Reaching Patients Through the Power of Mail

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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. 

Market research shows that the average person processes 5,000 messages a day (think every conversation, email, article you read, etc.). That’s a lot of messages. And the average person needs to see or hear something at least 4 times before they take the desired behavior. This means that practices need to be communicating to patients often and in different mediums.

There should be both a print and digital communications plan for the information you want to share with patients. For example, do you want to announce a new procedure you are offering to your patients? You should consider what you are sharing while patients are in your practice, such as special signage and posters,
rack cards in the patient waiting area, exam rooms and a direct mailer throughout the year along with an email announcement. This will allow you several different ways to reach patients.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, 98% of people check their mail on a daily basis. There are several reasons for this.

• The mailbox is something physical and people have to check it.
• Mail is more personal than email.
• Print items leave a deeper footprint in the brain than digital media.

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. Consider patients–- various research shows that 61-73% of patients will respond greater to a direct mail piece than an email.

Look around your practice. What do you mail? Do you have a new provider, one retiring? A new location? How do you share this news with patients? Maybe you want more patients? Consider doing a neighborhood mailing.

There is a lot that goes into mailing. Consider your mailpiece, your call to action, your mail list, budget and more. POS Professional Office Services provides mailing services including: 

• Mail Lists – handling practice-based lists and purchasing targeted lists
• Mailing Design and Printing
• Mail assembly
• And we can help practices save money with postage discounts.

You need a strong partner who can help you create successful mailings that yield results.