Orthotown March 2020 - 44

But before we move forward, there's
one element vital to marketing, and that's
commitment. Regardless of whatever business
you're in, the key to a successful marketing
campaign is having a consistent marketing
strategy and staying with it, even if you don't
see the results right away.
With that in mind, what are the best
ways to market in an age where there are
literally thousands of different options
available to businesses?

Approaching amplification
To start, let's take a look at some of
the unique challenges facing orthodontists
specifically.
First, there is no traditional "busy season"
for which orthodontists can focus a big push
marketing campaign. However, there are
what I'd call windows where opportunities
exist, such as school breaks and during the
summer, when it's more convenient for
families to schedule appointments.
The second hurdle can often be the
target audience itself. While more adults
are getting orthodontic work done, the
business is facing stiff competition from
newer technologies that promise results
for less money (e.g., direct-to-consumer

44

aligners). From an orthodontic perspective,
when you look at the target audience, the
majority of clients will be children, ranging
from 7-13. Plus, unlike other medical
procedures, orthodontic work isn't often
part of a person's medical plan, so there
is "no use it or lose it" rush at the end of
the year.
A third factor for orthodontists is how
long you've been in practice, which might
determine the marketing approach.
Here's where amplification comes into
play. I've found the best strategies combine
traditional marketing tools with current
technologies to increase the success rate of the
campaign. (Hence the term "amplification.")
This blending of tactics should be like
a well-balanced meal. Your main course
could be the direct response tactic, such as
a targeted direct mail campaign, while the
side dish is something that enhances the
main course.
While it may seem out of date, targeted
direct mail continues to be one of the more
successful and cost-effective marketing tools
available to businesses of all sizes. And by
utilizing data and a hypertargeting approach,
direct mail has become the leader in direct
response marketing.

Two of the more popular and successful
amplification tools are mail-to-mobile and
targeted display advertising. In both cases,
they tap the same targeting data used in the
initial direct mailing.

Mail-to-mobile
Mail-to-mobile works hand in hand with
the targeted direct mail effort by utilizing
the same targeting criteria used with the
direct mail component. Using that data, we
can draw up a geofence around the homes
of all the folks getting the direct mail. We
then focus on that geofenced area to reach
out and engage those households through
mobile marketing.
To do this, we use in-app ads to reach
potential clients with compelling offers. By
reaching potential customers in apps they
use consistently, we can improve and amplify
the response rate of a traditional campaign
by 5%-30%, depending on the number of
impressions and frequency. When talking
about, say, 10,000 potential clients, that
much higher success rate means a lot more
people coming through the door.
We analyze all of our campaigns using
a method called "holdout group testing."
This method measures the incremental lift

MARCH 2020 // orthotown.com

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Orthotown March 2020

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