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Specialty Dentist Grows Referrals Through Personalized Campaign

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Project: Specialty Dentist Grows Referrals Through Personalized CampaignVertical Market: Insurance & Healthcare

Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation

Business Objectives

RAMP is a marketing agency that specifically focuses on the marketing needs of dentists. They elected to combine their strengths in knowledge of dental marketing with Modern Mail’s expertise in personalized, integrated direct marketing campaigns to help specialist dentists develop long term relationships with general dentists and to gain referrals.

Modern Mail and RAMP worked together to create a campaign for one of RAMP’s clients, Dr. Wilhelm, a prosthodontist and his practice, Imagine Your Smile/Natural Dentistry by Design. His objectives were to:

• Increase awareness of Your Smile/Natural Dentistry by Design and Dr. Wilhelm’s capabilities among general dentists in the area

• Establish long term relationships with area dentists via a study club

• Gain specialty dentistry referrals from the area’s general dentists

Results

This was a small mailing for a single, specialty dentist; however, there are opportunities to replicate this on a much larger scale. For Dr. Wilhelm, there were two waves of mailings sent out (with two additional mailings still scheduled) to 468 general dentists. The list was scrubbed with returned mail removed between mailings. With just two mailers out, Dr. Wilhelm has had a record year for referrals from both new and existing client-dentists. With a $20,000 average annual value per referring dentist, it is easy to see how quickly a program like this can pay for itself many times over.

• 6.84% visit rate • 4.06% response rate • 21 dentists visited their PURLs with 11 filling out the survey • 18 (94.74%) area dentists requested and received referral card packs • 13 (68.42%) area dentists joined Dr. Wilhelm’s study club

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In addition, a really eye-opening outcome of this particular project is that the marketing agency learned that the traditional metrics go straight out the window. The reality is that traditional metrics like cost-per-piece, number mailed and even response rates are not terribly meaningful. The true metric measures business closed, which in this case was how many new referrals (and on-going referral relationships) result from the campaign. Choosing this perspective delivers a very different, and more accurate, measurement of return on investment from a personalized campaign like this.

Campaign Architecture

The campaign was designed as an annual program with 4 drops per year consisting of a personalized, oversized postcard mailing. The mailings drive people to a Personalized URL containing a short survey and offers to join a study club and to get free referral cards. Website visits were followed by emails to the general dentists who visited their Personalized URLs. Dr. Wilhelm also did a fabulous job of following up with the general dentists who visited the site.

Personalized postcards sent to general dentists

Target Audience and Messaging

The campaign was targeted at general dentists in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Minnesota area.

Specialty Dentist Grows Referrals Through Personalized Campaign

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Offer

There was a $25 American Express gift card offer on the mailing along with two professional offers on the website following a short survey. The first professional offer was to join a study club where area dentists could meet face-to-face to discuss cases, case studies, best practices and generally network amongst peers. This may evolve to include online and social media aspects in the future. The second professional offer was to receive a free set of referral cards for Dr. Wilhelm. These cards make it easy for a general dentist to make the referral while presenting a very polished and professional method for doing so.

List

The mailing list was a very straightforward list from InfoUSA of general dentists in the specific region. Achieving outstanding results from such a generic list underscores the effectiveness of the campaign itself.

Creative and Outbound Piece

The outbound postcard was a nicely designed piece that contained information about Dr. Wilhelm, a quote from him describing his approach, and quotes from general dentists who were familiar with his work. The content was written in a style focusing on the needs of the recipients and how they could best care for their patients. The primary reason for visiting the Personalized URL was to learn more information about the doctor. The gift card offer was positioned to be secondary, as a thank you gift for participating. This kept the focus on the doctor’s practice rather than on the gimmick.

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The referral cards were similar in design to the outbound mailing, but contained information relevant to the patients. Dr. Wilhelm again described his approach, but the quotes were from patients describing their happiness with his work rather than referring dentists as on the postcard. There was contact information and a map along with a call to action stating that Dr. Wilhelm would be calling the patient to schedule the appointment. This delivered a very professional message with the doctor taking the initiative.

Patient referral cards

Reasons for Success

The reasons this campaign was successful were: Teaming with Experts: The agency used their expertise in specialized marketing for dentists to create effective and relevant campaign messages. They leveraged the expertise of their partner to create and deliver the personalized campaign. Aligned Message and Offers: The primary offer wasn’t a gimmick, but rather information and tools concerning how to provide better patient care. The gift card offer was positioned as a motivator rather than as the primary offer. Effective Follow-up: The emails, referral cards, and personal follow-up of Dr. Wilhelm were essential elements in converting website visits into client referrals. Setting up and running the study club is also a form of follow-up done by Dr. Wilhelm. This personal involvement and interaction is an essential step in establishing trusted relationships and in converting interest into referrals.

Specialty Dentist Grows Referrals Through Personalized Campaign

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Client Dr. Mark Wilhelm

www.imagineyoursmile.com

Dr. Mark W. Wilhelm’s cosmetic dentistry practice, located in Woodbury, Minnesota, is dedicated to creating healthy, beautiful and confident smiles that enhance your looks and your life. With over 20 years of experience and the completion of many advanced training courses, Dr. Wilhelm offers his patients the latest technology and the gentlest dental care available.

Print Provider & Agency

Modern Mail

www.ModernMail.com

Modern Mail delivers full-service, multi-channel execution of direct marketing campaigns built upon a long history of innovation and leadership in the data services, personalization, mailing and fulfillment industries. Today Modern Mail brings experts from every discipline together to deliver full service, multi-channel execution with a unique proposition that encompasses strategy, ideation and production. The result is embodied in their promise that “you can’t get more direct.”

Creative Agency RAMP

www.RAMPresults.com

RAMP is a full-service advertising agency that works exclusively with dentists. Founded in 2000 by a practicing dentist, RAMP meets the specialized marketing needs of the industry. Employing proven systems and the original RAMP philosophy, their advertising, including national radio and television commercials, generated over $60 million in dental production for their clients last year.

Hardware Canon 7000 ImageRunner

Software MindFire

Target Audience General dentists in the St. Paul / Minneapolis area.

Distribution 470 postcards mailed in two waves

Date April 2011 – September 2011