For many people, checking the mail is more of a chore than necessary. Many people feel inundated with junk mail and unsolicited ads asking them to apply for this credit card or sign up for that service. And yet, dozens and dozens of dentists are still relying on direct mail to advertise their practices. Instead of sending physical fliers and coupons that will likely end up in the trash, dentists would do better to invest in dental email marketing campaigns that people actually pay attention to, and that they can track.
Email marketing is form of digital marketing which is often significantly more effective than sending printed ads to people, resulting in more patients and revenue in the process. Read about the benefits of using dental email marketing instead of direct mail below.
Ease of Distribution
Emails are far easier to send than direct mailers. Rather than “tracking” your mail from the printer to the post office to each individual mailbox, emails can be sent to thousands of people at the touch of a button. In addition, you can be sure that your emails are actually reaching their intended destination. People who have subscribed to your email list will have already signed up to receive information from your dental practice, and your emails will reach their inboxes without interference from postal mishaps or search engine algorithms. Moreover, if an email is undeliverable, you will receive a notification informing you of the failed delivery, allowing you to check in with the intended recipient to get the correct email address and prevent missed emails in the future.
Audience Reach
Direct mail can be shared only with substantial extra effort, such as giving it to a friend in person, scanning it and emailing it, or photocopying it and mailing it. Email, in contrast, allows the recipient to share it with a friend in as little as a few clicks. In doing so, they endorse your practice and give it more credibility and exposure.
In addition, you can add thousands of subscribers to your email lists and not have to pay for each address, unlike direct mail, which charges you more for every person you add. Thus, in addition to being significantly cheaper, email newsletters can allow you to share information about your practice to a far larger audience by relying on traditional mail.
Increased Engagement
According to Constant Contact, 91% of adults in America actually enjoy receiving emails from companies that they have done business with in the past. This is because most people read and respond to email subscriptions that they have made the choice to subscribe to. Direct mail, meanwhile, is often sent to large lists of addresses that have been purchased or traded with other businesses. As a result, direct mail is often seen as a nuisance, causing many people to inevitably and often instantaneously throw them away. Email updates, on the other hand, are often welcomed by readers, which encourages them to read them, share them, and click on the links inside.
Dynamic Ads
Direct mailers can only be so exciting. While bold fonts and graphics can catch someone’s attention, in the end, paper is still flat. Emails, though, can open up new possibilities. In addition to containing invaluable content that piques your readers interest in your services, emails can also link to your practice’s website, social media accounts, target-specific landing pages, videos, and more.
Furthermore, dynamically designed emails that subscribers enjoy reading will encourage them to continue opening your emails in the future. Also, while direct mail is often accidentally thrown out or lost, people may choose to keep your emails in order to readily refer back to them for important information, which can increase brand recognition and exposure.
Tracked Analytics
It’s almost impossible to know who opened and read your direct mail, let alone who found them useful or how it impacted your sales. With email marketing, however, you can track and measure all of these things reliably and easily. Email newsletters provide your practice with trackable data that can be used to measure the impact of your newsletters and make adjustments for future campaigns. This data can also help you provide your readers with personalized information. For example, a parent whose child recently got braces may appreciate a newsletter explaining proper braces maintenance. This personalization can help show your patients that you truly care about their needs and help ensure that they continue visiting your practice in the future.
Cost and Time Savings
Not only are emailed ads more effective than mailed ones, they are also far less expensive. The cost of direct mail is higher than that of dental email marketing for several reasons. Dental practices must pay for the design, printing, postage, and distribution of direct mail, while email newsletters only require the minor cost of design, content creation and email marketing automation. As a result, the return on investment is far higher for email marketing than it is for mailed ads, which are often discarded immediately despite the enormous amount of time and money that goes into producing them.
Also, the reduced number of steps required to create and send an email compared to flyers means that your marketing team can save time that can be put towards other projects that expand your practice’s reach, rather than focusing on the minutiae of putting together a direct mail campaign.
Working With a Professional Dental Marketing Agency
Speak with a professional dental marketing agency to get more information and discuss the initial steps to setting up your dental email marketing strategy. 321 Web Marketing is a Northern Virginia-based digital marketing agency that creates customized marketing plans for a variety of dental clients. The agency also monitors each email marketing campaign after launching, making necessary changes throughout to help maximize conversions and increase sales. In addition to dental email marketing services, 321 Web Marketing can also assist with content creation, website development, social media marketing, and more. Contact us today to learn more!