How Urgent Cares Are Using Direct Mail To Attract Patients

Urgent Care is quickly becoming the 1st stop for many Americans as the facilities become more convenient and increase the number of treatments available. This shift in mindset from going to the ER or hospital to now instead being an Urgent Care facility there is a huge opportunity to capture this surge of new patients.

The question becomes “How are you going to capture the attention of these new patients?”.
While a total marketing mix is recommended, the one channel you should not leave out is direct mail. Direct Mail for Urgent Cares is proving to be one of the most effective marketing efforts at getting increased awareness and moving more patients to visit your facilities.
Although we’re heavily focusing on new patients, the truth is that the Direct Mail channel is also one of the best at retaining existing patients by keeping your brand and facility top of mind which leads them to continue to visit and refer you to others.

Include Insider Tips in your Healthcare Direct Mail Marketing

One of the keys to a successful marketing strategy is to give more than you get.
You can position yourself as an authoritative thought leader and stay top-of-mind by sending current and prospective patients health-related tips and reminders, along with a call to action to schedule an appointment if needed.

Common forms of authoritative content that an Urgent Care facility can send out are “signs & symptoms” cards, healthy living brochures or a list of supplements based on common needs or deficiencies.

Advertise Patient Reviews Through Direct Mail

In marketing one of the most powerful tools is “social proof” and of that the most significant driver of positive awareness & sentiment are patient reviews. This recommendation holds weight in the eyes of patients in that it is a level of credibility that you otherwise wouldn’t have. While not as strong it is similar to word of mouth, where someone else is validating the legitimacy of your care.

Not surprisingly, eighty-four percent of patients choose a physician based solely on reviews they read online, so encourage your patients to post testimonials on your favorite digital platform, and then feature some of the better ones in a direct mail piece.

Build Trust with Expert Content

To establish credibility, you should give material and services that assist patients in assisting themselves whenever and wherever practicable. Though this information is frequently available online, it may not be from reliable sources. A newsletter or other direct mail item with articles or recommendations on how to stay healthy is a fantastic place to start. This differs from thought leadership in that it is common knowledge that you are simply restating and reinforcing.

Depending on your target demographic and the nature of your business, you can keep this information basic or become precise to increase confidence. Unless you’re writing to a highly specialized audience, you should definitely avoid employing jargon, this can add confusion. Your objective is to cultivate the patient relationship through knowledge and empathy.

Direct Patients with Direct Mail: Include a Map

With the possible exception of telemedicine, healthcare is all about location. Patients must know where to go to acquire tests, exams, rescriptions, or treatment.

You can advertise a new location or show all existing locations with an emphasis on the location closest to the patient. But, more importantly, it includes a customized map that shows the exact driving route from the addressee’s home to that facility. The use of variable data printing (VDP) by the map supplier adds value to the postal campaign by personalizing it.

Send Out Appointment Reminders Using Variable Data Printing

Many patients will schedule appointments at one of your urgent care facilities and an easy way to ensure they show up is by sending out a direct mail piece that reminds them of their appointment. This is very straightforward and will increase your “show up” rate by over 75%.

We hope that this article highlights the importance of direct mail for urgent care operations. By utilizing this channel you can increase your number of patients, retain existing patients and increase patient outcomes.
Contact Baldwin Press today if you are ready to expand your Healthcare direct mail program.

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