The Ultimate Orthodontic Marketing To-Do List

Whether you’re a new practice or an established orthodontic go-to, generating quality leads is the key to growth. In the digital world, however, word-of-mouth referrals aren’t enough to take your business to the next level – you need a high-quality orthodontic marketing strategy to boost your numbers and grow your practice. Getting started is the only thing holding you back, so keep reading to get the ultimate orthodontic marketing to-do list so you can set your practice up for success. 

In this guide, you’ll learn how to: 

#1. Conduct Market Research

Knowing your audience is half the battle of winning them over. 

No matter what industry you’re in, market research will always be the first step toward creating a digital marketing strategy. After all, you can’t cater to a crowd if you don’t know who’s in it, right? Right. 

Market research helps you understand the competitive landscape, identify opportunities for growth, and make informed decisions about your marketing strategies. By analyzing data on your current and potential patients, you can gain insights into what services are most in demand and how to position your practice effectively, whether through targeted digital ads or a lead-generating website. 

Market Research Methods

Patient demographics vary from practice to practice, and your market research tactics might vary as well. Here are a few tools you can use to get started. 

Surveys and Questionnaires: Distribute surveys to current and past patients to gather feedback on their experiences and preferences. This can help you identify strengths and areas for improvement in your practice, like how you interact with patients in the office or how you present your practice on social media.

Competitor Analysis: Examine what other orthodontic practices in your area are offering. Analyze their websites, social media presence, and patient reviews to understand their strengths and weaknesses.

Patient Demographics: Collect and analyze data on your patients’ age, gender, income level, and location. This information can help you target specific demographics more effectively in your marketing campaigns. If you use a patient management system, you may be able to sort this information quickly from your computer. 

Online Analytics: Use free tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. This data can reveal which aspects of your online presence are most effective and where improvements are needed. The Google Analytics Academy offers several free training courses to help you navigate these tools with ease. 

Orthodontic Buyer Personas

Knowing the demographics of your target audience is one thing. Understanding the members of your audience as individual people is another. We recommend creating a few orthodontic buyer personas to help organize your thought process and identify your ideal buyer.  

As an orthodontist, your audience likely fits in one or more of the following molds: 

The Concerned Mom

  • Demographics: Aged 30-50, often with children aged 7-16.
  • Goals: They want the best orthodontic care for their children and prioritize effective and safe treatments.
  • Challenges: They want to balance costs and quality of care while keeping their kids happy and comfortable during treatment.
  • Marketing Focus: Emphasize the benefits of early orthodontic intervention, family-friendly services, and flexible payment plans.

The Relapse Patient

  • Demographics: Aged 25-40, professionals and young adults.
  • Goals: They forgot to wear their retainer as instructed after their last round of treatment and are looking to correct the relapse to achieve a stable, long-lasting alignment.
  • Challenges: They are concerned about the time commitment and inconvenience of undergoing treatment again, as well as the cost of re-treatment and potential discomfort.
  • Marketing Focus: Emphasize the effectiveness and convenience of modern orthodontic solutions like clear aligners, highlight success stories and testimonials from patients who have successfully undergone re-treatment, and provide detailed information on advanced retention protocols to prevent future relapses.

The Busy Professional

  • Demographics: Aged 25-45, working full-time, often in corporate or professional roles.
  • Goals: They want quick and efficient orthodontic treatments that fit into a busy schedule.
  • Challenges: They are concerned about time constraints and desire discreet treatment options.
  • Marketing Focus: Highlight quick treatment options like clear aligners and flexible appointment scheduling.

The Bride, The Groom, or The Graduate

  • Demographics: Aged 18-35, includes teenagers and young adults preparing for major events like graduations, weddings, or significant professional milestones.
  • Goals: They want to improve their smile and overall dental alignment to enhance their appearance and confidence for a major life event.
  • Challenges: They are concerned about the timing of treatments and the cost and potential discomfort or inconvenience of orthodontic procedures.
  • Marketing Focus: Emphasize quick and effective orthodontic treatments such as clear aligners, which offer aesthetic improvements with minimal disruption. Highlight success stories and before-and-after photos to build trust and showcase results. Provide information on flexible payment plans and insurance options to alleviate financial concerns.

Understanding how to work through patient objections can also help you format your orthodontic marketing strategy. To learn how read Overcoming Patient Objections

The Ultimate Orthodontic Marketing To-Do List

#2. Map Out Your Branding

Your brand is what makes you stand out. Give them something to remember. 

Sure, orthodontic marketing plans have different goals in reaching patients than large-scale corporations like Apple or Disney. But without a consistent, recognizable brand deck to refer back to, your practice could lose patients to the friendlier-looking, more engaging practice next door. 

People like to talk to people, not companies, so the more personable and eye-catching you make your brand, the more likely your audience will be to interact with you and move forward with treatment. 

Brand Elements

Building your brand through logos, color palettes, typography, and voice will give your orthodontic marketing strategy the foundation it needs to succeed. You’ll need the following elements to create a solid foundation for your brand: 

  • Logo: Your logo is like your brand’s signature – keeping it consistent across the board will help you stay recognizable. 
  • Color palette: Choosing a set of colors to use across your marketing assets can set the emotional tone for your brand. 
  • Typography: The right font can say a lot about you. Choosing when and where to use certain fonts can reinforce your brand recognition. 
  • Voice: The way you speak to your audience in writing can reflect how you’ll speak to them in the office, helping you establish a clear practice personality.

For more on establishing your brand elements, read Things to Know Before Rebranding Your Practice.

Orthodontic Branding Tips

Focus On Your Buyer Persona

Orthodontic marketing is an ongoing conversation between your brand and your patient audience. As such, it’s important to keep your target audience in mind when developing a new brand or rebranding your practice. Pair the voice and visual element that relates most to your ideal orthodontic buyer persona so you can start building rapport with your audience.

Let Your Staff Inform Your Brand

People love authenticity, so let your treatment coordinators, front desk staff, and orthodontists shine. If your online presence matches your in-person aura, you’ll build trust and loyalty with your patients. 

Put the Doctor Before the Brand Name

It’s tempting to rely on the good name of popular braces or aligner companies to attract patients. However, building them into your brand could detract from your orthodontist’s expertise. We recommend repositioning your branding to emphasize the doctor’s training and success record. 

Stay Consistent

No matter how you build out your brand elements, the goal is to keep them the same across all channels to increase the recognition factor. You can learn more about the importance of consistency here: The Importance of Sticking to Your Brand Guidelines

The Ultimate Orthodontic Marketing To-Do List

#3. Delegate Your Marketing Tasks 

You’re busy treating patients, so don’t take it all on yourself. Delegate and you’ll get more out of your orthodontic marketing strategy. 

Developing a strong marketing plan is integral to your success as a practice, especially in the digital-savvy world – but it takes time and energy to generate real results. As a busy practice owner, you’re juggling the responsibilities of a full-time doctor and entrepreneur, so you’ll need to lean on your team to make the most of your marketing strategy. 

Sometimes, entire teams share the responsibility of marketing the practice equally. Other times, you might get more benefits when you assign this role to one person. In either case, delegating your marketing tasks can help keep your marketing consistent, strategic, and targeted. 

Your practice’s marketing team structure can look different depending on your marketing budget and the size of your operation. 

The In-House Coordinator

You already have a treatment coordinator to oversee your patients’ treatment plans and financial obligations. Why not create a similar role for your orthodontic marketing efforts? If you have the budget bandwidth, a specialized marketing coordinator can work within your practice and manage your entire marketing operation from start to finish. 

At the very least, these jack-of-all-trades marketers should have a good eye for wording, the graphic design skills to create print materials for your practice, and the social media savvy to maintain your image online. Ideally, they have prior experience in the orthodontic world and know how to update your website and coordinate digital ads, as well. 

The Agency Contact

For practices working with an orthodontic marketing agency, these contacts can relay campaign information between the agency marketers and your practice’s decision-makers. This can improve the efficiency of your marketing efforts and reduce the need for your coordinator to have experience in such a wide set of marketing channels. 

An agency contact paired with an experienced orthodontic marketing agency can often be the sweet spot between playing an active role in your marketing strategy and freeing you from having to manage every detail. 

The All-Hands-on-Deck Team

For practice owners who want to retain full management of their marketing strategy and execution or lack the budget to hire additional partners, your team is your go-to for all things marketing. While your treatment coordinators, orthodontic assistants, and front desk staff may not have the specialized training to take on every aspect of your marketing alone, they can contribute as a team to divide and conquer. 

Plus, what they lack in professional knowledge, they make up for personal experience with your practice. Leveraging your team’s skills can establish them as the face of your brand, helping your patients connect with them on a more personal level. Just remember that your marketing strategy may be limited to the skills and time your team can commit without external resources. 

The Ultimate Orthodontic Marketing To-Do List

#4. Create Social Media Accounts

You don’t have to go viral. You just have to be consistent. 

There’s no easier way to reach your target audience than to leverage social media to your advantage. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are the new social sphere, and their ability to link you to your audience organically or through targeted ads makes them a standard for any orthodontic marketing strategy.

Top Social Media Platforms for Orthodontists

Whether you’re just starting out or bringing a wealth of influential content to the social media table, meeting your audience where they are is key. However, it’s just as important to balance your resources so you don’t stretch yourself too thin. 

Choosing the right social media platform can make all the difference in your orthodontic marketing strategy. 

Meta: Facebook & Instagram

As one of the original faces of social media, Facebook always rises to the top. The Metasphere also brings Instagram into the fold, making it easy to repurpose content for both platforms. Each of these platforms is designed to help you build communities and generate engagement with your current patients, as well as their friends, family, and other potential patients looking for an orthodontist. 

With complex ad-targeting abilities, groups, and access to analytics, Facebook and Instagram are good platforms for orthodontists to start building a base. You can learn how to use Reels and Stories to your advantage here: How to Use Reels & Stories for Orthodontic Marketing

TikTok

This short-form video platform is all the rage—and for good reason. TikTok allows users to capitalize on authentic content that is less polished than is typical for Facebook and Instagram. These off-the-cuff videos feel more natural and personal, helping viewers connect with your brand on a behind-the-scenes level. 

As a brand looking for growth, your goal shouldn’t be to go viral on TikTok. Instead, you should answer your audience’s questions in a fun and engaging way. 

YouTube

While YouTube is an excellent platform for building rapport with an audience, it requires a much larger pool of resources than the previous social media platforms. Still, as the second largest search engine, YouTube can help you establish thought leadership and create a following – if you have the time. 

The best way to use YouTube as an orthodontist is to answer questions your audience might have about treatment. Not only are you more likely to connect with searchers already interested in your services, but you’ll also establish yourself as a thought leader in your community, which can up your trust factor. 

Consider the Following Factors

Start Early to Build a Base

Even if you’re a new practice without a website, starting on social media sooner rather than later can help you build your social media reputation over time. The more established your social media presence becomes, the more likely you’ll be to reach new audiences. 

Who Is Your Ideal Patient?

Remember those buyer personas? Keep in mind that some patients are more likely to follow you on certain social media platforms than others, depending on their age, demographics, and interests. Then, start on the platform your ideal buyer will most likely spend their time. Speak to your audience directly, and you’ll develop a better relationship with your followers. 

Prioritize Consistency Over the Number of Accounts

The most important factor of social media success is consistency. Posting at regular intervals will let the platforms know your account is trustworthy and worth sharing more often with more people. If you struggle managing multiple accounts, it might be better for your overall orthodontic marketing strategy to stick to one that you can maintain consistently. 

#5. Gather Photo & Video Content

If a picture is worth a thousand words, you’re due for a lot of referral power. 

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: content is king. In order to create a personable website and build your social media accounts, you’ll need lots of photo and video content to work with. 

Not only do these media assets help you create your orthodontic marketing collateral, but they also show your target audience exactly what they can expect from your practice. After all, a photo’s worth a thousand words! 

Where to Begin Collecting Content

There are many ways to get the photo and video content you need. The route you choose to take simply depends on your intent. For example, if you’re building a new website, a professional photographer may be the way to go. If you’re posting on social media, however, your smartphone camera will do the trick. 

Each piece of content should reflect the platform on which your audience will view it, so keep that in mind as you begin collecting content. 

Use Your Own Content Library

As an orthodontic practice, you probably already have your own collection of before-and-afters, X-ray images, and happy patients. For an orthodontic marketing strategy, these visual proofs of success are gold. Use these images on social media to save yourself time and capitalize on content you already have.

Hire a Professional Photographer or Videographer

While your existing library of smartphone photos and digital scans can take you a long way on social media, you’ll need to take it up a notch on your website. Capturing high-quality images and videos can make your website stand out against the competition and stay relevant for the long haul. 

Tap Into User-Generated Content

Some of the best marketing collateral comes from your patients themselves. User-generated content, or UGC, can help you facilitate the old-fashioned word-of-mouth referral system. With permission, you can repost photos on social media that your patients have posted to show your audience success stories backed by real reviewers. 

Where to Use Your Personalized Photo & Video Content

Sharing your personalized content is an excellent way to show potential new patients what they can expect from your practice. Stock photos aren’t bad, but they won’t perform as well on social media or engage your audience in the same way on your website. 

Seeing real faces makes your brand more personable, and displaying this content where it counts will make all the difference in your orthodontic marketing ROI. 

Website

Your website can and should feature a large library of personalized content, including patient interaction photos, team photos, and patient testimonial videos. 

Digital Ads

Photos are more engaging than graphics across the board, so using your personalized photos in digital ads can help them perform better. 

In-Office Collateral 

Your in-office pamphlets, posters, and flyers should all include photos from your content library to maintain brand consistency and awareness. 

Social Media

Social media is all about consistency, so using a bank of pre-populated photo and video content will help you keep the flow in times when you can’t stop and take a new photo or video for your followers. 

This personalized material will also keep your audience engaged. You can learn more about social media engagement strategies by reading 4 Tactics to Increase Engagement on Your Social Media

#6. Build a Website

Your website is home base, so take off your coat and stay awhile. 

Now that you’ve identified your ideal audience, established your branding, and gathered content, it’s time to build your website. 85% of buyers research online before making a purchase decision, which means your website will likely be your first impression on potential new patients – that means this is your most important investment yet. 

Because of this, you’ll want to focus on a few areas of interest. 

Search Engine Optimization

By optimizing your website to rank higher in the search results, search engine optimization (SEO) for orthodontic websites can increase visibility, drive organic traffic, and attract potential new patients. 

User-Friendliness

Having an easy-to-use and intuitive navigation system on your site can help your patients (and Google) find what they need quickly. Clear headlines, visible calls to action, accessible information, and more can increase your chances of landing a lead. 

Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization ensures that websites perform well on mobile devices by implementing responsive design, fast loading times, and mobile-friendly navigation. It improves user experience and accessibility, allowing users to easily interact with the site on various screen sizes and devices. 

Performance & Speed

A fast-loading website will keep your site visitors on your page for longer, which could boost your SEO and conversion rates. To do this, you’ll need to consider image compression, efficient coding, and leveraging browser caching to maintain quick response times.

Security

Knowing your orthodontic website protects your patients against cyber threats can increase your patients’ trust. Having a secure helps prevent unauthorized access to confidential data, such as personal and medical information, that might be stored on your site. 

For a deeper dive into mapping out a website that incorporates these key elements, read Anatomy of an Effective Orthodontic Website

#7. Set Up a Google Business Profile

Oh, so you’re the orthodontist near me! Nice to meet you. 

If you’ve ever searched for a business near you and noticed its profile appears on the right of your search results, you know what a Google Business profile is. This menu shares biographical information about a business, such as its address, phone number, website, and reviews.

As an orthodontic practice, your business profile matters to your current and potential patients. They’ll use this section to map directions to your office, read reviews about your practice, or call to schedule a consultation. Because of these practical applications, it’s extremely important for your orthodontic marketing strategy to maintain an accurate Google Business profile to help your audience connect with you at any time. 

Google Business Best Practices

Keep Information Updated

Information changes all the time, and you need to keep your patients in the know. Your phone numbers, addresses, and links should always be accurate so that your patients can use this information to move forward with treatment. You should update your Google Business profile any time your contact information changes, including: 

  • Moving practice locations
  • Adding practice locations
  • Changing phone numbers
  • Publishing a new website URL

Encourage Reviews

Google Business features a 5-star rating system based on reviews your business has received through Google. New patients will see your rating and make snap judgments fairly quickly, which means getting more reviews can help build your online reputation. Plus, the more reviewers have posted on your Google Business profile, the more reliable the score appears to new customers. 

For more information on how to do this, check out How to Get More Google Reviews (& Build Your Reputation)

Respond to Feedback

Replying to your reviews, positive or negative, builds trust with your audience. It can make positive reviewers feel rewarded for their feedback and even help you repair negative opinions of your practice by making reviewers feel seen and heard. This bit of public relations content can go a long way for your orthodontic marketing strategy, so don’t forget to respond. 

#8. Write SEO-Friendly Content

It’s all about providing quality answers, so be the best teacher you can be. 

It isn’t enough to have a high-performing website. In order to attract Google’s attention, you need to update your website with quality content regularly. Done right, these updates will help your website get more traffic and generate more new patient leads. 

The most common way to do this is to maintain a monthly blog covering topics your target audience would be likely to search. The more your content matches the users’ queries, the more likely Google will be to reward your content and boost your rankings. 

Answer Your Patients’ Questions

Google’s #1 goal is to provide its searchers with the closest and most relevant answers to the questions they ask in the search bar. By answering questions that your buyer personas are likely to ask before starting treatment, you could prove your thought leadership, gain audience trust, and rank higher on Google. 

Do Keyword Research

As you consider questions your audience might be asking, it’s important to find what keywords they use when searching for answers as well. Including keywords like “braces” or “clear aligners” and keyword phrases like “am I a good candidate for braces?” or “how to clean my retainer” can help Google pair your content with the searcher’s request. 

Build Links within Your Content

Linking within your blog can transfer “authority” from one high quality page to another. Similarly, outbound links ground your claims within a wider context and help Google understand how to categorize your content. 

To learn more about the importance of blogging, read Why Does Your Website Need a Blog?

#9. Create a Digital Ads Strategy

What do you do when you put marketers on social media? You find a way to advertise. It’s what you do. 

Developing an orthodontic digital ad strategy can make all the difference in your overall marketing plan. Like your social media strategy, digital ads present your practice to potential patients wherever they are online. Unlike your social media strategy, paid ads can provide a more targeted approach, allowing you to tap into new audiences based on their demographics. 

Your Options: Meta vs. Google Ads

When it comes to digital advertising for orthodontists, both Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google Ads offer unique advantages.

Google Ads leverage keyword targeting to reach potential patients actively searching for orthodontic services, like “braces near me” or “Invisalign consultation.” This platform utilizes an ad auction system where ads are displayed based on relevance, bid amount, and Quality Score, offering various formats, including text, display, and video ads. Google Ads provides detailed performance metrics, allowing orthodontists to measure impressions, clicks, and ROI accurately.

Meta Ads, on the other hand, excel in detailed targeting by using demographic data, interests, and behaviors to reach specific audience segments. The platform offers interactive ad formats that can engage potential patients more effectively. Meta also uses an ad auction system, considering factors like bid amount, ad quality, and estimated action rates. Performance tracking on Meta Ads includes metrics such as reach, engagement, and conversions, making it easier for orthodontists to gauge ad effectiveness.

Considerations for Your Ad Campaign

The number of controls and options that Google and Meta ads allow you to work with is exactly what makes them so effective, but it’s also what makes it so important for you to consider your specific target audience and needs. 

Ad Types

Google Ads excels in search and display ads, which can help you engage patients that are actively searching for orthodontic services. Meta Ads, on the other hand, provide robust targeting options through demographics and interests, making them ideal for brand awareness and engagement. Utilizing both platforms can allow you to maximize reach and effectiveness, catering to various stages of the patient journey from awareness to conversion. 

Budget

Consider your daily budget for Google or Meta ads. You may find that you prefer one platform over another or that you’d like to split your budget between the two. In either case, your location is a good indicator of how high you should set your budget. If you live in a densely populated area, you’ll need a higher daily ad spend. Similarly, if you’re focusing on lead-based campaigns, you might want to increase your spend. 

Content

When creating content, orthodontists should focus on addressing common patient concerns and questions, such as treatment options, benefits, and costs. Emphasize clear, concise language and educational content that builds trust and informs potential patients. Including testimonials, before-and-after photos, and engaging visuals can enhance the appeal. Additionally, optimizing content for SEO with relevant keywords can improve online visibility and attract more patients to the practice.

#10. Create In-Office Collateral

Who said print is out of style? Not us. 

Outfitting your office with print marketing materials is the next step in your orthodontic marketing strategy. Depending on where each patient is in their buyer journey, your in-office collateral can encourage them to close on a treatment plan after their consultation or pursue additional products or services you offer, like retainer insurance plans or gum sculpting. 

However, your in-office collateral doesn’t stop at sales. You can use print materials for advertising office announcements, showing off team spotlights, offering patient report cards, or anything in between. 

Common orthodontic marketing materials include: 

  • Pamphlets
  • Business Cards
  • New Patient Folders
  • Announcement Posters
  • Promotional Materials
  • Print Ads
  • Office Swag

While these materials include the basics, you might also need additional marketing collateral for more specific occasions. Orthodontists often require marketing materials for miscellaneous items like window signs, stickers, T-shirts, posters, etc. 

In-Office Collateral Best Practices

Refer Back to Your Branding

From pamphlets to T-shirt designs to contest posters, your in-office collateral should be branded to fit your practice’s established image. That means you should align your print materials with your brand colors, fonts, logo, and voice to maintain consistency and reinforce your brand image. 

Get Creative

The better your print materials look, and the more engaging the wording is, the more likely your consults, patients, and patient parents will be to read more. Once you’ve got their attention, you have a higher chance of educating your audience about products, services, or practice philosophies your team offers. 

Share Your Swag

Sharing branded items with your current patients can be a win-win situation for your audience and your orthodontic marketing plan. Not only can these items work as rewards for contests or promotions, but they can also be a free avenue of advertising when your patients use them at school, work, or around town. 

#11. Invest In Lead Management

One tool to track them all, one tool to get more patients in the door. 

As your orthodontic marketing plan continues to bring in more and more leads, the natural next step is to begin nurturing those leads until they show up and start treatment. This is where a quality lead management system can make or break your practice’s follow-up strategy. 

According to LeadSigma, the statistics show that the average orthodontic practice takes 4.6 hours to follow up when a lead expresses interest, and 12% of practices don’t respond at all. That’s a lot of lost revenue left on the table, which shows that this is an area you should be keenly aware of so you don’t do the same. 

Features of a Strong Lead Management System

Automated Lead Nurturing

The best time to respond to a lead is within 5 minutes after they’ve completed a form or called your office. Using a lead management system that automatically responds within that window can prevent leads from falling through the cracks so you can maximize the results of your marketing channels. 

Multi-Channel Communications

Everyone uses different modes of communication. Some prefer text, some email, while others respond best to an old-fashioned phone call. Your lead management software should have the built-in flexibility to conduct lead outreach with all channels for the best results. 

Lead Tracking & To-Do Lists

As you add leads to your system, organization is key to proper follow-up. A high-performing lead management system will help track the status of your leads and tell your staff when to take the next step. 

For more information, learn more about Neon Canvas’s own lead management system

Unlock Your Orthodontic Marketing Strategy

Building and executing your orthodontic marketing strategy will take time, energy, and resources, but doing so is the key to scheduling more new patients, increasing patient retention, and growing your business. 

Remember that making your strategy work for you means prioritizing the items on this list that reflect your goals for your practice. Start where you are and grow from there. 

Once you’ve decided you’re ready to begin, Neon Canvas is here to help you save your time, energy, and resources so you can focus on what matters the most: making patients smile. 

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