7 Marketing Hacks for Your Orthodontic Office

Getting the right marketing strategy ironed out for your orthodontic practice can be exhausting.

Fortunately, you may be able to replicate what is working well for other practices around the US, and save yourself some time and money.

One outstanding example is Shannon Orthodontics—a well-recognized brand in West Michigan that’s mastered creating both a high-quality patient experience and a proven marketing strategy.

We asked them to share a few key ingredients to their success, and they did!

Here are 7 marketing hacks that will help you brand your orthodontics business like the pros…

Hire For Culture Fit

As an orthodontic office, you’re in the business of making people look and feel their best. But there is a lot more to your business than giving people the glow up they desire! So having employees that carry out a culture that reflects confidence is key. Who is working in your office is just as important as the clients who come to visit.

Hiring the right employee is essential when trying to create and maintain a culture that keeps clients coming back. When looking for new hires, tailor your hiring process to look for those with diverse backgrounds and that will bring the appropriate positivity and energy to your team.

Create A Memorable Experience

From the moment your customer walks into the office until the very second they leave, your office culture is going to determine whether or not they come back. What’s more, the news of a positive culture and happy customer experience will spread to the community.

While culture is important, making sure you’re addressing these vital aspects of customer care will be sure to give your brand the boost you need. When a client comes to your office they expect your staff to be informative, helpful, and understanding.

The best way to ensure your customers have a positive experience are…

  • Prioritizing patient and client needs
  • Simplifying the experience by making it short, pleasant, and convenient
  • Being prepared ahead of time by making sure your office has the right equipment for check-in and information
  • Ensuring your customers have all the information they need for the appointment—new or returning.
  • Remaining consistent in customer expectations; your customers should know exactly what to expect in your office

Communicate What Makes You Valuable

Competition among Orthodontic offices can be fierce. Communicate what makes your business different from the pack by identifying your company’s strengths and core values. Make it clear that your clients get exactly what you advertise in your brand messaging.

Having a killer marketing strategy in place with messaging that resonates with potential clients will make your connection efforts exponentially more effective.  Shannon Orthodontics committed to their strengths of straightening teeth, not marketing, making it easier for clients to feel connected to their business. However, if you’re unclear of your brand messaging, partnering with a professional branding agency can help.

Relaying this kind of marketing decision to an expert agency can potentially save you money in the long run and generate better leads for you in the future. While you focus on making your business better, they focus on making your image better.

Google My Business

Did you know claiming your account on Google My Business is another easy yet very important asset to your business?

Claiming your account will most certainly guarantee that your business will appear in searches. But this shouldn’t be the only reason you should claim your account with Google.

Once claimed you can…

  • Appear more credible to your audience
  • Address both positive and negative customer feedback
  • Prompt new leads to become clients
  • Encourage current customers to keep coming back
  • Create more effective ads
  • Utilize specific tools to keep track of traffic on your website

Claiming your business on Google My Business will give you an advantage over your competitors thanks to having first-hand knowledge about how your customers are interacting with and thinking about your office. Maximize how you engage with your clients and start seeing the benefits of claiming your business.

Automate And Screen Reviews

Most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools offer integrations with SAAS like Zapier. It’s now easier than ever to get reviews from your clients. For example, you can set up an automation to fire “X” days after a patient’s first visit to gather important feedback and get faster access to reviews.

All reviews are important, and we know word of mouth is one of the best ways to attract new customers. But now more than ever people are looking up businesses on the internet before making any decisions. They want to know who they’re going to invest their money with.  Businesses that are lacking reviews and ratings can be seen negatively by potential new customers.

The good news?

By building a good reputation online to match the one you’ve built offline means that potential customers will trust in your business before they even set foot in your office.

Why?

Because before your client even makes a decision, they are going to spend a lot of time researching an office that aligns with their core values reflected in your brand’s messaging, ratings, and reviews of clients just like them.

Pro tip: design your email with links that send uses to a Google Form with a feedback survey for anything less than 3 or 4 stars. Clicks on 5 stars send the user to your Google Business Page to leave a review.

Reduce Barriers for New Customers

Make life easier for new clients and customers by utilizing tools that improve the user experience. By streamlining and simplifying the process, you gain an advantage over your competitors.

Consider tools like Calendly to allow new patients to easily schedule appointments and visits. You can even integrate these tools with other software to move your potential customers down the funnel from initial exam to signed new patient agreement.

These types of tools help with customer experience, by making the process easier and faster. These tools also keep your client informed about what to expect before, during, and after their appointment.

Check out this guide video for Calendly that will help you optimize the scheduling process for your office: (INSERT VIDEO)

Simplifying the appointment process will boost the customer’s experience while working with your office. Not everyone enjoys going to an appointment, but making this process easier and smoother for the client will relieve them of the hassle they dread facing at other offices.

Creating convenience for your customer will make their experience easy and hassle-free, and will also allow you to have a much smoother information gathering process that will hopefully save you time and money.

Social Retargeting

Have your customers been leaving your website without booking an appointment or making a purchase?

It’s possible they were just doing research to compare services, or just browsing and thinking about what your services could do for them.

Fortunately, there is a solution to the market lull.

Using tools such as Facebook retargeting ads can help remind your customer of why they looked you up in the first place. This way your brand will be fresh in their mind and has the potential to turn into a new lead.

For example, for some of your customers, deciding to get braces is not an easy decision, especially if it’s for them and not their kids. Your customer starts their research by comparing offices but doesn’t quite follow through like you had hoped… So how do you move them past the barrier?

Retargeting ads!

Retargeting ads are a great way to make sure that your customers don’t forget about you.

If you are going to spend money on ads you might as well invest in the right audience for you. Chances are that people that are looking up your website are very close to being new customers. Taking advantage of this information can help to turn out new leads.

Shannon Orthodontics has done a great job retargeting ads. They know new customers and even returning ones require a certain amount of trust before they hand over their hard-earned cash. That’s why they’re sure to stay in front of potential customers with social media retargeting ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Conclusion

There are more aspects to your business than simply being an orthodontics office. The only way to effectively grow your business and audience is through an innovative marketing strategy.

From claiming your Google My Business account to taking care of your business’ culture from the inside out, these marketing hacks can help make your online and offline image stand out from the rest.

With an innovative marketing strategy you will not only make sure internal business flow easier but also help your customers’ experience from arrival to departure. What is even better, you will make sure that your content is relevant for those who have checked you out before, making sure they don’t forget about you. These kinds of actions will help you have new customers excited about your business and services!

Shannon Orthodontics has an exemplary online and offline presence that generates trust with their customers. They have been able to make a name for themselves in the West Michigan area thanks these marketing hacks and the help of marketing experts.

There is no need to keep these hacks a secret! Make sure to not only implement them in your own business but also share them with anyone that might benefit from them. Now that you have this insider knowledge what is stopping you from creating the next new famous orthodontics office in town?

Images

 Screenshots for Shannon Ortho Google reviews

CRM tools image

Google My Business Image

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Calendly Guide