Reaching Patients Through The Power of Mail

posted on Thursday, April 6, 2017

Mail Are you asking yourself, “Power in Mail? Like the mail I pick up in my mailbox?” Yes, that’s exactly the type of mail -- the good old fashioned printed mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. As with any trend, eventually, it swings back the other way. And this would be true when looking at the ROI of email marketing and direct mail campaigns.

Direct Marketing mailings are alive and well

Actually they are more effective than email marketing. According to mailing research, direct marketing mailers yield a 3.7% response rate vs. 1% for email. Over the past several years, email response rates have continued to decline and it makes sense when you consider the hundreds of emails that are sent daily and go unread or deleted.

This is not to say that e-marketing is not important and effective. Certainly the shift to digital marketing continues to be strong, but there needs to be a nice blend of both.

Know Your Audience

According to the U.S. Postal Service, 98% of people check their mail on a daily basis.

When considering direct mailers, it’s important to know your audience. Believe it or not millennials love to get mail. And there are 83 million of them (1/4 of the population). Yes, they are digital natives, but they love to get offers and catalogs in the mail.

Women are most likely to pick up the mail every day. And they are typically the purchasing decision makers in their households.

And various research shows that 61-73% of patients will respond greater to a direct mailpiece than an email.

Know What You Mail

Look around your practice. What do you mail? What could you be mailing? What do you need to mail?

Maybe you want more patients? Or need to share important health reminders and tips like seasonal information and flu clinics? Or want to send patients a thank you or birthday card. Do you have a new provider, one retiring? A new location?

There is a lot that goes into mailing. Consider your mailpiece, your call to action, your mail list, budget and more. Learn more about POS Mail Services and our work with medical and dental practices.