Dental Marketing Done Right A Spotlight on Successful Postcard Design

Competition is tough out there, regardless where your dental practice is located. That means your dental marketing has to be on point – making having a successful postcard design more important than ever. Patients may be better educated about dental health than in the past, but they are just as wary as they have always been. They know they need you, but most of them would rather be somewhere else than the dentist’s office. So they’re a tough crowd.
If your advertising isn’t done right, your practice won’t grow.
There’s no question that your dental marketing message is important and having a successful postcard design is one of the keys.
How your postcard looks makes a first impression – of you and your practice.
It reflects the tone and personality of your office, and it reflects your personality as a dental professional and as the person behind the smock or lab coat. Your postcard’s overall “look” is achieved through an expert combination of colors, fonts, images and postcard size that create maximum, immediate impact.
Choosing the right headline, selling points and photos and where you place them on your postcard can make or break its value in spotlighting you as the dentist of choice.
Who’s your audience?
If it’s parents of young children or some other specific niche as opposed to the broad spectrum that fits a general dentistry practice, your postcard’s look has to resonate visually with that group, otherwise it will tell recipients you are not the dentist for them.
If you lose them at the first impression or with lack of relatability, you cannot begin to establish a relationship. People won’t want to learn more about you, so they won’t bother to look more closely at your postcard. Your marketing effort has failed.
Now, about your messaging . . .
While postcard success starts with great design, that’s not enough. Once you’ve secured your prospect’s interest with those just-right design elements and some key points about the benefits of your practice, you want them to respond, right? If they just say “that’s nice” and set your postcard aside, your marketing has failed.
You need to make them a special offer. Often dentists find that two or even three offers on a postcard broadens its appeal, generating even greater response in less time. For instance, you could direct one offer at potential new patients with a “first-timer” discount, free X-rays, etc. Your second offer could reach out to both new and existing patients, with a discount on Invisalign braces, whitening, etc.
But it doesn’t stop there. A meaningful offer will cause prospects to say, “that’s just what I need, I should do that,” but “should” still isn’t enough. Limiting the availability of your offer will motivate people to respond right away, not someday. You can create that sense of urgency by limiting the quantity of offers available (i.e., the first 5 callers) or limiting the time (“offers expire January 31st”).
Give them a clear call to action. Now that they’re anxious to take advantage of your special offer, what should they do? Call your office to make an appointment? Visit a landing page on your website? Bring the postcard with them to a special event at your office and redeem it like a coupon? Don’t make them guess, tell them clearly how to take that next step.
Give them contact alternatives. Whatever your call to action, your postcard should display all your contact information – phone number, web and email address, office address and social media symbols. If it isn’t easy to contact you, prospect will think you don’t care or you’re behind-the-times.
Done right, dental advertising puts the spotlight on you. It quickly, clearly and concisely tells prospects who you are, what your practice offers and why they should choose you instead of some other dentist. The right content and messaging will result in a successful postcard design which means more patients for your office.