Market Your Way to the Top by Ann Marie Gorczyca, DMD, MPH, MS

As orthodontists plan new marketing campaigns, we need to evaluate unemotionally the reach, response and return on investment of previous activities. This is a time to double the efforts of efforts that worked (resulting in new patients and purchases of treatments and products) and eliminate those that did not yield high value.

Reach
Marketing funnel strategies begin by building awareness, consideration and intent, all of which lead to the only metric that matters: purchase. Marketers claim that it takes seven to 13 interactions before a new purchase is made. Your first marketing goal is to keep your practice name and products center stage in your local community, through content and consistency, for new customers to see and act upon.

1. Start at ground zero and give insignia items to your current patients.
Never forget that your current patients are your No. 1 marketing source for new patients. Give them the materials they need to recommend you to others. Whether the items are gift cards, business cards, lip balms or pens and pencils with your office name, logo, and phone number, they'll be passed on to family and friends of your practice advocates with a recommendation of your orthodontic services.

2. Patient gift idea: A cap.
The red baseball cap was a demonstration of brilliant campaign marketing during the 2016 presidential election, and a similar program could buoy your orthodontic office. Start your own "neighborhood orthodontist" campaign: Get a few hundred insignia caps and give them out to your patients and their parents. Imagine your practice moms and dads wearing your cap at their children's soccer and baseball games. What could be better than that for word-of-mouth marketing and awareness?

3. Prepare your new patient experience and welcome folder.
Once new patients have left your office after an initial exams, the welcome folder will carry on. Let your total package lead to the treatment answer, "Yes." A welcome folder represents your brand to the purchaser; be sure it is colorful and professional, and that it contains patient photos, testimonials and all the information patients need for your office to be their top choice. Include personalized items, such as an individualized questionnaire or a welcome sign, to make your patients feel like your office is where they belong.

4. Update your team, patient and doctor "Walls of Fame."
New patients who are entering your office for the first time want to see photos of happy, smiling, successful patients, team members and doctors on the walls. These displays denote pride in your office and your work. And patients want to see a doctor who is credentialed and human. Be sure to include a family photo on your doctor Wall of Fame. Give your patients a confident, friendly feeling!

5. Use broadcast media to advertise specialty services that make you unique.
Raising awareness of services beyond the average scope of orthodontics will have a far reach. The ability to deliver orthognathic surgery, sleep apnea treatments or closure of open bites will have patients driving hours to see you. Today's consumers are internet savvy, researching all possibilities. Be sure to clearly describe services that make you and your office worth the extra drive.

Response
Once new patients have awareness and intend to visit you for a new-patient exam, they look up your practice on social media sites like Yelp, Google+ and Instagram, as well as checking out your website and Facebook account. Be sure your sites are up to date to convert the response of the new-patient exam.

6. Analyze your new-patient call tracking and know your peak new call times.
Do this at least once. We did this at Gorczyca Orthodontics in 2016 and found that most new-patient calls came in on Tuesdays between 8 and 9 a.m. or noon and 1 p.m; this may or may not be the same for your orthodontic office. Once you know your high spot days and times, you can be more prepared to have the best phone service at these crucial times to capture the effect of your marketing activities.

7. Update your Yelp profile.
Yelp is the new phone book. New patients visit Yelp to see what patients are saying about you and your orthodontic office. Be sure your Yelp site is attractive and contains photos and up-to-date information. You can even add an office welcome video! Let your present patients know that you are on Yelp and how much a five-star review would mean to you.

8. Enter the "video-first" world.
It's time to learn to love video. Video is a must-have element of brand presentation and marketing strategies. Videos are educational tools and can be used for product descriptions, patient testimonials or just to say "thank you" to your patients. Music videos have proven to get thousands of hits in the local community. Don't forget about YouTube; videos there can help enhance search engine optimization (SEO). For a new patient, video is the next best thing to being there.

9. Write an office blog.
Whatever your new patients are looking for—braces, aligners, retainers—a blog will help them find their desired services and you in the community. Your blog should be shared over all your social channels and integrated into your website for added SEO. Time spent on blogs is time well spent for a broad reach, good response and high return on investment.

Return on investment
Community activities and sponsorships are expensive and offer perhaps the lowest ROI. Donations provide a reasonable ROI when the added benefit of a personal appearance is included, and volunteerism of any kind is a bargain with high ROI at little or no cost, even if it produces just one new patient. The lower the cost per new patient contact, the higher the ROI of your marketing campaign.

10. Invest in effective social media, without ads.
After direct patient referrals, social media is the next-highest referral source for new patients. Google, Yelp and Instagram will continue to be effective outreach sources of new patients. At very low cost, content and consistency produce results. Hashtags of services, products and community and practice names help customers find what they're looking for in their search process.

11. For direct referrals, host a dental team continuing education (CE) day.
Hosting a community dental CE may be the biggest bang for your buck when generating direct referrals from dental colleagues. The time and attention devoted to this event forces orthodontists to give their dental community direct attention for months up to the day of the event. Announce your team day at least seven months before show time and pick a great dental speaker. Speaker-authored books add to the excitement. Such an event can increase production more than 100 percent and keep you top of mind in your dental community.

12. Distribute a child's favorite must-have: a rubber bracelet.
Recently I took my 11-year-old son to New York for the first time. As we walked past every gift shop and store, my son wanted only one thing: colored rubber bracelets from M&M's World. Get a hefty supply of these childhood charmers imprinted with your office name and phone number and share the love. Distribute several to every child in your practice. Give extras for friends, Girl Scouts, birthday parties and classrooms. Bring them to health fairs and Halloween events. When kids are happy, moms are happy, and, in the words of master marketer David Ogilvy, "The customer is your wife." (Happy wife, happy life!)

Use your marketing to create loyalty and advocacy for ultimate marketing funnel success. Happy marketing!