Industry Statistics

This correlation of statistical data was derived from major surveys and leading industry sources. The information was obtained via the answers received as the product of direct queries posed to dental & orthodontic owners and managers. The statistics contained in the graphics below are gathered from dentistries throughout North America that replied that they are actively engaged in email campaigns. This percentage is a relatively small 20%. However, it seems that a notable percentage (37%) of both dental and orthodontic business directors realizes a pressing necessity to launch email marketing campaigns in the near future.

A number of small dental offices may believe that they are not properly set up nor currently command the customer base to engage in a comprehensive email marketing campaign. These business owners and managers may also be of the opinion that they do not have the technology or the manpower to leverage the advantages of email and/or social media marketing; some even believe that they are not well enough informed to implement a campaign, nor how it can be a source of considerable financial success.

55% of all dental and orthodontic email newsletters (and related content) is issued on a monthly basis. This more than half of the total seems to be the norm for the frequency of sends, with an email send rate greater than monthly being reported as 38%, and a longer time between email sends taking up a total of barely 7%: 3% for every two months, 3% for quarterly mailings, and 1% for seasonal or yearly sends.

The type of emailed copy set up to blend both information and special discount promotions accounted for approximately seven out of every ten (68%) emails. Email missives that were strictly informational in scope were responsible for just 13% of all emails, and the messages that lacked informational content and were directly focused on sales as well as discount offers were nearly one out of every five at 19%.

According to these findings, dentistries tend to have a much larger percentage of their current patients on email subscription lists than is common in other industries. Approximately two thirds (68%) of dentistry subscribers are patients who have visited the facility at some time in the past, with a total of 20% being subscribers that were enrolled through a variety of other promotional offers. Online solicitation and adhesion accounted for 8% of the subscribers on the list, 1% were leads that were purchased or supplied, and various community events were responsible for 3%.

More than half (53%) of all lists have less than 500 entries, with the other 47% being composed of larger lists: 500-1,000 is 19%; 1,000-3,000 is 15%; 3,000-5,000 is 2%; and 11% are over 5,000. These statistics may indicate that the more elevated levels are achieved by the larger operations.

An elevated proportion equaling 76% do not segment their lists and therefore send out identical content to every individual on their subscription lists. The clear value of segmentation does not seem to be evident to nearly three quarters of dental businesses. Only 24% are applying segmentation procedures to their email subscriber lists.