I was looking through a few internet ads today and found a company that does postcard marketing for orthodontists and dentists. Take a look at this sample and let’s walk through it with a critical eye so you can avoid some of the most common dental and orthodontic marketing mistakes. Here is the link: http://www.patientnews.com/SAMPLES/Postcards/2010/PCID09-1.pdf.
On the front of the postcard you will see a great photo that will hopefully catch someone’s eye and the use of the recipient’s name (Cheryl). Using the recipient’s name is a great tool that can increase response rates dramatically. They are even using the word “imagine” which is proven to get people to stop and think about what you are saying. Are you noticing any problems so far?
The first postcard marketing mistake you should notice is that there is a TON of unused real estate on the front of the postcard. Sure the picture is nice but it doesn’t tell a story and there is no copy to help the recipient even get a clue as to what this postcard is about. The use of the word “imagine” is great, but without any more copy or a headline the reader doesn’t know what to image.
Some marketers would tell you that this is creating a tease effect to get the reader to turn over the card. But what about the people that are not intrigued? You just lost them so a marketing company can sound like they know what they are talking about. If you are told this works, have them show you their split test data. If they can prove they tested it against a control without the “tease” and it worked better than go for it. If they just want to show you overall results than back away slowly and make sure your watch and wallet are still where you left them.
There is a lot more we can talk about regarding the front of this dental/orthodontic marketing postcard but let’s move on to side two. Here you finally get a headline. The problem is it’s based on the reader having seen the front first. Maybe they will turn it over to understand the headline but do you want to count on that? Please don’t make your reader have to work to figure out what you are trying to say because most don’t have the time or interest to do so.
The good news is that there is an offer with a deadline. You can have 50% off of teeth whitening or $750 off of orthodontic treatment. There is nothing wrong with these offers. It would certainly help if there was a little more copy to explain the offers. A great marketing idea is to give people a reason for your offer as well as a reason for the deadline. You can try something like “we ordered too many whitening trays by mistake last month so our mistake is your opportunity. We are offering 50% off of whitening until the end of next month to make room on our shelves and keep Mary (who ordered too many) from getting into trouble.” You might not want to use this exact reason but you get the idea.
Let me leave you with one last thought. When you are spending the money on renting lists, printing, mailing, and tracking don’t lose focus and throw in a laundry list of your services. Pick the reason for your postcard, spend more time and money on a great headline and solid copy that focuses on the reason for your postcard and then tell the reader what they should do next.
That’s your dental and orthodontic marketing idea for today. I hope you found this useful and please leave me your comments and thoughts below.
Bye for now,
Brian
P.S. Have you checked out the 20 free videos about online marketing yet? Go to www.OrthoVideosNow.com/free and enter your name and email. You’ll be glad you did.
