Using Direct Mail to Reach More Patients Marcus Welby, M.D., never had to market himself to get patients. But the attractive doctor in the television show by the same name successfully treated his small-screen patients from 1969 to 1976. If Dr. Welby hung up his fictional shingle today, he might rely on numerous marketing methods, including direct mail. A general practitioner in Arizona is turning to direct mail, once a tool used mostly by retailers and catalogers, to build his practice. The doctor and his director of operations met with Brian MonBarren and Steve Bell of aprisa enterprises LLC for help. The distributors, based in Gilbert, Ariz., provided a 2-fold direct mail campaign consisting of an initial letter followed by a series of post cards. MonBarren, CEO of aprisa, and Bell, the company's COO, obtained a mailing list with approximately 10,000 addresses targeting certain ZIP codes and demographics. Then they designed letterhead and envelopes for the doctor, who is part of a larger health care organization that plans to open 30 more offices in the next few years. The personalized letter from the doctor includes information on his credentials, background and relationship with a local hospital. A manufacturer in Nevada printed the letterhead and sent it to a local imaging center for personalization. The letters included the doctor's scanned signature in addition to each recipient's name and address. After personalization, the imaging center folded and stuffed the letters in envelopes, added postage and delivered them to the post office. "The biggest challenge is it's time-sensitive," MonBarren says. "The mailing can't be too early or too late. You have this small window." The general practitioner's letters mailed in early May and were followed up by a series of three post cards, each mailing approximately two weeks apart. aprisa ordered 40,000 4-color post cards from its printer. The front featured an architectural rendering of the doctor's office building--a highly visible building in the community. The backs were personalized with the recipients' mailing information and text on different aspects of the practice: Each of the three mailings covered different facets of the medical practice. MonBarren and Bell opted to use the same image on the front of the post cards for two reasons. The first was economy of scale. The second was to build recognition for the doctor by hitting recipients repeatedly with the same artwork.