Whether yours is a new orthodontic practice or an older one that is trying to bring in new patients, marketing can be stressful. Stress can intensify when it comes to marketing for a specific business such as your orthodontic practice since you have such a specific target audience. Remember, though, that while you have a smaller demographic that you’re working with, you also know exactly who is looking for your services and probably have an idea of where to find them.
Not sure where to start when it comes to marketing? Don’t worry. There are several things you can do, starting today, to enhance your orthodontic practice’s marketing strategy.
Create a Referral Program
One of the easiest ways to bring in new patients is to create referral relationships with your existing patients. If you want your current patients to send their friends and family your way, you need to make sure they know there is something in it for them. For example, for each patient they refer to you, they get $50 off of their next invoice. You could also enter new patients and the existing ones who referred them into a drawing for a bigger prize.
Make Your Office an Appealing Place
If you want people to be interested in visiting your practice, or returning to it, for that matter, it is important that you make it an appealing place. One way you can do this is with patient contests. Everybody loves having the opportunity to win something, right? Whether they’re guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar or participating in a fun challenge, patients will love that there is always something going on in your office. Keep the status of your contests up to date on social media, too, so that people will keep checking your Facebook page or website for updates.
Establish a Presence Online and in Print
Most people these days search for all their healthcare professionals and services, including orthodontic services, online. If you don’t have an up-to-date website and social media profiles for your practice, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business. Take the time and money to invest in a professional-looking website and good SEO (search engine optimization) to ensure that your website is easy to find in the sea of other orthodontists on the internet.
In addition to an online presence, you can also generate a lot of business through print marketing. Direct mail postcards are a great, inexpensive option to get the name of your practice out there for everyone to see. In fact, postcards are statistically the most consistent, effective marketing method out there. After all, everyone has a mailbox.
Print marketing and online marketing don’t have to be exclusive, either. You can (and should) use both types to enhance your practice all around. For example, include your practice’s website on your direct mail postcards, and have people sign up for your mailing list on your website.
Put Your Practice Out There
You’ll be amazed at what these three simple steps – all of which you can get started on today – will do for your practice. The best thing about these three steps is that they are fun for you and your patients. Marketing doesn’t have to be a chore; you should always be working on new ways to advertise your practice, and these three steps listed above are a great place to start.
