If used correctly, email campaigns can be an incredibly powerful tool.  I’ve used numerous companies in the past and have found iContact to be much more intuitive and less costly so I’ll use them today as our example.

Most dental practice business comes through repeat business and referrals.  There is no one more important than your current patient.  As such, you need to make sure that you take care of your current patients as well as use them to find new customers in a non-invasive way.

  • Making phone calls to a customer every week is too invasive and may cause you to lose a patient.
  • Mailing postcards every week is too costly.
  • Sending reminders every 6 months is too long of a gap and may cause you to lose upselling opportunities.

With email campaigns, your practice is able to send out mass emails to your entire patient database (or the patients that request email updates during their visit) to promote specials that your practice is offering as well as dental news and helpful dental hygiene tips.  By creating “helpful emails”, the patient is often appreciative and it gives you the opportunity to sell services, such as teeth whitening, that they otherwise may never consider.

With iContact email campaigns, you have the ability to

  • Send emails without clogging up your mail servers or being considered as spam
  • Track what links in the email a person clicks
  • Email auto responders every week, month, 6 months, or year (for appointment reminders or other types of marketing)
  • Give people the opportunity to opt out of the list if they do not want to receive updates

Most importantly, current patients will have your company on their minds on a weekly basis.  This will constantly give them internal reminders and possibly prompt them to mention your services to friends.

I highly recommend using email campaigns for all dental practices and encourage you to spend some time putting thought into these campaigns. iContact email campaigns can potentially earn your practice hundreds of thousands of dollars if monitored and taken seriously.

If you need help creating email campaigns or other marketing materials, please feel free to contact NewDentalWeb.com for advice.