Does your dental marketing plan include a ‘Spring Cleaning’ plan? It should! Spring time is the perfect time to reach deep into your patient file to reactivate lapsed patients, identify inactive patients and find sources of hidden revenue. In part 1 of this series we’ll talk about Lists, Cards & effective messages to gain interest, market, and convert lapsed or inactive patients.
The SmartPractice Dental Practice Marketing Spring Guide is the complete guide to successful dental marketing with sections dedicated to patient promotions, local events, updating your office, spring cleaning your online profiles, tracking performance, as well as insider only offers. This week we are going to focus on best practices to ensure maximum response rates! Let’s get started!
Goals of a Dental Marketing Spring Cleaning
- 1. A big boost in hygiene production to increase profitability.
- 2. Increase patient loyalty and increase referrals by reaching out to your patients with news about the practice, limited time offers and fun events.
- 3. Update your patient file with returned cards due to patients’ moving (this will save money in the long-run).
Who to Target
- 1. Active Patients who are past (and really past) due for hygiene appointments 30 days – 2 years. (Depending on your recall system can modify to 60-90 days – 2 years).
- 2. For this campaign, consider including those who have only been in for emergency appointments.
Lists, Cards, Messages and Spring Time Dental Marketing
Reaching out to your entire patient file allows you to update vital information, purge files of patients who’ve moved on, and gives you the opportunity to reactivate patients who’ve fallen off the radar.
There’s hidden money in your patient file and we want to help you find it! Spring is an ideal time to encourage those with dental benefits to use them early and maximize their preventive care
benefits for the year. Even those without insurance may be done procrastinating and ready to start focusing on their oral health. Your communication is what will remind them to make it a priority.
Segmenting Lists
Here are two ways to help you reach your practice goals and improve the health of patients. You’ll want to select a different message and offer appropriate to each group.
Past Due: Recare Due Date 30 Days—6 Months Ago
These are your best patients that will deliver the biggest return. You need to make sure they don’t go any longer than a year without an appointment or your chances of reactivating begin to diminish. Let them know they’ve been missed and give them a reason to call!
Really Past Due: Recare Due Date 7+ Months Ago
For this campaign, go out further than you normally would – up to two years. They will need more than a subtle “It’s time” message. Send patients words of encouragement that you
want to see them. Some may be embarrassed it’s been so long—let them know they’re welcome back no matter how long it’s been and your #1 concern is their oral health. They will come back! Also, ask them to call and let you know if they are being cared for by another dental group. If so, offer to transfer their files to keep their health history together. Then, close out the patient as inactive.
Postcard Imagery
Attention grabbing, spring-themed cards really stand out in the mail. We’ve included several great examples—shown in the sidebar to the left. Just click on one and you’ll be taken to www.smartpractice.com
and be able to personalize. A professional, yet warm card design combined with an effective
message gets your past due hygiene patients back into care while creating a big boost to your hygiene schedule.
Messaging
Get creative and try a new message. Examples of effective Spring Messages include:
Example One:
Spring is in the air! We are worried that, in your zest for spring cleaning, you may have thrown away our reminder that it’s time for your professional dental cleaning. According to our records, you are past due for care. Please contact us at or email <email@address> to schedule an appointment. We look forward to seeing you and making your smile look and feel as fresh as spring.
Example Two:
Spring is in the air and spring cleaning is an important part of the season. In that spirit, we’d like to schedule your professional dental cleaning soon. According to our records, you are overdue due for
preventive dental care. Please call us at or email <email@address> to schedule an appointment. We look forward to seeing you soon.Example Three:
Spring is in the air! Do you to think “teeth and gums” when you think about spring cleaning? We’d like you to. According to our records, you were due for preventive dental care on [DATE]. Regular dental care saves money by helping prevent periodontal disease and catching decay in the earliest stages. Please call us at
or email <email@address> at your earliest convenience to schedule an appointment. We look forward to seeing you soon.
What’s Next?
Next time will move forward with our spring dental marketing plan and talk about patients promotions. In office and external patient promotions such as whitening can be extremely effective this time a year, we’ll give you tips and tricks to make sure any promotion is a successful one.
