The new website www.Marketing2Dentists.com gives mailers and advertisers one-stop access to the leading publishers and professional associations who market to dentists and dental specialists.
Dental marketers can learn details regarding marketing programs to reach General Practice Dentists; and specialists such as Orthodontists, Oral Surgeons, Periodontists, Endodontists, Prosthodontists, and Registered Dental Hygienists.
The site features links to 32 leading sources of marketing to dentists via:
* Mailing Lists
* Email Lists
* Advertise in Print Publications
* Advertise in Email Newsletters
* Advertise on Websites
A few days ago a prospective client asked me, "What's your expertise regarding mailing lists based on?"
The simple answer is experience. And lots of it. I've worked with hundreds of clients who market to dozens of different industries and job functions. The best part of being a list broker is that I get to become an active part of the marketing staff for so many different types of companies.
In his book "Outliers: The Story of Success", Malcolm Gladwell states that a person needs to work 10,000 hours at something to become truly expert.
Since 1986 I've been part of nearly 40,000 mailing list and email list orders. I passed the 10,000 hour mark as a list broker more than a decade ago. And two of my key colleagues at Hippo Direct have a combined 24 years experience working with mailing lists.
With increased experience comes increased specialization. Currently half of our work with clients focuses on postal and email lists in 3 market segments:
1. College Professors and Administrators
2. Dentists and Dental Professionals
3. Top Executives at Nonprofit Organizations
The learning never stops. Especially regarding achieving better results from email lists -- and finding new sources of postal lists. When something works well for one client, we can apply that knowledge to other clients.
1. Target dentists with new office locationsMoving to a new office is the #1 indicator of a growing dental practice. Each year 23,000 dentists change their office locations. These dentists need lots of products and services to staff, equip and promote their new location.
A special select on the
American Dental Association list not used by many marketers is "year of address change". You can combine this select with type of address to produce annual list of those dentists with a new office.
2. Reach high-earning specialty dentists early in their careerUpon graduation from dental school, 99% of new dentists declare themselves as "general practice" dentists. However, over the course of the next 7 years, 18% of these young dentists will choose a dental specialty such as oral surgery, orthodontics, periodontics or cosmetic dentistry. Marketers who routinely target only general practice dentists miss out on many dentists with the most purchasing power. A shrewd business plan would be to do a targeted mailing each year to specialty dentists who have graduated within the past 7 years.
My list brokerage company,
Hippo Direct, provides the
American Dental Association mailing list to many of our clients. We've learned a lot from our clients about creative ways to select dentists from the
ADA list. One of the best is to focus mailing campaigns by age of dentist.
A dentist's age is a great predictor of his or her likelihood to buy many products or services. Here's breakdown of dentists by age range:
29 and younger = 3%
30 - 39 years = 21%
40 - 49 years = 22%
50 - 59 years = 30%
60 and older = 24%
Many marketers target the sweet spot of the market to reach dentists between the ages of 30-49. And rightly so, because these are typically the years of greatest growth for a dentist's practice. But using only this strategy ignores more than half of active dentists. Here are some creative ways to use mailing lists to target the often-ignored youngest and oldest dentists.
Build brand awareness and loyalty with dentists at early age Each year 4400 dentists graduate and enter their professional practice. Every year a dental marketer could send a 22,000 piece mailing and reach all the young dentists who are in their first 4 years of practice, plus those in graduate school/residency.
Use a mailing list of retired dentists to increase profitabilty and improve your marketing ROI:
1. Clean your prospect database by removing retired dentists.
2. Cultivate relationships with retired dental experts who can be influential in industry associations and as possible product endorsers. Plus, nearly all of these retired dentists sold their practice to a younger dentist and typically maintain on-going relationships with active dentists.
In a recent article to dentists entitled "Recession Proof Your Practice", Dr. Michael Goldberg, the former director of the practice management course at Columbia University, says "the current economy is a great time to make yourself and your practice better. Now is the time to invest in continuing education, to learn new things."
The new reality is that most dentists are actively seeking help to improve their business...
* Fewer patients mean that dentists have more time to evaluate new products and services.
* Less revenue means that dentists are looking for ways to save money and run a more efficient practice.
* To position themselves for a longer, more lucrative career most dentists have great interest in continuing education and learning new skills.
Direct mail marketing remains the best way to reach dentists. Many responsive mailing lists exist to reach dentists, the best include:
American Dental Association
Advanstar Dental Masterfile
Pennwell Dental Database