Does Direct Mail Still Work For Dentists?
Direct mail has been the go-to strategy for dentists for decades. But does direct mail still work? Is spending money on your advertising budget with direct mail worth it? How does direct mail marketing work? And how does it compare to other dental marketing strategies?
The question ultimately comes down to is direct mail better than digital marketing. With television and radio ads being far too expensive, a comparison with digital marketing efforts is probably what most dentists question the most. And this is a great question because they answer may differ depending on which market you are competing in.
The best dental marketing strategies are ones that work time and again, and they are reliable. They’re ones that are predictably profitable. They’re ones that are flexible enough to allow you to target the exact types of patients you want to attract with that ad. The problem becomes in tougher and more competitive markets, these ads may be hit or miss. They may work at times, and at other times they may not work. That’s why tracking your advertising dollars is of utmost importance.
Is Direct Mail Worth It?
As familiar as it is, direct mail marketing has significant advantages and disadvantages over other strategies, such as Facebook marketing, Google Ads, and using dental marketing advertisements. Here are a few of the disadvantages:
For example, with Google Ads, you can have an ad up and running within thirty minutes. You don’t need to wait for graphic designers or delivery time. By simply understanding the platform, a lot of times you and your team can have an ad out on the internet within minutes. This is a huge plus in comparison with direct mail.
You can also target people with much more precision, such as people who visited your website, engaged with your landing pages, people who are located within a certain geographic zone, and more. You can get much more specific with your targeting on Google Ads than with direct mailing efforts.
You have virtually zero upfront costs with Google Ads. Signing up is free, and you can set an ad budget of a few dollars a day to test your posts. As your ads start performing, you can increase your budget from there.
What are the advantages of Direct Mail Advertising?
With direct mail you can really hit home and allow all those neighborhoods around you that don’t search for a dentist of dental service on the internet to know you are present. These same people can get ads giving them discount and high-quality services at your dental office. This is a huge plus because it rakes up all those new patients that would not have found you otherwise using digital marketing efforts.
Another major plus of direct mail services is the cost. You can reach thousands upon thousands of your friendly neighbors without having to break your bank in doing so. This way you can have a huge influx of new patients without having to spend thousands of more dollars with television or radio advertisements.
Direct mail campaigns also work great for individual dental services like dental implants, teeth whitening services, and Invisalign.
Direct Mail is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Make sure your direct mail team designs your products well, and always remember to track your results for maximum benefit.