Dental Marketing: Direct Mail VS SEO
There’s been a recent resurgence of direct mail among dentists. If you thought direct mail marketing or dental postcard marketing had gone the way of steam engines and wagons, then think again. The fact is the numbers show direct mail marketing is still going strong as a marketing tool, even in this day and age of SEO, and there are no signs of it losing steam anytime soon. The following are the top five reasons why marketers are still using direct mail marketing in the digital age.
1. Dental Postcard Marketing Still Enjoys a High ROI
Many companies are still using online advertisements or paid ads, as well as search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, hoping to get customers’ attention. Although digital ads and SEO can garner people’s attention, it is nowhere close to direct marketing when it comes to ROI numbers. Direct mail enjoys a 29% median ROI compared to digital ads and SEO median of only 16% and 14.6%, respectively! That is a 13% difference in median ROI! The reason for the popularity of direct mail is simple; when a person gets the mail, it feels more personal. Digital ads, regardless of what type it is, cannot match the intimate feel of a physical piece of mail.
2. Dental Postcard Marketing Gets More Eyeballs
When people go to their mailbox and collect the day’s arrivals, they tend to sit down and go through all the mail. Sorting through the mail has become a sort of ritual for most people regardless of age and gender. Each piece of mail is looked at carefully, which means when you send a dental postcard, the likelihood of people taking a close look at it is high. The sheer number of eyeballs a postcard can attract is higher than a digital ad that pops up on a computer or phone screen.
3. Dental Postcard Marketing Reaches all Age Groups
The fact is, seniors, do not use computers and other electronic gadgets as much. Ignoring them in your marketing campaign is a huge mistake. Most digital marketing campaigns tend to ignore the senior population. That is the equivalent to leaving money on the table. The best way to attract them is by using direct mail. Therefore, direct mail is still the most popular form of marketing used to target people of all age groups.
4. You Can Track Dental Postcard Marketing
Just as marketers can track what is happening with their digital ads, such as who is responding and converting to paying customers, etc. you can do the same for direct mail campaigns as well. The way to do this to designate specific phone numbers and email addresses of the customers who were contacted via postcards. Another way to track what is going on with direct mail customers is by setting up specialized landing pages with unique URLs. This will help you differentiate between online versus direct mail responders.
5. Long Term Relationships
The personal touch dental postcard marketing gives to people cannot be duplicated by digital ads and SEO content. Therefore, you can expect to build relationships that can last a lifetime with mail or postcard marketing. You have various tools in the bag to help perpetuate relationships with clients, such as sending check-up reminders, greeting cards, and even newsletters. On top of all this, with today’s easy and affordable printing technologies, you can create customized postcards and letters for patients.
