Hospitals see big return on direct mail marketing campaigns 

With United States’ economy on the rebound, many businesses are looking to begin investing more money into their marketing budgets. Though direct mail marketing is one of the more expensive platforms, it also routinely offers businesses high returns on investment, making it a popular marketing channel for many small companies. So far in 2010, direct mail marketing has been on the upswing, with a majority of industries investing more in their mail campaigns.

One particular industry doing this is the medical sector. As is the case in many businesses, hospitals want to attract and keep high-value patients. According to a recent article from Health Leaders Media, direct mail marketing initiatives can help hospitals target these patients more efficiently.

For many hospitals, direct mail allows them to target specific populations. This was the case with DeKalb Medical, a three-hospital system located in Atlanta. The hospital had traditionally used local media to attract customers, but found it inaccurate. After it made the switch to direct mail, it found its return on investment doubling.

"[Local media is] very wasteful because I can’t zone in the way I really need to," says Terri Whitesel, director of corporate communications for the DeKalb. "I could easily spend $50,000 to $60,000 a week and not get there – and with today’s budgets, that’s not practical."

Using customer relationship management software will help fine-tune a company’s direct mail campaign, says Health Leader Media. CRM software allows hospitals to tailor their messages explicitly to different audiences. For example, businesses can use the software to generate an appointment card for an older patient that is different from messages that would be sent to a child.

"The CRM allows us to speak directly to specific audiences in different ways," Whitesel says. "By minimizing the waste we have a higher return and are obviously saving money. It’s the filtering and the segmentation that allows us to go after the high-end customer."

Ultimately, businesses should strive to improve the experience for the customers as a whole. In addition to its aggressive direct mail campaigns, the Baltimore-based MedStar hospital is holding educational seminars, classes and other community events, for example.