What is advanced direct marketing? Not letting those casual visitors out of sight with an email follow-up

Advanced direct marketing allows you to target by mail those prospective patients who have already shown interest via your digital platform

The latest trends in marketing all point toward further digital expansion, and chiropractic is no exception. As chiropractic marketing gurus will tell you, digital campaigns can net you a greater turnover of prospective patients to actual patients, with less effort on your part. Although this is generally true, there is still a certain percentage that may get part of the way through the conversion process, but then leave your website before booking that initial appointment or purchasing those nutritional supplements. That’s where advanced direct marketing comes in.

Is there a way to recapture their interest? Read further to find out more about advanced direct marking, which allows you to merge your digital marketing campaign with a personalized mail campaign triggered by prospective patients’ online activities.

What is advanced direct marketing?

Advanced direct marketing is a way to integrate a company’s digital marketing with personalized mail, based on a prospective customer’s online behavior.

For instance, an advanced direct marketing system would target those prospective customers who may have started the process of purchasing but ended up abandoning their online cart before completing the sale. In other instances, a prospective customer may spend a significant amount of time on one particular page of a website, yet not take the step to purchase or otherwise engage with the website.

With an advanced direct marketing system, the potential customer may then receive a personalized mail piece offering a special discount on the item in which they showed interest or provide more information on it. This is meant to redirect the potential customer back to the website to complete the initial sale or otherwise engage at a deeper level.

Is it effective?

Numerous marketing surveys have shown that companies which use advanced direct marketing have seen not only an increased return on investment, but also increased conversion rates and leads.

Two different marketing surveys, one from the U.S. and another from the U.K. have shown that companies who employ this type of campaign have seen positive results, including:^1-2

60% reporting improved ROI from combining digital and mail marketing campaigns
64% reporting improved user experience
52% reporting improved conversion rates
55% reporting better quality leads

Making your own plan

Although your practice is likely nowhere near as large as many companies that utilize advanced direct marketing, there is no reason why you cannot use the same strategy – just scaled down to fit your needs.

Know which prospects to target: First, you need to understand which visitors to your website are most likely to convert from prospective to actual patients. Who is spending the most time on your site, and where are they spending it? Once you have a handle on your website traffic analytics, you will be set to move on to the next stage.

Invite them to find out more: This is when you target those online prospective patients by first sending out an email welcoming their interest in your website. Your email should be warm and inviting, while also explaining that they are receiving your email because you noticed their interest in your website. From there, you should then come up with an exclusive offering that you are only making to them because of their obvious interest not only in chiropractic, but in you as their DC. This is also when you will ask for their mailing address in exchange for an exclusive offer.

Make good on your offer: Now you have finally reached the point where you complete the other part of the advanced direct marketing campaign – the mail piece. A postcard with a design that matches your website is a good choice, as it will help build brand cohesion across platforms. Examples of exclusive offerings might include discount codes on products, online seminars, or initial visits. Regardless of what type of offering you choose, it should redirect prospective patients back to your website, so as to present yet another opportunity for re-engagement.

Reward loyalty: After you have worked so hard to convert these valuable prospective patients into actual ones, don’t forget to reward them for sticking with you. Loyalty offers might include referral discounts or exclusive sales on products. Again, the reward offers should go out by mail, with directions to redeem the offer by visiting your website.

Overall, advanced direct marketing allows you to target by mail those prospective patients who have already shown interest via your digital platform, so are likely to convert to actual patients. It allows you to focus on those prospective patients who are most likely to convert, which means you can place your marketing focus where it will do the most good.

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