In order for your practice to market to your target audience effectively, you have to truly understand your audience.

Consider who your patient is, what motivates them, what worries them and what appeals to them. Creating patient personas is a great way to do that.

What is a patient persona?

A patient persona, also called a healthcare persona, includes descriptive information that paints the picture of a patient to provide insights into their motivations and struggles. This segmentation is beneficial for creating the right messaging for a certain type of patient, as well as providing the ideal solutions or treatments for that type of patient.

Through patient personas, orthodontic practices can determine which treatment would appeal to that patient and help tailor effective marketing strategies to speak to their specific pain points.

Certain details, characteristics and preferences can be used to create an orthodontic patient persona. These include:

• Age (Are they a teen, a parent with children, a young adult?)
• Financial status (Are they motivated by specials and discounts, or looking for a premium treatment option?)
• Life experiences (Are they currently in school? Interviewing for their first job? Are their kids leaving the nest?)
• Main motivations (Is health their primary consideration or are aesthetics and appearance most important?)
• Main concerns (Are they looking for Invisalign® or a more discreet treatment option?)

It’s a good idea to create a persona that reflects your actual target audience (based on market research) as well as one that reflects your ideal client. Which types of clients are you currently attracting Vs. which types of clients do you prefer to attract? This practice can help you build your ideal audience without losing your actual audience.

If you don’t have an established client base yet, it’s important to do some market research to get a lay of the land. Is your area predominantly families? Are you located near bustling business complexes that bring in a lot of young professionals? (If you don’t have the market research down yet, reach out to us! We can discuss a plan to pinpoint your target audience and develop a marketing strategy that appeals to them.)

How to Use Patient Personas in Marketing

Once you segment your audience based on key patient identifiers, it becomes a lot easier to connect with them. You’ll see that your marketing efforts are a lot more fruitful when they’re personalized toward your target audience.

• Create website content geared toward your target audience.

If you determine your patient personas to be focused on affordability, you’ll want your website content to reflect that. Ideally, your website screams, “Hey! We have what you need! Look no further; we’re your perfect solution!”

Recent studies show that “74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized” (Forbes).

If your market audience consists largely of families with young children, it’s best to create content that develops trust between your orthodontists and the parents in your communities. You’ll want pictures and imagery that show happy families and healthy smiles to connect with parents seeking orthodontics for their children.

On the flip side, if your audience is predominantly adults or professionals who may prioritize esthetics, appearance and premium treatment, your website content and imagery should appeal to this preference. Emphasize Invisalign and other esthetic treatment options, and show attractive smiles.

• Personalize your paids ads to speak to your audience.

One of the reasons paid advertisements are so effective for attracting new patients is because they allow for deep personalization and targeting. Facebook ads, for example, allow marketers to create custom audiences based on basic demographics, like the user’s age, location, gender and interests.

Market research and patient personas will help to determine which channels and platforms your target audience is using to search for your services and connect with similar brands. Are your patients taking to Google to search for an “orthodontist near me”? Are they present on Facebook? Do they scroll through Instagram daily?

Creating custom content for a patient persona, then targeting the ads to display on these users’ feeds (where they’re already present and looking for you) significantly boosts the chances of them clicking on your ad and booking an exam.

Studies show:

• “71% of consumers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal”
• “72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging”
• “91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them”

Personalization is king – and that’s why personalized digital marketing is absolutely essential for meeting your patients’ needs.

• Offer the right treatment options to match your patient personas.

Similar to personalizing your website content, it’s important that your services are personalized to match your patients’ needs. If you’re marketing to teens, adults and professionals, it’s important that you offer a variety of desirable treatment options, like clear braces, InBrace® hidden braces, and/or Invisalign – not just traditional metal braces.

If your main audience consists of parents with young children, it may not be as important that you offer advanced lingual braces or 3D printed brackets. Know your audience and allow those insights to drive your treatment solutions and offerings to market more effectively.

How do I get started?

Remember, you are not your target audience. This is a common misconception, or oversight, that many people have when trying to connect with their audience. The messaging that resonates with you personally (or your team) won’t automatically resonate with your audience.

If it sounds a bit overwhelming to reinvent your marketing strategies, build patient personas, and boost conversions through your website and paid advertisements, we’ve got your back. At eNox Media, we know the secret sauce for what works in orthodontic marketing. We’ve been doing it for over 20 years and we continue to evolve our strategies with the times.

Whether you’re interested in the full package – a new website with personalized content (we offer a variety of solutions, from cost-effective templates to fully-custom sites), an effective growth strategy made just for your practice, and a paid ads strategy that attracts new patients – or more of an à la carte solution, we have what you need.

Book a complimentary strategy session with us and let’s discuss your needs!