Variable, Full Color, Digital Printing

To develop a successful dental marketing approach in this modern, hyperactive consumer market, it is imperative for general dental and specialty offices to move beyond a generic current occupant presentation. Even the personalized “address label” and/or black and white personalization of letter mailings to current dental patients has its limitations. Variable digital full color printing has significant potential to achieve the internal and external communication goals of many dental practice types including cosmetic, family, and orthodontic.

Dental and orthodontic practices not in a healthy growth mode or that have seen shrinkage in recent months or years require more advanced marketing methods. These practices are not going to be able to compete successfully for the consumer’s attention and dollar without adding to their marketing repertoire.

Overcoming the economic, insurance or consumer issues like denial, procrastination, and oral ignorance requires a higher level of interaction, intensity, and creativity. Variable digital printing puts increased emphasis on the recipient. By putting the recipient “in the concept” rather than as an “adjunct” to the concept, has a stunning effect compared to traditional direct mail.

CONSUMER EFFECT

The personalization inherent in variable printing creates a very unique connection with the consumer recipient – current or prospective dental/orthodontic patient:

• It completely envelopes the dental consumer’s experience

• They are an integral part of the communication not just an afterthought

• It has a connective emotional impact not just a visual impact

• Their name “inside the design” reflects the communicative effect back to them

– The effect is, therefore, much more about them than about you (the dentist or orthodontist)

PERSONALIZATION DIAGRAMMED

View Diagram of concept

COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS

While initial cost should be considered when choosing a marketing concept, it is really potential results being purchased. If the lower priced product is ineffective, the initial cost becomes irrelevant. Paying 100 percent more for something that actually works benefits the purchaser much more.

As discussed and presented above, variable printing provides the ability to place text throughout the dentistry and orthodontic marketing piece. This unique printing technology and its personalization capability requires a complex and individualized process. Offset printing (thousands of versions of the same exact piece) is cheaper for this reason. While variable printing costs more, it offers much more.

Offset printing offers you savings today – Variable printing offers you more patients tomorrow. Gaining and holding the attention of the 21st century dental consumer requires the use of the best communication repertoire available. Variable printing offers the dentist and the orthodontist the level of intensity needed to overpower the current marketing din.

To avoid the pitfalls of dental marketing mediocrity, put cost in its place. More importantly, don’t give this benefit away to your dental or orthodontic competitors.

RESULTS DETAILED

Response rates are dramatically improved with the personalization of variable digital printing. Dental and orthodontic postcards become signature pieces rather than stacks of printed paper. Offset printing – thousands of printed pieces without personalization – cannot achieve this level of response because of its generic and detached connection with the recipient.

Traditional response rates for Black and White, offset printing, and current occupant mailings are .03% to 1% across most industries. Below are the improvement levels seen once more data, full color and personalization are implemented.

• 44% Response Improvement by adding recipient’s name to the printed page (not current occupant)*

• 135% Response Improvement by adding full color to a printed piece*

• 500% Response Improvement by adding recipient’s name, color, and customizing content to interests of recipient*

*Variable Digital Printing – Industry Results

OFFSET COMPARISON

Offset printing often has a cheaper cost of entry. This elixir of cheaper initial cost is very powerful. Yet, a successful response (and more patients) is what dentists and orthodontists demand. Variable printing of orthodontic or dental postcards requires more initial investment, but if the value of a better response is entered into the equation, cost of entry becomes irrelevant.

For example:

Dental Practice #1: 10,000 postcards for $6,000 is fairly common for offset printing**

Dental Practice #2: 10,000 postcards for $8,000 is fairly common for variable printing**

** These averages include all fees: postage, mailing, full color both sides printing, design, and lead list

A somewhat positive response rate of 0.75% with offset printing/mailing of 10,000 postcards would produce 75 calls. (This response rate takes into account an offset printer/marketer including full color and placing the recipient’s name in the addressing).

In contrast, the variable printing personalization capability creates the potential for 125 to 150 calls. While this level of increased response is an estimate, variable printing only has to increase actual patient numbers by a few more to pay back the initial cost benefit offset printed dental and orthodontic postcards provide. Just a few additional patients would add 7-25 thousand dollars in future income

However, there is another major caveat in this offset printing and variable printing comparison. What if the local dental or orthodontic competition is already doing an offset printed direct mailing? Competition will drive down response rates – variable printing offers the dentist or orthodontist an obvious advantage in this competitive environment.

CONCLUSION

Dental or orthodontic direct mail marketing is always evolving. Orthodontists and dentists need to continue to innovate, not only to stay ahead of their local competition, but also to effectively engage the consumer in this hyper active environment. Most consumers are not aware of the value in modern dentistry and orthodontics.

Breaking through the marketing clutter requires more than what was done yesterday. Variable digital printing will not solve every dental marketing dilemma, but it provides the leg up many orthodontia and family/cosmetic dentistry practices can use to get to the next level.

Sincerely, Dick Chwalek – Niche Dental

Dental marketing consultant Ed O’ Keefe has been very successful in getting his clients to bring in so many new patients, and to have his clients accept his cases as well so fast for years now. In this article, you will be able to have great tips from Ed on how to become successful in the business of dental marketing. As a dental marketing consultant, he will help you to go away from the traditional ways of being “procedure-oriented”, and to be able to find a unique perspective on how to win patients in a different, more effective way. And as an effective consultant, he will also share a rather unique view of how to develop trust between the dental marketer and the patient to the reader.

You may ask a dental marketing consultant, “Well, I’m really not a marketer as such. I just want to sell or provide as much (with services like TMJ, Restorative Work, Implants, Cosmetics, Dentures, Whitening, etc.) And I understand that you have to go through all these “marketing” and “emotional connection” stuff and it spells too much work. Now, how do I make this one work without going through all these steps?”.

Ed, as a consultant, understand this kind of question very well. As individuals who are in the line of dental marketing, your goals are to get a ton of new patients buying and choosing your services as fast as possible. So how do you achieve these goals?

Develop Empathy!

First, the consultant would advise you to develop empathy with your patients. In dental marketing, this is perhaps the most important skill you will need to get people to totally trust you. In the dictionary, it is defined as “intellectual or imaginative apprehension of another’s condition or state of mind!”. Being empathic means that you have to have a complete understanding of the psychological state of mind of your prospect, and they sense it without you having to tell them! Always remember that the operating force here is the actual state of mind of your prospect, not what you want it to be, or think it should be! There is nothing more irrelevant on this planet than what you think someone else should be interested in! For example, we all believe very strongly that the services we provide can help most people solve many dental problems or enhance the quality of their look, teeth, confidence, etc. Things like: (1) Having a confident, beautiful smile;(2) Pain Free Dentistry;(3) Whiter, Straighter, Healthier Teeth;(4) Oral Cancer Prevention;(5) Ending Periodontal disease;(6) Raising Cavity Free Kids;(7) Ending the pain of a cavity;(8) Headache Relief;(9) Ending Facial and Oral Pain ; etc. Now most of us know that certain procedures will solve many of these problems, procedures like bridge, crown, vaneers, extractions, NTI, dentures, regular cleanings, basic oral hygiene, etc. Now you may ask, “Why is it so hard to convince people to go ahead with these procedures, when the procedures are so much better than the situations people find themselves in now?” The answer to this is simple; “Almost everyone outside of the dental profession pays little, if any, attention to dental health issues until they are forced to do so!” This answer would then lead you to the next tip.

Win Your Patient’s Confidence And Trust!

Now the consultant would like to tell you that in dental marketing, you should always find ways to win the confidence of your patients before they accept your cases or treatments. To make real money, which means doing a ton of high end procedures, keeping your hygienists and associates busy, you have to have a deep, empathetic connection into their heart! Take for example the scenario of going to bed with a member of the opposite sex. You would not just walk up to someone, and ask them to go to bed, starting to brag about how good you are in bed, how many members of the opposite sex you have slept with in the last ten years, and so on. Would anyone be likely to be persuaded unless he or she actually wanted to go to bed, after enough time had passed? Now, this example may seem a little bit outlandish to some. But when you look at it deeply, as you ask someone to get uppers and lowers or new dentures, aren’t you asking them to go to “dental bed” with you? So, we see here that winning the confidence and trust of your patients would be a best way to boost up your dental marketing status.

Present Solutions And No Selling!

And the consultant would also like to advise the dental marketer not to sell the procedures. Instead, you should present solutions, and the let the patients choose and accept the service and solution. Make it a point that none of your clients should sell a thing. Find out exactly what your patients want, and then give it to them. Now this may seem a bit awkward to people who have been following the procedure-oriented protocols of traditional, dental marketing. But it would be very effective to have the patients decide for themselves and accept your services, and not forcing them in anyway to do so.

Now, there might be no easy ways or magic formulas to be successful in dental marketing. But Ed, as a consultant would advise you to be patient (as it takes time for these tips to boost your skills in having good numbers of case acceptance) and follow these tips religiously.

Lately, I’ve been receiving this question, stating somewhat of a choice: “What would be better? Should I go for Internet (or On-line) Dental Marketing, or Off-line Dental Marketing?” Well, my answer to this question is both and/or neither. It would be up to you if you would choose either Internet or off-line dental marketing. Both kinds of dental marketing have their own advantages. In this article I would discuss to you the benefits of such dental marketing strategies.

For Internet/On-line Dental Marketing :

As my prediction for the next three years, there would be a big possibility that the patients would go for on-line dental marketing, where these patients will try to reach their dentists through the Internet. We can estimate that to around 80% of the patients reaching and even finding their dentists through the World Wide Web. Just think about it. If you throw a question to, let’s say, around one hundred people, asking them where they would get their directions, research information and choose new service provider, roughly around eighty to ninety of them would say I just had to “google it”. You see, going on-line would spare them the time going from one location to another. Let’s say, for example, if a person would like to see the latest version of a certain cellphone (like Nokia, or Motorola, or whatever). Wouldn’t it be much easier for him/her to just go and check it out in the Internet in the comfort of his/her own home, rather than go to his local shop a few miles away? This would save him/her time and energy, don’t you agree? This is just like in the field of Internet or On-line marketing. It’s much easier for patients to reach their respective dentists on the Internet. Going on-line would save them the time and energy that they would need to go from their home to their dentist’s office. Reaching their dentist is just within the click of a button!

For Off-line Dental Marketing :

Like on-line dental marketing, off-line dental marketing has its advantages as well. The traditional way of reaching people still works for dental marketing. Personally, I love to go for free standing inserts. It is because this is one of the best, most affordable and also cost effective ways to do external dental marketing. In here, you can target ideal and potential patients, niche or target out your insert, or give an attractive offer to them straight to your office. You can also go for direct mail. You see, people will always have there mail boxes available, where they would await for any mail to come to their residences. We see the diminishing number of people reading the daily newspapers, listening to their radios, and viewing their television sets. But not direct mailing. People still continue to wait for their messages in the traditional mail box, which , in my belief, will never go away. They will always have their respective mail boxes and read their personal mails.

The Bottom Line Is…..

As the advantages of both the Internet dental marketing and off-line dental marketing have been stated, it still is a matter of personal choice. You may choose to go on-line, or you may opt to go off-line. But always remember that it would always differ depending on the area where you live, the advertising rates, and the responsiveness of the area as well. To find out which one of these strategies would be better, you may have to “test” it. Dental marketing involves testing, and testing, and further testing, but in my opinion, it’s still the best way that you can reach your goals of increasing your income rates. The choice is yours!

In the niche of dental marketing, you should find ways on how to promote your dental business. Promoting your dental marketing business would mean getting more patients in your practice. For this, you need to have a recommendation from a dental marketing company adviser. In this article, dental marketing company adviser Ed O’ Keefe will to teach you the ways to become successful in your dental marketing business. And as a dental marketing company adviser, he would also recommend that you follow these ways religiously.

Sub-Niche Your Practice:

First, the dental marketing company adviser would recommend you to sub-niche your practice and start to promote other services. In the dental marketing company adviser’s case, they’re promoting an “Invisalign” for patients who needs whiter, stronger teeth. When they come to him he asks them what their ultimate goals are, and they have Invisalign as a solution for the patients to help them get straighter teeth. But if they want to get straighter, whiter teeth and they want it now, then they can present the whole treatment plan right then and there to the patient. Start sub-niching your practice. Go after your patients with problems and offer them various solutions in your practice.

Go For “Lead-Generation Marketing”:

Second, the dental marketing company adviser would recommend you to promote your dental marketing business through “lead-generation marketing”, or advertising. In advertising your services, you are actually helping people identify you as a good dentist by overwhelming them with “before and afters” proof, wherein you can educate them through DVD’s, powerpoints, and online via the Internet. This is the future of dentistry and how it’s going to be sold. You have the options of educating your patients through seminars, local workshops, or you can actually have the Internet as your option and educate them online.

Remind Your Patients Constantly

The dental marketing company adviser would also recommend you to follow up your patients with multiple mailings, postcards, etc., to constantly remind them. Contact your past patients, tell them that you have a new service. Or, you can tell them that you want to get together for their 6 month recall. Start immediately! This costs only a little. You will start getting people calling for their recall, which will reactivate them and get them in so you can help them with any other inquiries and concerns they have.

These are the ways that the dental marketing company adviser would recommend you to promote your dental marketing business. Sub-niche your practice, go for advertising, and then remind your patients constantly. Following these will help you gain more new patients in your dental marketing business!

As a dental marketer, you should find helpful ways in promoting your business. In your practice, you should get more dental patients. For this, you need to have a recommendation from a dental practice management consulting adviser. In this article, dental practice management consulting adviser Ed O’ Keefe would like to give you the ways to achieve success in your dental marketing business. What the dental practice management consulting adviser recommends is for you to follow these ways all the time in your business.

1st Recommendation: Sub-Niche Your Practice

The first recommendation that the dental practice management consulting adviser would give you is to sub-niche your practice. You can start by promoting other services. In the adviser’s case, they are promoting an “Invisalign” for patients who needs whiter, stronger teeth. He asks his patients what their ultimate goals are, and he has Invisalign as a solution to help them get straighter teeth. But if they want to get straighter, whiter teeth right away, then they can present the whole treatment plan to the patient immediately. So start by sub-niching your practice. Go after your patients with dental problems and have dentistry as the solution for them.

2nd Recommendation: Go For “Lead-Generation”

The second recommendation that the dental practice management consulting adviser would give you is to “lead-generate” through advertising your services. With this you can actually help people identify you as a good dentist by overwhelming them with “before and afters” proof, wherein you can educate them through DVD’s, powerpoints, and online. You can educate your dental patients through seminars, local workshops, or online.

3rd Recommendation: Open The “Floodgates” To Your Dental Patients

The third recommendation that the dental practice management consulting adviser would give you is to open the floodgates to your dental patients. A lot of doctors,with their associates, open the floodgates to their new patients; and the patients just keep coming in to their dental practice. Then 1 out of 10, or 2 out of 10 patients that came in are going to want cosmetic dentistry or more of high-end restorative dentistry. Remember, your objective here is to get that dental patient in your business.

These are the ways that the dental practice management consulting adviser would give you as you go with your business. First, start by sub-niching your practice, then “lead- generate” by advertising, and then opening the floodgates to your new dental patients. Go with these recommendations, and you’ll gain more patients in your practice, and become successful in your business!