Want To Save 1/2 The Postage On Your Next Post Card Mailing?

If you are a small business that would like to make prospective clients a great offer on a direct mail post card, you are in luck. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has a relatively new program called Every Door Mail that allows you to mail post cards to addresses in the area directly surrounding your business at a rate of 14.2 cents/card--roughly 1/2 the usual postage!                                                                                    



Here's how it works. You get a list of all of the postal carrier routes within your zip code along with the number of addresses in each. Then you select those routes you want keeping in mind the total number of cards you want to mail. You may select as few as 200 or as many as 5,000 addresses.

The USPS has specific requirements for the card itself. It must weigh no more than 3.3 ounces and measure   6 1/4" x 11". You may be able to get by with 6 1/2" x 9".  Check with your local post office on this. The cards must not contain name and address information. Because they must be printed according to USPS standards, it is important to work with a printer who understands the system and can get it right for you.

I can recommend CWR in Pennsauken, NJ, to you for this. They are a long-established printing company that has had training specifically in this system. It was they who alerted me to this post office bonanza recently when I was researching a mailing for a client. I was so amazed by it that I wanted to pass it along to you.                                                                                               
The USPS started its Every Door Mail program last year to help small, local businesses afford the cost of a post card mailing. Not a bad idea!

For further information, go to USPS.com online, click on business solutions, and in the drop down box, hit Try Every Door Mail.

How Do You Feel About Political Lawn Signs?

Walking my usual route in suburban Philadelphia yesterday, I encountered at least 150 political signs--red, blue, even green (independent? green candidate?) Some lawns boasted three or four different candidates' signs--county commissioner, township commissioner, judge, even coroner. This election has brought an explosion of such advertising.Why?

As we become more and more conscious of brand advertising in the marketplace, the importance of repeated exposure has become apparent. Researchers have come up with statistics about how many exposures to a brand produce awareness and how many more produce action.

In politics, as in business, exposure is the name of the game. Maximal exposure to a targeted, local audience produces awareness and eventually results: VOTES. The low cost of such advertising adds to its appeal.

Is there a down side? You bet. Not for the candidates or their campaigns, but for the residents whose once-serene neighborhoods have been aesthetically assaulted for over a month. Some townships have tried to legislate sign size and limit the number of days before an election on which they may be posted. Such attempts have often met with freedom of speech arguments.

My marketing professional self approves of political lawn signs. My quiet-walk-in-the-neighborhood self does not. What are your thoughts?

Feel free to share any of your marketing-related thoughts or questions with me:

Mary Groll
Mary Groll Marketing
mary@marygroll.com
www.marygroll.com

Dental Practice Marketing: The Key To Success

by Mary Groll, President, Mary Groll Marketing

Montgomery-Bucks Dental Society Bulletin, 12/8/2010

Today, dentists faced with challenging economic times increasingly turn to marketing to build their practices. They know that if they are not actively involved in marketing, their competition is. To be successful, they must become involved as well.

The marketing process begins with branding. Consumers are familiar with brands—Nike, Starbucks, Crest toothpaste, for example. Each company makes a promise to reproduce exactly the same experience with its product every time the buyer comes in contact with it. The Nike action swoosh delivers active wear in each of its products. Starbucks’ coffee may not be the greatest coffee in the world, but Starbucks delivers an experience that is consistent and reproducible every time. Crest delivers its self-proclaimed “cavity-fighting toothpaste” in every single tube. In each case, consumers buy the experience they know they can count on. They buy the brand.                                                       

A dentist’s product is his practice. He must select as his brand the one or two things about it that set it apart from its competition. Then he must reproduce them with every contact his patients have with his office. 

Dentist X elects to brand his practice as patient-friendly. There are numerous attributes with which he could brand his practice: cutting-edge equipment and techniques, aesthetic values, creation of the perfect smile, decades of experience, pain-free treatments. 

He has, instead, selected the patient-friendly atmosphere of his office as the distinguishing aspect of his practice for which he wants to become known. Although he cares about all of the other attributes listed above, he has not chosen to brand himself with them. Other dentists may also have patient-friendly offices, but if Dentist X establishes that as his brand, patients seeking such will turn to him.

Everything flows from Dentist X’s brand concept. It shapes the total experience his patients have with his practice. The more he reproduces that experience, the bigger his brand grows. His logo expresses it. His letterhead and business cards reflect it. His website is an extension of it. His office culture reinforces it, and his operating room fulfills its promise. Branding is the first step in a Marketing Plan.                                                                                                                                                                                                

Next come logo creation, letterhead and business card development, and website design. “Websites” are almost a buzzword today. Everyone is talking about them. Everyone seems to have one. Why?                                                                                                                              

Consider this scenario: Jane Doe has just moved to a new community and needs a dentist. She can ask her friends for a recommendation. In which case, marketing begins with satisfied patients. She can consult her physician. In which case, marketing means establishing a strong relationship with referring physicians. Or she can surf the web (which she will probably do anyway if she has been referred to Dentist X to make sure that she has made the right choice.)

More and more, the internet is the pathway into a dentist’s practice. If Ms. Doe can’t find Dentist X’s website, he doesn’t exist. And if that website isn’t professional looking, easy-to-navigate and informative, she will doubt the professionalism of his practice.

In any case, to maximize the likelihood of a prospective patient’s choosing him, Dentist X must cover all of his bases. Besides a website that represents him and his brand well, he must have in place systems for building solid relationships with patients and with referring dentists.                                                                                                                                                                           

The true heart of any Marketing Plan lies in its strategies. How will Dentist X build the trust in his patients that increases the likelihood of their accepting his treatment recommendations? What can he do to retain his current patients? Increase their referral of friends and family? Build general dentists’ referrals? Attract the kinds of cases he enjoys? Build his revenues and profits? Help more patients? A good Plan sets in place systems to address these questions.

Once the strategies and the tactics to implement them have been established,

 print and/or electronic marketing materials to support them must be considered. Most Marketing Campaigns today rely heavily on e-marketing. This may take several different forms: monthly e-blasts just to stay in touch; informational fact sheets on pertinent procedures, techniques, or scientific findings; newsletters that include introductions of new staff, new locations, reviews of interesting cases, comments on issues in the local and national news relating to the dentist’s field.

There is still, however, a need for more traditional marketing materials. Brochures or fact sheets explaining each of the various services offered by a dentist are important reception room reading. Frequently, patients think of their dentist only for cavity fillings and cleanings. When they require other services-- implants, reconstructive work,

endodontics, etc., they may go elsewhere not realizing that their own dentist could well have taken care of them.  Brochures or fact sheets available in your reception room can  educate them.

For new patient acquisition, it is important to establish a target market. Practice analysis  reveals demographics—where patients live, how old and what sex they are, what their income level is, how much education they have had, etc. It is likely that new patients will come from that same demographic. For optimal results, print advertising and direct mail should be addressed specifically to that market.

Less conventional avenues of marketing include such things as offering educational seminars at community centers, schools or religious institutions, writing informative articles in local publications, volunteering services when needed.

Finally, when a dentist has a unique case or a human-interest story to tell, a news release can be invaluable. It may be mailed to local papers or distributed on-line.

Producing bottom line results, dental practice marketing serves as a risk reduction system. Handled well, it eliminates the haphazard development of a practice and sets it on a course of systematic growth for the future.

Mary Groll has been in the marketing field for 30 years. Her company, Mary Groll Marketing, has particular expertise in the marketing of specialty dental and medical practices. www.marygroll.com.

Blogs from Mary Groll Marketing: PERFECTWRIGHT proofing editing writing

Blogs from Mary Groll Marketing: PERFECTWRIGHT proofing editing writing

Medical Practice Marketing: A Must for Today's Times

Medical Practice Marketing: A Must in Today's Times

by Mary Groll, President, Mary Groll Marketing

Today, physicians faced with diminishing insurance reimbursements and challenging economic times increasingly turn to marketing to build their practices. They know that if they are not actively involved in marketing, their competition is. To get ahead and stay ahead, they must become involved as well.

The marketing process begins with branding. Consumers are familiar with brands—Nike, Starbucks, Crest toothpaste, for example. Each company makes a promise to reproduce exactly the same experience with its product every time the buyer comes in contact with it. The Nike action swoosh delivers active wear in each of its products. Starbucks’ coffee may not be the greatest coffee in the world, but Starbucks delivers an experience that is consistent and reproducible every time. Crest delivers its self-proclaimed “cavity-fighting toothpaste” in every single tube. In each case, consumers buy the experience they know they can count on. They buy the brand.                                                     

A physician’s product is his practice. He must select as his brand the one or two things about it that set it apart from its competition. Then he must reproduce them with every contact his patients have with his office.

Surgeon X is a plastic surgeon. He may elect to brand his practice with the hi-tech equipment and techniques he uses to achieve superior results. Although he cares deeply about aesthetic values, has decades of experience, and always ensures a short recovery time for his patients, he has not chosen to brand himself with those attributes.                                                                                                                                 

He has, instead, selected his hi-tech equipment and techniques as the distinguishing aspects of his practice for which he wants to become known. Other surgeons may use the same hi-tech equipment and techniques, but if Surgeon X establishes those as his brand, patients seeking such will turn to him.

Everything flows from this Surgeon X’s brand concept. It shapes the total experience his patients have with his practice. The more he reproduces that experience, the bigger his brand grows. His logo expresses it. His letterhead and business cards reflect it. His website is an extension of it. His office culture reinforces it, and his operating room fulfills its promise. Branding is the first step in a Marketing Plan.                                                                                                  

Next come logo creation, letterhead and business card development, and website design. “Websites” are almost a buzzword today. Everyone is talking about them. Everyone seems to have one. Why?                                                                                                                           

Consider this scenario: Jane Doe, who is contemplating a face-lift, is seeking a good plastic surgeon. She can ask her friends for a recommendation. In which case, marketing begins with satisfied patients. She can consult her internist. In which case, marketing means establishing a strong relationship with referring doctors. Or she can surf the web (which she will probably do anyway if she has been referred to Surgeon X to make sure that she has made the right choice.)

More and more, the internet is the pathway into a physician’s practice. If Ms. Doe can’t find Surgeon X’s website, he doesn’t exist. And if that website isn’t professional looking, easy-to-navigate and informative, she will doubt the professionalism of his practice.

In any case, to maximize the likelihood of a prospective patient’s choosing him, Surgeon X must cover all of his bases. Besides a website that represents him and his brand well, he must have in place systems for building solid relationships with patients and with referring doctors.                                                                                                                                                                         

The true heart of any Marketing Plan lies in its strategies. How will Surgeon X build the trust in his patients that increases the likelihood of their accepting his treatment recommendations? What can he do to retain his current patients? Increase their referral of friends and family? Build physician referrals? Attract the kinds of cases he enjoys? Build his revenues and profits? Help more patients? A good Plan sets in place systems to address these questions.

Once the strategies and the tactics to implement them have been established,
 print and/or electronic marketing materials to support them must be considered. Most Marketing Campaigns today rely heavily on e-marketing. This may take several different forms: monthly e-blasts just to stay in touch; informational fact sheets on pertinent procedures, techniques, or scientific findings; newsletters that include introductions of new staff, new locations, reviews of interesting cases, comments on issues in the local and national news relating to the physician’s field.

There is still, however, a need for more traditional marketing materials. Brochures or fact sheets explaining each of the various services offered by a physician are important reception room reading. Frequently, patients are aware of only the service their doctor performs for them. When they or their friends or family require other services, they may go elsewhere not realizing that their own doctor could well provide them. Referring physicians, as well, may not understand the full range of the specialist’s services. Brochures or fact sheets to educate them are also useful for them to distribute to their patients, as appropriate.

For new patient acquisition, it is important to establish a target market. Practice analysis  reveals demographics—where patients live, how old and what sex they are, what their income level is, how much education they have had, etc. It is likely that new patients will come from that same demographic. For optimal results, print advertising and direct mail should be addressed specifically to that market.

Less conventional avenues of marketing include such things as offering educational seminars at community centers, schools or religious institutions, writing informative articles in local publications, volunteering services when needed.

Finally, when a physician has a unique case or a human-interest story to tell, a news release can be invaluable. It may be mailed to local papers or distributed on-line.

In the hands of a medical marketing professional, marketing serves as a risk reduction system. It eliminates the haphazard development of a practice and sets it on a course of systematic growth that builds it for the future.


Mary Groll has been in the marketing field for 30 years. Her company, Mary Groll Marketing, has particular expertise in the marketing of medical practices. www.marygroll.com.

PERFECTWRIGHT proofing editing writing

For your peace of mind

Most websites contain errors. Does yours? How about your brochures, sales
literature, reports, documents, proposals, resumes, cover letters, newsletters and articles? If written perfection is essential to you, I can help. Spotting grammar, punctuation and spelling errors as well as typos is my forte and my fun!

What can I do for you?

• Eliminate embarrassing errors (proofread). Spell/Grammar Check does not pick up everything, i.e. wrong words such  as “two,” “to” and “too.”

• Polish your text (edit) so that it flows logically, clearly and smoothly.

• Update your website with your most current information and visuals.

• Proofread/edit/write non-website collateral material.

How do you benefit?

• Save time by outsourcing the arduous task of proofreading

• Save money by eliminating the need for reprinting

• Build revenues by attracting patrons with flawless presentation that is a mark of flawless product/service

• Expand your reputation by satisfying those who seek excellence

• Enjoy peace of mind by knowing you have presented your best public face

What are my credentials?

• Nearly a decade in teaching English

• Over 30 years in marketing, advertising and public relations

• B.A. in English literature, University of Pennsylvania

For more information or an estimate: mary@marygroll.com or 215-885-2803. Visit Mary Groll Marketing at www.marygroll.com.