROI).
Design:
Yes — Custom design included in price
Printing:
Yes — All cards have full color on both sides, with 2-4 day turnaround
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Postage is included in the price (see below) and cards have a targeted start-of-the-week delivery
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes — Included in price
Tracking:
Call tracking, monitoring, reporting
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
No
Price:
$.399 - $.459/card, or around $1,000 for 2,500 cards. They acknowledge that $0.44/card
is a little pricier than some other postcard marketing companies, but
they cite the many added services they offer, including a targeted
mailing list, included in this price.
The Takeaway:
This
is an excellent company to use if you want a service that does
everything for you and that specifically works with dentists. Some other
benefits include their quick turnaround with start-of-the-week
delivery, full-color on both sides of the card, call tracking and
monitoring, inclusion of a mailing list, exclusivity guarantee, and a
guaranteed return on your investment.
Overview:
Vistaprint is an
easy and affordable way to design your own dental postcard mailers,
especially if you just want to make a small batch and mail them
yourself. Vistaprint doesn’t offer too much in the way of added
services, and their mailing services are kind of pricey, but they work
well for a small-scale DIY approach.
Design:
Yes — Upload your own, customize a pre-made design, or have one custom-designed
Printing:
Yes — One-side and two side color options; multiple size options
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Mailing services cost extra
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
No — But they sell some other online services, including Facebook ads
EDDM option:
No
Price:
The cost to print, address, and ship 2,500 cards (First Class, 5-12 business days) with Vistaprint comes out to about $0.49/card.
This is pretty expensive. However, if you only print your cards with
Vistaprint, the service is quite affordable. For example, you can print
2,500 oversized postcards (7” x 5”) for a total cost of $314
($0.125/card), and then take them to the post office yourself and ship
them EDDM — usually about $0.16 per piece. It’s a little more work for
you but $0.29/card is not too shabby.
The Takeaway:
VistaPrint
is a good DIY option if you want to do a small batch of postcards and
then mail them yourself. If you want mailing services too, Vistaprint is
a little too expensive for what you get.
Overview:
Modern
Postcard is a quality direct mail company that provides most of the
services you’d expect — printing, addressing, mailing, and targeted
mailing lists for purchase. They also offer integrated email marketing
and some special services like Variable Data Printing (personalized postcards) and corporate level plans for large-scale, ongoing campaigns.
Design:
Yes — Customize one of their templates or use their design/layout services (for added $100/hour fee)
Printing:
Yes — Standard, jumbo, and square options, 4-day turnaround time
Addressing and mailing:
Yes
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
Integrated email marketing (for additional fee)
EDDM option:
No
Price:
Smallest
package is 3,000 standard-sized postcards (color on one side) for $325,
plus another $1,043 for them to address and mail the cards using bulk
shipping. That’s $1,368 or about $0.46 per mailed card. The price does not include a mailing list, email marketing, or custom postcard design.
The Takeaway:
If
you need personalized mailers or corporate-level dental direct mail,
this might be a good option. Otherwise, they are on the pricier side,
especially considering that the base price doesn’t include a mailing
list or other added benefits such as custom design or online marketing
for dentists.
Overview:
Cactus
Mailing is a very affordable direct mail service that includes added
services like call tracking. They also have an EDDM option and
experience with dental postcard marketing.
Design:
Yes — Custom designs starting at $150
Printing:
Yes
— All postcards are full color both sides, printed on environmentally
friendly materials. Jumbo sizes available. 5/6-day turnaround time.
Addressing and mailing:
Yes
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
Call tracking
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
Yes
Pricing:
$139 for 2,500 cards, plus $0.36 for each standard-sized mailed card. That’s about $0.42 per mailed card
(better rates available for higher-volume). If you want to the cards to
be sent to one of their targeted lists, it will cost you another $0.25
to $0.50 per card, depending on the type of list, quantity, etc. Even
better rates are available for EDDM; learn more about their pricing here.
Cactus Mailing also offers a Best Price Guarantee, meaning they will match the price of a competitor.
The Takeaway:
With
price-matching, dental experience, and call tracking, this is a very
solid direct mail service for dentists. Their turnaround time is on the
longer side, but otherwise, Cactus Mailing is a good all-in-one direct
mail company.
Overview:
Like
123 Postcards, HMFusion is a dental industry-specific direct mail
company. The all-inclusive service includes just about everything in one
affordable package — design, printing, mailing list, call tracking, and
more. HMFusion also provides a guaranteed 200% return on your
investment and great prices for large jobs.
Design:
Yes — Custom design included in price
Printing:
Yes — Yes, all cards are oversized (6” x 12”) and printed on heavy 16 pt. card stock
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Mailing services and postage included in price; 48-hour delivery
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes — Targeted mailing list included in price
Tracking:
Call tracking
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
No
Pricing:
Smallest package is 5,000 6” x 12” dental postcards for $0.45/piece. (Call for custom pricing; more info here.)
The Takeaway:
HMFusion offers a great price for all-in-one dental postcard marketing —
even the mailing list is included, as is tracking. They offer industry
expertise and an ROI guarantee. There are fewer postcard options than
some other services, but some dentists might actually prefer this since
all the major choices are made for you.
Overview:
Postcard
Mania is an all-in-one direct mail provider, offering affordable
postcard marketing for dentists with integrated online marketing
features. Postcard Mania will design your postcard, address it, mail it,
and then follow up with automated emails and online followup ads. They
also offer targeted mailing lists for purchase and EDDM services.
Design:
Yes
— You can purchase an original design for $99 or $199, or you can also
choose from pre-made designs that you can customize with your logo
Printing:
Yes — Standard, Jumbo, Colossal, and custom size options available, with option for color on one side or both sides
Addressing and mailing:
Yes
— The cost of addressing/mailing service is $0.05 per piece, plus
$0.275 - $0.284/card for postage on standard-size (4.26” x 6”) postcards
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
Yes — Mail tracking (to notify you when postcards are received), online tracking, call tracking
Online marketing integration:
Yes — Recipients receive followup emails and online ads
EDDM option:
Yes
Price:
Cheapest
option for 2,500 standard full-color (one-side) postcards is $289.
(Plus, another $125 or so to address and mail this number of cards).
This comes out to about $0.11/card, but for higher volume you can get a
price closer to $0.06/card. With postage, mailing 2,500 standard-sized
postcards comes out to about $0.43/card. (You save
about $0.03/card on shipping if you choose the EDDM option.) This price
does not include tracking services; you need to call for a custom quote
to get those prices. Find more pricing information here.
The Takeaway:
This affordable service offers lots of options and straightforward prices. They have specific expertise with dental practices
and are one of the few dental postcard marketing services that offers
online tracking and followup online ads, as well as call tracking.
Overview:
Automated campaigns, personalized mailings, and dental marketing campaigns
are a few of the useful options offered by Express Copy. Express Copy
also provides an unbeatable same-day turnaround. They offer custom
design services via their customer support team. They are the most
expensive option on this list.
Design:
Yes
— Use one of their customizable templates or upload your own design, or
email or call customer service and work with them for a custom design.
Printing:
Yes — Multiple size and paper options; print-only option (with no mailing services). Same-day turnaround.
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Print-only, print-and-address, and print-address-and-post options
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes — $0.10 per lead
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
Yes
Pricing:
Prices
range from about $0.50 to $1.00 per mailed card, depending on quantity,
size of card, mailing option, etc. For example, they can send out 2,500
“block” cards (6.125" x 8.25”), color one side, EDDM, for $0.70 apiece,
or 2,500 standard postcards mailed First Class to your own list for the
same price (for the standard, First Class option, both are sides
full-color).
At about $0.28/apiece (for 2,500 standard-sized cards) the print-only option is not a great deal, either.
The Takeaway:
Express
Copy is not the cheapest by any means but offers lots of options. The
service has dental expertise with options for ongoing campaigns.
Depending on your printing and mailing needs, you may find Express Copy
too expensive.
Overview:
PrintingforLess
is a reputable direct mail company providing multiple postcard printing
options and decent prices for print-only or EDDM — and their online EDDM route selector tool is quite handy. Their First Class mail options are rather high-priced, however.
Design:
Yes — Design your own from a free template or pay extra for their graphic design services
Printing:
Yes — 4-day turnaround
Addressing and mailing:
Yes
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
Yes — Use EDDM route selector when you place you order
Pricing:
You
can print your cards for low price of $0.09/card for printing 2,500
cards, but when you add in mailing services, the cost goes up to about $0.46 apiece
to mail 2,500 standard-size, color one-side cards (First Class, to your
own addresses). EDDM brings the shipping cost down significantly, but
it ends up costing about the same (around $0.46/card) due to the larger
postcard size (6.25” x 9”) and paper specifications used for this type
of mailing.
The Takeaway:
PrintingforLess
does numerous kinds of print jobs, including different types postcard
mailers and EDDM. They are geared mostly toward large-scale enterprises,
but they make it quick and easy to place an order online. For dentists,
they can provide a very good deal if you want to do print-only.
Overview:
This company is unique in that they offer label and mailing services
separately, which allows you to print out your postcards somewhere
else. They also print cards, but it’s nice to have the option to do
things piecemeal if needed. Direct mail services include design,
printing, mailing, including postage. You can use your own list, buy one
of their lists, or use their EDDM option.
Design:
Yes — Custom postcard design included in “bulk mailing” packages
Printing:
Yes — Standard, large, and jumbo sizes, 2-color or 4-color; they do print-only jobs through their 3000 Door Hangers website
Addressing and mailing:
Yes — Order label and mail only, or order this service as part of a bulk mailing package
Mailing lists for purchase:
Yes — $0.04 per lead with $50 minimum
Tracking:
No
Online marketing integration:
No
EDDM option:
Yes
Prices:
Standard postcard, full color, EDDM: $0.42/per card
Standard postcard, full color, sent to your own list (or one of their lists, not including the list price): $0.52/card
The Takeaway:
Print,
Label and Mail is an easy-to-use direct mail service with print-only,
mail-only, and all-in-one direct mail services. However, the price is
rather high and they do not include tracking or online integration, and a
mailing list will cost you extra.
Compare At-a-Glance
In
this chart, you can see all of these ten dental direct mail companies
compared at a glance. You can see how affordable they are, whether they
offer postcard tracking (online tracking or call tracking), whether they
offer integrated online marketing (such as followup emails or ads), and
whether they offer a print-only option (allowing you to mail the
postcards yourself or with another service).
Conclusion
As
a dentist preparing a postcard direct mail marketing campaign, your
choice of direct mail service will depend on factors such as your
marketing goals, your budget, and how much of the work you want to do
yourself, if any. We believe this overview will provide you with the
main pieces of information you need to pick the best service to create
and mail your dental marketing postcards.
For more information on direct mail and postcard marketing for dentists, check out our blog posts Secrets to Success with Direct Mail and 4 Reasons Medical Professionals Should Advertise Using Direct Mail.