3 case studies from real dental practices using DirectMail2.0
For the past two months,I have written feature articles for DE about an integrated marketing approach and the easiest way to achieve it—a new direct mail product available to dentists called DirectMail2.0. My first article looked at why marketing integration is something your practice needs if you want to maximize your marketing dollar.
In the second,I explained what DirectMail2.0 is:
• A direct mail campaign to generate the greatest number of leads
• Mail tracking so you will know exactly when your piece hits mailboxes
• Call tracking to record and save all calls/conversations that come in as a direct result of your mail piece (perfect for quality control and proof of campaign efficacy)
• And the real kicker: geo-targeted Google ads that are shown simultaneously to the same audience receiving your direct mail campaign (they'll see targeted ads from you all over the web for full market saturation)
In this article, it's time to take a look at the actual, real-life results generated by DirectMail2.0 campaigns.
Here is a full breakdown of the campaigns run by three separate dental practices from different parts of the country. You'll see exactly what they did, what results they got, and what part DirectMail2.0 played in the success.
Exhibit A
Amit Khanna, DMD, Hollywood, Maryland
Dr. Amit Khanna, a Sterling Management (sterling-management.com) client, is a dental practitioner in Hollywood, Maryland. He is an excellent marketer, always learning and evolving. So what does Dr. Khanna's direct mail strategy look like? Here is a breakdown of his campaign:
Mailing list: Homes in local zip codes with $20,000+ annual income
Mailing frequency: 6,000 cards once a month for two years, then 12,000 postcards once a month for two years, then 12,000 postcards once a month with DirectMail2.0
Design: He's used a couple different designs, but here's the
latest one:
If you're just looking at the graph, it looks great, right? Those are some amazing results! But what I want to do next is unpack all this data so that you can see the progress Dr. Khanna has made in just a few short years.
Here's a breakdown of Dr. Khanna's marketing spending (including postage) versus how many new patients he was bringing in:
• Mailing 6K/month: An average of 42 new patients/month, each costing $143
• Mailing 12K/month: An average of 83 new patients/month, each costing $63
• Mailing 12K/month PLUS DirectMail2.0: An average of 154 new patients/month, each costing $34
With the power of DirectMail2.0, Dr. Khanna is bringing in about three new patients for what it would have cost him to acquire just one without DirectMail2.0. Plus, with each of Dr. Khanna's new patients valued at $3,290 (a value of $2,000 in the first year + $300 per year for the next 6.4 years), the good doctor went from potentially earning an average of $273,070 per month to generating $506,660 with the DirectMail2.0 add on.
At this point you may be asking, "Will this still work for me if I don't have a huge history with mailing like this Dr. Khanna?" I present Exhibit B:
Exhibit B
Riverside Family Dental, Riverside, Iowa
Unlike Dr. Khanna, Riverside Family didn't have an extensive mailing history. So in this case study, we're looking at how DirectMail2.0 performed without the benefit of an established mailbox presence. Here are the details:
Mailing list: Homes in local zip codes
with $50,000+ annual income
Mailing frequency: 2,665 cards once per month
for five months
Design
This campaign produced 257 calls to Riverside's office, 47 of which turned into new patients. This amounted to $16,000 of immediate revenue for their practice!
Let's take this a step further and talk about lifetime patient value. We recently surveyed some of our dental clients and asked them what a patient spends with them on average in a year, and how many years most patients stick around. Out of the 41 who took the survey, 27 of them (66%) said a patient is worth between $1,000 and $6,000 per year. So, for two-thirds of you out there, this campaign would be worth a minimum of $47,000 and a maximum of $282,000, just for the first year! If a patient stays a minimum of six years, they could be worth anywhere from $282,000 to $1,692,000. Wowzers! On top of that, Riverside Family Dental achieved incredible exposure online - Total impressions (times their ads were viewed): 45,200
These impressions are the result of the Google online ads, and there is no doubt the "everywhereness" of their campaign had an impact on the number of calls they received. When you follow up using targeted ads online, you're still getting repeated exposure to the right audience but at a fraction of the price of other methods.
Exhibit C
Mountain Island Pediatric
What about pediatric dentists? You can get in on the fun too! Mountain Island Pediatric ran a great campaign that you can model your own campaign after. Here are the details:
Cards mailed: 30,000
Mailing list: 5,000 households in their area with children aged 2-17 and an annual income above $40,000
Mailing frequency: Once per month for six months (to the same list)
Design: See image
This campaign created 317 calls to the practice, which resulted in 108 new patients and $22,000 in immediate revenue, and the potential to generate anywhere from $108,000 to $648,000 in the first year alone. Plus, the practice's online marketing portion of the campaign was viewed 116,144 times, which was a huge boost for the awareness of the practice in the community.
There you have it. If you want to continue brainstorming ways to grow your practice, visit postcardmania.com/dentaldesigns to see postcard design ideas and request free samples. And don't forget: as a Dental Economics reader, you are entitled to 5,000 free dental postcards, printed by PostcardMania, as well as free samples of postcards that are working right now for other dental practices. Redeem online or call (844) 269-1836 today—free marketing advice for your practice is also included!
Joy Gendusa is the founder and CEO of PostcardMania. Using just postcards and her innate marketing savvy, Joy built PostcardMania from a one-woman startup with just a phone and a computer into an industry leader, generating more than $21 million in annual revenue and employing 200-plus people in Clearwater, Florida. Joy can be reached for questions or marketing consultations by phone or email via [email protected] or (844) 269-1836.
