What's My Name? ...

Be sure to treat your patients name with care, dignity and respect. Remember it. Use it liberally when talking with him or her.

And get it spelled correctly when you send direct mail.

There is nothing more personal, sweet sounding and meaningful to a person than his or her name. Thus, when you send out a mailing based upon your house list it's important that you get the spelling correct ... regardless of whether you're sending out a one-to-one personal letter or a one-to-many personalized mass letter.

When I receive a mailing from a company I've dealt with in the past and they misspell my name -- particularly when I know that they have the correct spelling somewhere on file -- it makes me question their attention to detail and it begins to erode my opinion of them.

That happened recently when a company I've dealt with for years sent me a mailing addressed to Ms. Gaylan Stilson. Because the mailing wasn't a mass promotional piece where the company rented outside lists (and the misspelling could be explained away as the result of another company having me listed that way), it was clear it was generated in-house.

Will it cause me to stop doing business with them? No ... at least not yet. However, when you combine it with recent drops in customer service levels, it adds to my growing concern and disillusionment. And, I'm inching closer to making a switch.

So, make sure your patient names are spelled correctly in all of the databases you use.

Occasionally, an incorrect spelling may slip by. Hopefully, when that happens, the patient will bring the mistake to your attention so you can correct it immediately. Then re-check it in every database.

The opinion eroding factor builds exponentially with each additional mailing in which the name is misspelled.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Should you mail a brochure ... solo?

It's not uncommon for dentists to use their practice brochure as a mailing piece. There's nothing wrong with that UNLESS you mail it solo ... alone ... all by itself.

In over 20 years of direct response experience, I'm not aware of a single test where a brochure-0nly mailing beat a letter-only (or a letter plus brochure) mailing. So, if you're going to make an envelope mailing, opt to include a professionally created letter (or letter and brochure) and not a brochure-only.

Why would a letter outpull a brochure?

Because a letter looks and feels more personal ... it's perceived as a warmer, me-to-you communication. And when written appropriately, it can evoke a reader's emotions ... a good thing when you're trying to entice a response.

Conversely, a brochure is perceived as more cold and impersonal.

What if you want to use the brochure as a self-mailer (no envelope)? Ideally you'd use one or two of the brochure panels to graphically create a letter look-alike ... using sales letter copy. It's unlikely to be AS effective as a stand-alone letter and brochure but it will likely draw more response than the brochure copy alone.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Learn The Basics Of Direct Mail

The USPS web site offers a good introduction to direct mail. It covers some of the benefits of direct mail, provides a few tools and resources, offers advice on creating a direct mail campaign, explores different design ideas, takes you through the mailing process, plus more.

While I don't agree with all of the creative/design information presented, it's a good start if you've never used direct mail as a marketing tool ... or if you're curious as to the process from beginning to end.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

A Direct Mail No-No ...

If you use envelope mailings in your marketing efforts, they should always include a personal-sounding letter or note ... even if the letter or note is a mass produced "Dear Friend" type missive.

Why?

Because after opening the envelope the recipient looks first for a letter. If there is one, the recipient will scan the first page from top to bottom looking for highlighted (important) copy. He will do that for each page of the letter. Then he'll check out who signed the letter and he'll read the postscript before moving back to the beginning of the letter (if you've sparked his interest). It is only then that he moves on to other enclosures.

Because a letter is usually perceived as one-on-one, me-to-you communication (even when mass produced), it gives you an opportunity to make a connection with the reader than your brochure or other enclosure doesn't. And that increases your chances of getting a response.

There have been numerous tests that show letters increase response. I'm not aware of one where it decreased response.

What if a prospect simply requests a practice brochure? Isn't it okay to send out just the brochure?

Not if you want to maximize your opportunity
to turn that prospect into a patient.

The brochure should, at a minimum, be accompanied by a thank-you-for-requesting-our-brochure letter. And if you really really want to maximize your opportunity, you would include that standard thank you letter (that spells out some of the important benefits of using your practice) AND a short, personal, handwritten note. That note might simply say ...

Hi, {Name} ... Thanks for requesting our brochure.
If it doesn't answer all of your questions, please
don't hesitate to call. I look forward to meeting you.

{Your Name}

It pays to include a letter.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Do You Talk Out Loud To Yourself? You Should ...

Here's a different way to critique you ads and letters ...

Find yourself a recorder and record yourself reading one of your marketing ads or letters. Then play it back and listen carefully. For what should you be listening?

Sentences that are too long (no sentence should require more than one breath) ...
Stumbling blocks to smooth copy flow ...
Confusing words ...
Awkward combination of words or phrases ...
Words that are difficult to pronounce ...
Too much "we" and not enough "you" ...
Possible misconceptions, mis-perceptions and negative connotations.
Anything which could possibly confuse your prospects.

Then ask a friend to read and record the same ad or letter. Listen to his or her recording for a entirely different perspective. Tweak your copy until the message is crystal clear, is persuasive and reads smoothly.

What Causes Prospects To Believe Or Disbelieve Your Ads?

There are a number of factors.

According to a Roper survey, here are three ...

1-- 60% of consumers believe ads that promise a money-back guarantee.

2-- 57% believe ads which say the product or service is approved by some health or medical group like the American Dental Association (third party endorsements). And ...

3-- 46% believe ads making claims based upon user survey results.

What does this mean to you?

It suggests that you are likely to get a better response to your dental ads if you include a mention of your guarantee ... if you are able to get and use an endorsement from a well known and trusted third party (ideally a dental or health organization, but a trusted and respected individual will also work ) ... and if you can back up your benefit claims with user surveys.

You control all three. You can create surveys to send to your patients (it's important that you ask the right questions, of course). You can develop a patient guarantee of satisfaction. And you can seek testimonials (endorsement) from key patients and organizations.

I'll be covering surveys, testimonials and guarantees in future briefs.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

P.S. I Love You

Every promotional/marketing letter you send to potential patients -- and current patients -- should include a postscript.

Why? Because they virtually always get read ... and often before the main body of the letter.

When people open a letter their normal reading progression is to look at the letterhead (who is the letter from), then the salutation (to whom is it addressed), then they go to the end of the letter to see who signed it (they want to know who is *talking* to them).

While they're looking at the signature, they take note of whether there's a P.S. or not. If there is, they'll normally read it. Thus, you should include a P.S. in your promotional/marketing letters and use it to highlight a key offer/benefit/theme the letter talks about. This will usually spur the interest of the reader which usually results in their reading the letter. If they read they letter, you've got a chance.

You can also use the postscript to compliment the reader. People love to be loved.

The reading progression noted above might be altered if the prospect notices something interesting while dropping down from the salutation to the signature. That something interesting might be a subhead promising a specific benefit or any body copy that you highlighted.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Does Your Direct Mail Pass The Millie Test?

I enjoy observing people in everyday situations. And one of my favorite observation posts is the post office. In the P.O. you get to see how people react specifically to direct mail.

You get to see them smile warmly when there’s a personal letter from their romantic interest ... frown when there’s correspondence from the IRS ... get angry when there’s a 30-minute wait-in-line to see a postal clerk ... and exhibit a myriad of expressions as they go through their stack of mail.

Some people whistle while opening every single envelope ... while others grunt and groan while tossing out seemingly everything except the letter from Mom.

It’s an experience.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Here's one of my all-time favorite “observations” ...

I was on my way out of the post office lobby when I passed this elderly couple. The woman was holding a big stack of mail and I could hear that they were in a semi-heated “debate.” Assuming it had to do with their mail, I decided to get snoopy (not the dog ... “nosy”).

Here’s what I heard the older lady say to her husband: Charles, didn’t I tell you to tell Millie only to forward the important mail to us ... not this junk.

I smiled and walked away. The reason I walked away was because it sounded like Charles was about to discover his elderly derriere in some darn deep doo-doo, and I didn’t want to stay around to watch the CHASTISEMENT OF CHARLES.

As I was driving home, I started thinking (I do that occasionally): “This could be a real test of direct mail excellence.”

If someone leaves for a vacation and instructs a friend to forward only the important mail ... will that friend forward your direct mail? Does your envelope look or sound important enough to cause “Millie” to forward it?

If it looked like a personal letter and was mailed first class, Millie would almost have to forward it. If you used envelope teaser copy that sounded valuable/important (particularly if there was a time limit noted) ... I think Millie would probably forward it — just to be safe.

My point is simple: Every time you create a new direct mail piece, you should ask yourself ...

Will “Millie" forward this?

The Importance Of Clear Communication

It is absolutely imperative that your ad copy be crystal clear to your prospect.

You simply can’t afford to have a prospect questioning what you meant ... or misunderstanding your intent. If prospects don’t precisely understand your copy — and understand it on first reading — the outcome is likely not to be to your liking.

Let me reinforce the importance of clear communication via a quick, little story ...

A hapless hobo comes to the front door of a neat looking country home and raps gently on the door.

Soon, the well-dressed owner of the home -- a dentist -- answers, "Yes, what is it ?"

The hobo begs, "Please, sir, could you give me something to eat? I haven't had a good meal in several days."

The dentist sternly says, "I have made a fortune in my lifetime by providing quality services for people. I've never given anything away for nothing."

"However, if you go around to the back of the house you will see a gallon of gray paint and a clean paint brush. If you will paint my porch back there, I will give you a good meal."

So the hobo gladly agrees and quickly goes around back. Soon afterwards, he again knocks on the door.

The dentist smiles, "Finished already? Good. Come on in. Sit down. Enjoy your meal."

After the hobo finishes a grand meal he turns to the dentist and says, "Thank you very much, sir... By the way, there's something that I think you should know. That's not a Porsche you've got back there. It's a BMW."

As this story points out, sometimes seemingly clear communication ... really isn’t.

Before you ship that ad off to the newspaper (or the direct mail package/brochure to your printer), re-read your copy. Then, have other people read it. Watch them. Do you find them re-reading portions? Do they look confused? When finished, ask them questions to make sure they got out of it precisely what you intended.

Look for every possible instance of potential reader misunderstanding in your copy. Then, correct it. If you don't, you'll be wasting much of your advertising dollar.

Of course, communicating with your staff (and communication between members of your staff) requires the same attention to clear communication details. Miscommunication can create all sorts of unnecessary problems and grief within the practice.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Prospective Patients: Quality vs. Quantity

When asked what they would like their advertising to accomplish, most dentists say, "bring in lots of new patients."

But that's not precisely what they mean. The problem with "lots of prospects" (quantity) is that many of them may not be "good" prospects (quality).

How does one distinguish between a good prospect versus a not-so-good one in this context?

A good (quality) prospect is someone who ...

... has a self-identifiable dental problem, and,
... is looking for a solution to that problem, and,
... has the money to pay for the solution to the problem.

A not-so-good prospect is someone who ...

... doesn't have the money to afford quality dental care, and/or,
... is only looking for the cheap solution, and/or,
... is only looking for information.

This obviously doesn't tell the entire story of who are, and are not, good prospects and patients. But for the purpose of creating successful dental response advertising, the above definition will work just fine.

The question is, how can you create your advertising so that mostly quality patients respond?

Here's a general rule of thumb: The more generalized your message and the more you feature (or infer) low-price, the higher the number of prospects who will likely respond ... and the lower the overall quality of those prospects. (Of course, if your practice is geared towards lower income patients, this approach makes sense.)

Conversely, the more specific your ad message, without the inference or perception of bargain-basement pricing ... the fewer the responses, but the higher the quality of prospect.

Full article: New Patient Quality vs. Quantity

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Surveys Are Potent Marketing Tools

When created and used correctly, surveys can help convince your patients that they really are important to you ... that you respect their opinions ... that you are always looking to improve your practice along with their experience and comfort ... and that you listen to them.

Those are many of the ingredients needed to
develop a long-term, loyal patient.

And just as important is the fact that you can easily generate valuable testitonials via surveys ... testimonials that you can effectively use in your marketing to attract even more patients.

If you're not using patient surveys, you should consider it.

[Please feel free to contact me if you would like information on how I might help you generate valuable testimonials through patient surveys.]

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Nix The Negative

It's virtually always more response-effective to build your marketing message around positive benefit appeals than to focus primarily on the negative ... fear.

For example, the ad headline ... "Untreated Gum Disease Can Kill You!" ... is a negative approach, using fear to try to persuade prospects to take action. It very often causes mental discomfort for the reader which may cause him to avoid thinking about it. Or s/he might remember the "Kill You" part of the headline in association with your name and forget the "Gum Disease" part.

The headline ... "Eliminate Your Gum Disease ... Feel Better, Live Longer." ... is a positive benefits approach to the same problem.

If you're disappointed with the response to your ads, direct mail, radio spots, etc., analyze carefully to see if you're using a more negative, rather than positive, message. If so, try the positive approach.

Does positive always outpull negative? Not always ... but typically it does (probably 9 out of ten times).

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Losing $80 Million In Six Months Confirms It

Much of the external dental marketing/advertising I see focuses the attention and appeal on the dentist, not the prospect or patient. In effect the message says ...

• This is who I am.
• This is what I do.
• This is where I got my training.
• These are the organizations I belong to.
• Here's a list of procedures I do.
• Impressive, isn't it!

Unfortunately, dental prospect's are seldom interested in reading about you. All of that *me, me, me* information is not what normally influences a prospect to pick up the phone and make an appointment with you.

Here's what the prospect is really thinking whenever she reads or listens to or watches an ad or marketing pitch ...

What's in it for me?

How will I benefit?

How can you help me?

That's universally true.

At all times.

"But, what about when I buy a gift for someone else," you may be thinking. "I'm not asking 'what's in it for me.'"

"Or what about when I give to charity. I do that ONLY to benefit those less fortunate than me. I'm not wondering how it will benefit me."

Bull doo-doo.

Those might not be your conscious thoughts,
but if you look very carefully, you'll find the
"what's in it for me" lurking in the background

For example: There are any number of personal-benefit reasons why you buy and give gifts ... to be appreciated, to avoid embarrassment, to gain an advantage, to avoid guilt, to name a few. And when you give to charity you do so because it makes you feel good, or keeps you from feeling guilty.

A few days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans I sent a check to the Red Cross. Was it to help the unfortunate? Sure it was ... but it was just as much to shake my feelings of sadness and guilt (here I was living and enjoying the comforts of my home while those poor people were living in hell). As always happens when I give to charity, it just made me feel better to do so.

Here's further proof that people (even the best of the good-hearted people) are always asking "what's in it for me." When the state of Florida changed their lottery advertising appeal from greed (Win Millions ... Live Like A King) to helping others (Help Improve The Education System, Buy Lottery Tickets), lottery ticket sales dropped by $80 million in just six months.

When you are trying to persuade prospects to come to your practice, be sure to initially talk about them and the benefits they'll enjoy ... not about yourself.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Use Photos, Not Illustrations

Whenever possible choose to use a photo rather than an illustration in your marketing/advertising material.

Why?

Because study after study shows that photos sell better than illustrations (except in those situations where photos either can't clearly detail what you're trying to visually communicate or where photos could create anxiety ... like how implants are placed.

In one test of photo versus illustration, the photo ad increased response by 300%.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Envelope Teaser Copy ... Not An Afterthought

Remember this ...

When you use envelope teaser copy, you are advertising the fact that there's advertising inside the envelope. So, you'd better be sure that the teaser copy says precisely what you want it to say and that it makes the reader WANT to open the envelope to get to the information inside.

If the teaser doesn't in some way compel the reader to look inside, he won't. In that case you would have been better off not using any teaser.

What kind of teaser copy works best? One that directly or indirectly promises a powerful benefit(s) to the recipient is always a good, safe choice. Example ...

Are you fed up with your dentures?

If so, here's a solution you'll appreciate (see inside) ...

Teaser copy should always be treated as a major creative copy component, not an afterthought. You should spend as much time on it as you would the headline of an ad.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

There's A Fine Line Between *Disguise* and *Deceit*

When you play the *disguise* game with your direct mail, you risk crossing the line into *deceit* territory. And it's a fine line.

Recognizing the difference is often a real problem.

Why?

Because you're playing on the recipient's home field ... and he's doing the officiating. And if he perceives it to be deceitful, then you get penalized and sent to the penalty box (the wastebasket) ... even if instant replay clearly shows that your intent was not truly deceitful.

It's true that I'm playing semantics. Let's face it, to disguise is to deceive. One disguises in order to hide ... to conceal ... to deceive.

Please
Remember
This ...

In marketing, what's real in our prospect's mind is what's real. Even if, in reality, it isn't. And in the mind of most prospects, there's a difference between *disguise* and *deceit.* A little *disguise* is usually acceptable. A little *deceit* isn't.

So, if you're thinking about concealing the true contents of your direct mail by dressing up the envelope in an IRS look-alike costume or a phony-check-inside mask, or any other disguise ... remember that it might be perceived by some as just a disguise, but by others as deceitful (even if you intended it "just as a disguise").

Think about it.

And then decide that disguise in any form is not only risky ... it's also dishonest.

My recommendation: Don't disguise or deceive. Always be truthful when creating your marketing/advertising ... just be sure to make that truth sing a happy and benefit-filled song.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

One BIG shot or multiple smaller shots?

Are you better off mailing one direct mail package at $1200 per M, or two at $600 per M or three at $400 per M?

You may be better off mailing a series of less expensive packages than you are dropping your $$ load in one pile. You have a better chance of catching a prospect in the *responding* mood if you expose yourself to him/her repeatedly.

It's also easier to force yourself to focus on one primary appeal per package when you use multiple follow-up packages. And it's that singular focus which might appeal to different prospects.

Bottome Line: It's worth testing one big shot versus multiple smaller shots.

But you know what will probably work even better? A big shot ... followed by a series of smaller shots (given your marketing budget is sufficient).

Cheers ... and bottoms up.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Say What? ...

You work and work and work to make sure your marketing copy is easy to understand ... to where it won't be confusing and can't be misunderstood. But, never fear, there will be people out there who will still not get it.

From the files of the California driving exams archive, here are actual answers given to standard questions:

Q. What is the difference between a flashing red traffic light and a flashing yellow traffic light?
A. The color.

Q. What changes would occur in your lifestyle if you could no longer drive lawfully?
A. I would be forced to drive unlawfully.

Q. When driving through fog, what should you use?
A. A car.

Q. Do you yield when a blind pedestrian is crossing the road?
A. What for? He can't see my license plate.

Story moral: Do your best to make your copy as crystal clear as possible ... and accept the fact that there will still be some people who will still be baffled by it.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson

Headline Importance and Humor ...

The headline is the single most important copy component of any print ad. It, by itself, can make the difference between the success or failure of an ad.

Although the following headlines are taken mostly from article headlines and not ad headlines, they clearly illustrate the importance of carefully wording your headlines ... and saying precisely what you mean.

• Police Begin Campaign To Run Down Jaywalkers
• Drunk Gets Nine Months In Violin Case
• Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
• Panda Mating Fails, Veterinarian Takes Over
• Eye Drops Off Shelf
• Teachers Strike Idle Kids
• Enraged Cow Injures Farmer With Ax
• Miners Refuse To Work After Death

Personally, I'm with the miners.

Copyright 2007 by Galen Stilson