E-mail and snail-mail campaigns for your marketing database come in many forms! In the Top Practices e-mail marketing program, campaigns can include new patient messages, birthday e-mails, one-time e-mail blasts, and more. The most commonly used—and some of the most successful—are recall campaigns and book campaigns.
Recall campaigns are used to help you stay connected to patients who have been seen in your office for specific conditions or services. They help keep people informed about ongoing care, as well as remind them to keep up with or schedule any follow-up appointments that are a bit further out in the future. Typically, these include things like custom orthotics, diabetic health, fungal treatments, and anything that needs care over an extended period of time. Our e-mail marketing program has a number of these recall campaigns ready to be customized for your unique practice and set up for your database.
Book campaigns provide a long-term follow-up for people who have requested a free book offer from your practice. It uses multiple mediums (physical letters, e-mails, postcards, and CDs) to provide continuing health information and education related to the free book they received. It also encourages people to contact your office if they have any pain or issues like the ones in your book so they can get an appointment. This is a great tool for building a relationship with potential patients.
The Best Podiatry Marketing Campaigns Don't Rely on Just One Touch
One of the biggest mistakes we see podiatrists make is treating marketing like a single event rather than an ongoing conversation.
A patient may open an email today, ignore the next one, read a newsletter three months from now, receive a postcard six months later, and finally schedule an appointment after hearing about you from a friend. Rarely does one marketing piece create all the action. Instead, successful podiatry marketing works because of repeated, valuable communication over time.
That's why campaigns are so important.
A campaign is simply a planned series of communications designed to educate, inform, and build trust. The best podiatry marketing campaigns combine multiple channels and multiple touchpoints to stay connected with patients and prospective patients throughout their healthcare journey.
Why Recall Campaigns Are So Effective
Recall campaigns continue to be one of the most effective podiatry marketing strategies because they focus on people who already know, like, and trust you.
Patients with diabetes, custom orthotics, heel pain, fungal nails, neuropathy, and many other foot and ankle conditions often require ongoing care. The challenge is that life gets busy. Patients forget. Time passes. Before they know it, they haven't been back in a year or more.
A recall campaign helps solve that problem.
Whether through email, printed newsletters, letters, postcards, text messages, or phone calls, recall campaigns keep your practice top-of-mind while reminding patients about the importance of continued care. They help improve patient retention while reinforcing the idea that your practice genuinely cares about long-term outcomes.
Why Book Campaigns Still Work
Some doctors are surprised to learn that book campaigns continue to be one of the most powerful patient education and patient acquisition tools available.
Think about the mindset of someone requesting a free book. They're looking for answers. They're trying to understand their condition. They're researching treatment options. Most importantly, they're actively seeking help.
The mistake many practices make is sending the book and stopping there.
The real power comes from what happens next.
A well-designed book campaign continues the conversation through educational follow-up pieces that help patients better understand their condition and their options. Over time, this builds familiarity, credibility, and trust.
By the time many of these patients call your office, they already feel like they know you.
Why Print Marketing Is Making a Comeback
In today's digital world, it may seem strange to talk about letters, newsletters, and postcards. Yet many successful podiatrists are finding that printed communication is becoming more effective, not less.
The reason is simple: almost nobody is doing it anymore.
Patients receive hundreds of emails every week. Most are deleted without ever being opened. Physical mail is different. A well-designed newsletter, educational letter, or postcard often receives far more attention simply because it stands out.
That doesn't mean digital marketing isn't important. It absolutely is. The most successful podiatry marketing strategies use both digital and print communication together.
An email may be ignored. A newsletter may be saved. A postcard may trigger a phone call. A book may create enough trust for someone to finally schedule an appointment.
Each touchpoint plays a role.
The Most Successful Podiatry Marketing Strategies Build Relationships
At Top Practices, we've always believed that marketing is ultimately about relationships.
The goal isn't to send more emails. The goal isn't to mail more postcards. The goal isn't even to generate more appointments.
The goal is to build trust.
When patients consistently receive valuable information from your practice through recall campaigns, newsletters, book campaigns, emails, letters, and other marketing efforts, they begin to see you as more than a podiatrist. They see you as a trusted resource.
That's when marketing becomes significantly more effective. Patients return more often, refer more friends and family members, and remain connected to your practice for years to come.
There are plenty of options for campaigns for your marketing database. These are excellent tools that have already helped many doctors bring more patients back to their offices. If you’d like to learn more about how to make the most of your marketing database, or about the e-mail marketing program in general, contact us! You can e-mail [email protected] or call (717) 725-2679.
