Dental · Orthodontics
Orthodontic marketing measured in case starts
Orthodontic marketing works when the two questions every patient has, how long and how much per month, are answered before they call, and when advertising is judged on started cases rather than consultation requests.
You work with me, directly, one-on-one. No account managers, no juniors, no handoff.
Who this is for
- Orthodontists and dentists offering aligners where a case is worth several thousand dollars.
- Practices competing with direct-to-consumer aligner brands on price and convenience.
- Owners who want to know which source produced last month's case starts.
What usually goes wrong
Competing with mail-order aligners on price
You will lose that comparison and win the one about supervision, scanning and correction. The pages have to make that argument.
Financing buried on a separate page
Monthly cost is the deciding factor for most families. If it is not on the treatment page, the enquiry does not happen.
Counting consultations as the outcome
Consultation-to-case-start rates vary hugely. Bidding on consultations finds people who consult.
What I run
- Search campaigns by treatment
- Aligners, braces and adult orthodontics as separate campaigns with their own pages.
- Treatment pages that answer time and cost
- Duration, monthly payment ranges, what changes them, and what supervision adds.
- Local SEO and reviews
- Parents and adults both choose locally; the map pack and review count decide it.
- Case start tracking
- The confirmed case start sent back as the primary bidding signal.
- Reporting
- Cost per consultation and per started case, separated by treatment type.
How it starts
- Week 1 Audit: the account, the tracking and the path from enquiry to patient, with a written 90-day plan.
- Weeks 2 to 4 Capture fixed at every entry point. Campaigns narrowed to the services that justify them.
- Weeks 5 to 8 A verified stage becomes the bidding signal, and form fills drop to secondary.
- Month 3 onward Budget follows cost per patient by service, reviewed monthly with you.
Proof
On my current healthcare programme I inherited an underperforming account and rebuilt it: cost per acquisition came down by about 78% while spend grew.
Talk to the person who will actually do it
The audit is $500 per ad account, comes with a 90-day plan, and is credited toward the first month if you continue with me. Retainers start at $5,000 a month, adjusted to budget and workload. Ad spend is paid by you directly.
Where I am not the right fit. Under roughly $10,000 a month in ad spend a retainer rarely pays for itself. I will say so on the call and suggest the audit plus a fixed project instead.
Common questions
How is orthodontic marketing different from general dental?
Longer consideration, family decision-making, and a monthly payment question that dominates everything. The pages and the campaigns have to address all three.
Should I advertise against aligner brands?
Bidding on their brand terms is expensive and legally sensitive. Competing on supervision and correction in your own content works better.
What about free consultations?
They fill the calendar and lower show rates. A small deposit, credited to treatment, usually produces better attendance.
Which channel works best?
Search for people already deciding, local SEO and reviews for everyone else. Social builds familiarity and rarely starts cases on its own.
How long until it shows?
Traffic in days, a reliable cost per case start in one to three months given the decision cycle.
Who does the work?
I do. Strategy, builds, tracking and reporting. Nothing is subcontracted or delegated.