Are you looking for ways of marketing your orthodontic practice? If so, then you’ll want to explore all the possible tactics before settling on a few for your new marketing plan.
Whether you knew it or not, there are many common mistakes that most orthodontic practices make when marketing their services. Knowing what those mistakes are can help you avoid making advertising errors that will cost you revenue in the long run.
Be sure to read below for several orthodontic marketing mistakes that you’ll want to avoid at all costs. Your orthodontics office marketing will skyrocket after knowing what avenues to not take.
1. Doing It Yourself
Many orthodontic offices have marketing plans that are doomed from the time they put it into action. Why? Because they don’t have the experience that’s needed to market a professional practice out to the targeted clientele.
It’s essentially the same as having a professional marketer try to put braces on one of your clients. The results will be a catastrophe because they don’t know how to do so.
To have a dynamic marketing plan that gives you a high return on your investment, you need to pair up with an orthodontic advertising agency. They have the experience and know-how that your brand desperately needs.
The agency will help your practice use marketing tactics such as search engine optimization, pay per click ads, social media, and content marketing (blogging) to boost your online presence.
These techniques will help your brand stand out above the rest of your competition, boost your brand recall, and build customer loyalty.
2. Using an Outdated Site
It’s probably no surprise to learn that these days, online marketing reigns supreme. It is the number one way that people search for the services that they use.
Think of it this way: what’s the first thing you do when you search for something like an HVAC service, dentist, physician, or anything else you might need? You Google it!
Google’s algorithm uses a plethora of different factors to determine which websites they’ll send their searchers to. One of the most important factors on that list? The efficiency of the website.
If you’ve currently got an outdated website for your orthodontic practice, it’s time for a redesign. The longer you put it off, the more site users you’re missing out on.
You can either choose to rebuild a new site using a drag and drop service such as WordPress or hire a freelance web designer. Things like your site’s mobile-friendliness, ease of use, and simplistic layout all need to be prioritized during the relaunch.
Take all of these into consideration as you go about planning your new marketing strategy. View your online marketing as a giant spider-web. Your website is at the center of that web, attracting new prospects and turning them into full-time clients.
3. Not Identifying Your Target Market
Here’s a little industry secret from the marketing experts of the world: not everyone is interested in your services. In fact, there’s only a certain type of person that would want to invest in your brand and use your services. This is called a “target audience.”
In order to receive maximum return on your marketing investment, you need to identify what your target audience is.
One of the most helpful exercises for this is by building buyer personas for your orthodontic practice. Buyer personas are imaginary clients that you build to gear your marketing plan towards more success.
For example, you might come up with a buyer persona named Debby, who’s between 35 and 45 years old. She’s a single mom raising 1 to 3 kids. Her biggest pain point is finding orthodontic options for her oldest child that meets her budget.
If your marketing plan can point Debby to your service, you’ll not only have one source of revenue, but potentially two more when her other kids become of age.
Maybe Debby uses Facebook a lot. Perhaps she performs Google searches for all the local businesses that she uses. Thinking of where you’d find your buyer personas (like Debby) will help you get in front of your target audience.
4. Not Giving Effort
Some orthodontic practices simply don’t take the time and effort into their marketing plan. As your clientele grows, the marketing plan may start to take the back seat to all the other responsibilities and duties you have daily.
It’s completely understandable, yet unacceptable. If you stop putting effort into your marketing, eventually, you’ll stop seeing manageable growth.
This is yet another reason why it’s advantageous to hire an orthodontic advertising agency. They’ll focus on your marketing plan so that you can fixate on tending to clients and running your business.
From there, you can build a business relationship with the advertising agency and gameplan future marketing strategies. They’ll inform you of any potential tweaks they recommend and brainstorm different tactics with you and your team.
5. Not Establishing a Brand
Simply put, your orthodontic office’s brand is what will separate it from all other practices in the area. It’s what will help a customer decide whether to try your service or go with one of the “other guys.”
Your brand will make you more personable. It will act as the “first impression” that makes clients flock to you over all other practices.
Be sure to build a brand that’s personable and welcoming of all lifestyles. Determine what’s important to your company and push that out for your target clientele to see.
Remember, the brand you build has to be exuded in your day to day work. For example, if your brand is a family-friendly orthodontist, be sure to offer products for both children and adults alike.
Use Orthodontic Marketing to Your Advantage
Now that you’ve seen a list of common orthodontic marketing mistakes to avoid, it’s time for you to build your marketing plan.
Be sure to read this article for more information on 7 ways that you can improve your orthodontic practice’s search engine optimization.
For any other inquiries that you might have, be sure to visit our contact page and we will be happy to assist you further!