Why an Orthodontist Asked Us to Turn Off His Facebook Ads

The Holidays Were Slow for this Orthodontist

It was nearing the holiday season and the end of another year. You know, the time when most people save their money for presents and holiday parties. The last thing most people want to spend their income on is a new set of braces for junior.

At Ollerton Marketing, we typically notice a decrease in leads and overall business for orthodontists during the holidays and this year was no different. One of our orthodontist clients was getting nervous as his schedule was looking more and more bare and new bookings were coming slower and slower.

With a semi-panic tone to his voice, this orthodontist came to us and asked what we could do or what ideas we had. The answer was simple, take a break and enjoy your holidays. We recommended that he and his staff handle the orthodontics practice as usual and our team would create some simple brand awareness ads to run during the holiday season. We didn’t want to spend a lot of advertising dollars during this time because Facebook gets competitive and expensive during this time. Plus, nobody is paying attention to ads about braces and orthodontics. Consumers are focused on toys, deals, Black Friday, get-togethers, and overall holiday chaos.

Facebook Ads for Orthodontists Simply Work

Come first of the year however, people are ready to pounce! For this reason, we built a campaign with an attractive offer that would really make this orthodontist smile. We planned to start the campaign on January 1st and run it for two weeks as a flash sale. The orthodontist really wanted to bring in business and fill up the calendar with new patients. We knew it could be done.

Contact Ollerton Marketing About Facebook Advertising for Your Orthodontics or Dental Practice

The flash sale consisted of $1200 off braces for new full-treatment orthodontic patients only, valid for two weeks. We ran the ads for two weeks to targeted audiences based on geography and if people had shown interest in past posts or ads (retargeting or remarketing). The ads ran on Facebook and Instagram and linked to a custom landing page designed to capture contact information in exchange for the $1200-off coupon. Once people liked what they saw and gave us their contact info, immediately the orthodontics staff started receiving lead notifications.

New Patients Pour In from Facebook Advertising

After the two-weeks flash sale was over, the small-town orthodontics practice received over 35 leads. This obviously excited the formerly panic-stricken orthodontist, so he decided to run the ads and the same offer for another month. Boom! The leads poured in and so did the new appointments. In one month’s time, the once struggling orthodontics practice had 123 leads! These were people raising their hands saying, “We want this offer! Please call us!”

Hey Orthodontist, What a Great Problem to Have

The orthodontics staff was feeling overwhelmed and quickly saw their vacant schedule fill up. So much so, that there wasn’t anywhere to put new patients. They were booked 6 weeks out! People wanting to be seen were having to wait to get in. There was a magnetic sort of attraction happening, like people seeing others standing in a long line outside a night club and wanting to gain access even more. In a panic, the orthodontist called me and in a panic-stricken tone said, “We’ve got to turn off the Facebook and Instagram ads. We’re all booked up. We’re working more hours and I don’t know what to do!”

What a great problem to have.

By Seth Ollerton