Q1: What are the special strengths of direct mail?

A1: When considering a direct mail program, it is useful to keep the medium's unique capabilities uppermost in mind. That way, you are more likely to take full advantage of everything that it has to offer. Consider the following 5 distinctive strengths that it provides and how you can make them work most effectively for you and your practice.

1. Accurate Targetability

When you use direct mail, you select exactly who you want to talk to and who you don't. You speak to people in their own language and about their individual needs in a dental care provider. You can target them in many different ways geographically, demographically, psychographically and with combined approaches for added selectivity. You can even time your efforts to coincide with critical points in your competitor's marketing cycles and based on accrued knowledge about your patient's patterns.

2. High Efficiency

With direct mail, you know that every dollar you spend is being directed at people who are genuine prospects and the most desirable patients for your dental services. Instead of paying for circulation or viewership that may be irrelevant to your practice's needs, your marketing budget is working flat-out where it really counts.

3. Extreme Flexibility

Direct mail can handle such a wide variety of advertising and marketing tasks. It can be used to sell directly, of course. But it's also the best medium for delivering the right offer to your patients at the right time and for the right price. It also pays off with the kind of detailed information you need to build a good database or to develop a dialogue that helps create a lifetime customer. Furthermore, it is a terrific tool for augmenting other media that may have less focus. This makes direct mail uniquely suited to fill almost any marketing need.

4. Excellent Measurability

There is no guesswork when it comes to the results of a direct mail campaign and there is virtually no waiting. If you've got a winning promotion worth rolling out, you'll know right away. This allows you to quickly compare the merits of various strategies and to make necessary adjustments geared for greater effectiveness. Direct mail provides the kind of knowledge that will help you stay ahead of every aspect of your dental marketing program.

5. Genuine Accountability

Because you can prove that direct mail works, it serves as its own justification. When responses pour in, the value of your program speaks for itself and with get Quality Patients guiding you through every step, it will speak loud and clear. This high level of accountability will enable you to proceed with an even high level of confidence.