The Top 6 Ways to Grow Your Orthodontic Practice

If your orthodontic practice has grown mainly through word of mouth, maybe your web presence hasn’t been your main focus, and that is perfectly normal. However, at a certain point you may find your patient roster has come to a standstill and your competitors are getting more traction online. If you think it’s time to up your digital game, there are a few sure-fire ways to start growing your practice in no time at all. Here are the six most effective ways to grow your orthodontic practice reach and tap into new audiences, picking up new patients along the way.

Show Your Patients You Care

We know attracting new patients is a giant piece of your business model, and bringing new smiles into your office is key in maintaining steady growth. However, there is much to learn about how nurturing your existing patient relations can boost your business. How many times have you heard someone is searching for a new dentist or orthodontist? That a patient is struggling in getting into a new office or can’t find the right fit? When you treat your current patients with kindness and show you care, you’ll be the office getting referral after referral. 

Not only is this strategy a best-practice for any business who truly cares about their clientele, but it is also one of the most cost-effective ways to increase growth. You won’t be doling out marketing dollars, instead you’ll be tapping into a resource that already exists. Follow up with your patients, create incentive programs so they’re encouraged to give feedback, send notes around the holidays or as reminders when they’re due for a visit. Nurturing your existing relationships will give you brand added trust and foundational stability, which in turn leads to a line of referrals out the door.

Become Known as the Expert in Orthodontics

Having an online presence is a necessity in today’s digitally-driven world, but your website and social channels should serve as a hub of information as much as a place to sell your services. Incorporating a blog into your website will help drive organic traffic to your channels and will show potential patients your team really knows their stuff. 

Make sure to write about trending topics in the field and look at your content as a problem/solution offering. Blogging will increase your credibility and up your SEO through the use of keywords. There are several tools available that will give you a leg up in researching trending topics or allow you to see how your competitor’s content is performing. 

The more blogs you write, the more original content you’ll have to share on your social channels as a way to start meaningful conversations between your practice and your audience. This marketing strategy will give you a first-hand look at what your audience is interested in and what they’d rather not click on or learn more about. As a result, your blogs will serve as a way to shift your marketing initiatives based on which content is getting the most engagement. 

Always Be Accessible to Grow Your Orthodontic Practice

If your website doesn’t have intuitive navigation and is not mobile-responsive, you might as well not have one. Users are becoming increasingly tech savvy across the board, and if your website looks like it was made before Y2K, you probably won’t get many visitors. The majority of search engine inquiries come from cellular devices, and potential patients will be browsing through listings and cruising websites to see if a certain practice has what they’re looking for. Make sure that your site is accessible from mobile and the content is clear, concise, and organized. 

Once a visitor reaches your website, you’ll want them to be able to easily understand how to get to what they’re looking for without clicking through a million pages. Implementing modern applications is also a smart move in attracting the attention of new patients. Many practices utilize virtual consultation buttons or live chat boxes to deliver the instant-gratification factor many consumers have grown accustomed to. At the very least, your site should have a phone button link and an email address that users can use to click and contact you without having to jump through any hoops.

Video Is Where It’s At

Because humanity’s attention span has gotten smaller and smaller, content must get louder and louder. Many people won’t take the time to sit and scroll through static content made up of lengthy text, and even pictures have become too “boring” for users to stop and take a second glance at. 

Utilizing multimedia and video will catch a potential patient’s attention and give them a closer look at your practice. Video will help reduce your site’s bounce rate and boost the average amount of time a user stays engaged. Hire an experienced production team to help tell your story in a piece that feels authentic to you and your practice. Having video reels also adds value to your content library and provides a piece of recyclable content that can be used for website features, PR functions, and commercial opportunities. 

Putting a face to a name and a person behind a practice will build your brand’s reliability and give a narrative to your mission and goals. People are more likely to align with a business where they feel connected and thus likely to trust a practitioner and their services. Share your story and your passion while also piecing in some footage of the satisfied smiles you’ve created.

Advertising in the Digital Age

One of the most impactful ways to reach new patients is to have an effective advertising strategy. There are a ton of channels to choose from, and a simple audit of your competitors will reveal which platforms you should be tapping into. The most popular ad opportunities exist on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram or search engine advertising through Google. 

A third of potential patients click on Google ads when they’re performing a search. Proper keywords and calls to action will place your ad among organic search results that offer the same information, but you’ll be paying to get seen before the rest. Navigating paid advertising has become incredibly intuitive and transparent as budgets can be adjusted, audiences can be fine tuned, and keyword bids hone in on the demographics you want to tap into. You’ll also be able to see your conversion rates, leads, and your ROI on advertising with “cost-per-click” insights and easily digestible analytics. 

Practices can test out ads for short periods of time to see if the marketing angles are effective or if the message just isn’t getting through. Digital advertising fills in the blanks that print and commercial advertising fall short on; you won’t be left second-guessing your ideas and will have the data to back it up.

Gather Rave Reviews

Everyone has an opinion, and the internet has given us a flood of them whether we want to see them or not. With websites like Google reviews and Yelp, your business can’t hide–for better or for worse. Users take to the web to share their experiences with other consumers, laying it all out there for us to take in. Luckily, many reviews left are from gushing satisfied customers, taking to the testimonial section to share their love and adoration. 

Buyers almost always browse ratings before purchasing a product. Diners scan restaurant reviews before choosing a place to go out to eat. Potential patients most definitely scour before-and-after photos and testimonials before picking a new practitioner. Having a designated space on your website for testimonials boosts your brand’s reputation and puts real faces to the practice. 

Utilizing review opportunities by listing your practice on Google or Yelp can drive traffic to your website and raise your reputation. It is a smart marketing decision to come up with a review and testimonial strategy for your practice and to figure out the best ways to deliver your patients’ success stories.

Use these six ways to grow your orthodontic practice today, or turn to the orthodontic marketing pros at Ortho Sales Engine for all of your marketing needs.