Posted on June 12, 2021
When it comes to orthodontics office marketing, it can be hard to decide what to do first. We’re going to recommend that you focus on something relatively simple: your orthodontic practice’s website. It’s the final place where most prospective patients make a decision about who they’re going to choose for the first appointment, and it’s totally under your control.
In fact, 76% of prospective patients do their research on a provider’s website once they’ve narrowed down who they’d like to see. By having a great website that is clear, clean, and full of good information, you can do a lot to win prospective patients’ trust and get them to finally come to your office. Online marketing for orthodontists is relatively simple: if you build a great website, they will come to get their teeth fixed!
Perhaps you already have a website, because your office has been around a while and you were early on the train for online orthodontics office marketing. But if your website hasn’t been updated since 2005, how are people going to be able to view it on their smartphones or tablets? Bad website design, while it’s not an indicator of orthodontic prowess, leaves a terrible first impression in many people’s minds. Aside from that, it’s all too easy to hire an experienced web developer to completely revamp your site from the ground up within a couple of days or so. When you have a clean design on your website, it means simple navigation for your customers and a higher likelihood of them choosing you.
Orthodontics, unlike the healthcare field, is not guarded in secrecy around prices or the backgrounds of their practitioners. By having wonderful, studio-grade pictures of you and your staff on your website, you’ll endear people toward you as a person while also giving them a sense of relief when they show up for the first time and see the same people. By touting your experience with orthodontics and all the latest procedures, you’ll probably do the most direct orthodontics office marketing that you can. People want experienced orthodontists to work on their teeth instead of people fresh out of school if they can find them. If you also include the prices of your services without insurance (and list promotions/deals with them), prospective patients also feel a sense of budgeting that is within their grasp. They can compare you to other orthodontists and then weigh your experience and prices with what best fits their needs.
While all testimonials that appear online might not be genuine, enough are that they can be considered another great avenue for orthodontics office marketing if used appropriately. Keep yourself honest by only using genuine testimonials from satisfied patients, and make sure that you give them an incentive to get these. Perhaps a discount off future treatment, gift card, or cash payment is a good way to get genuine testimonials. Regardless of how you get them, they will go a long way toward making people feel that you do what you say you will and that they can trust your orthodontic practice. After all, satisfied and smiling faces full of pearly whites are the hallmark of a quality orthodontist, aren’t they?
When it comes to online orthodontics office marketing, nothing beats having a wonderful digital presence. The easiest way to have this is by creating a quality website that is easy to navigate and has all the pertinent information that prospective patients would want on it. From clear and clean pictures of your staff to upfront pricing and testimonials, your website is the digital representation of your business and should be treated as such. Just like you want a clean office and equipment, your digital tools should be the same. Treat the customer with respect and grace!
