Black Friday, 23 new patients booked, and not a cent spent on the entire campaign. Sounds too good to be true?
Well, it’s not. This is my annual November ritual—an effortless campaign that consistently fills my schedule with new patients, seemingly appearing out of thin air.
Now, let’s pull back the curtains. In this article, I’ll walk you through the simplicity and brilliance of a campaign that demands just an hour of your time and costs absolutely nothing. Buckle up for the marketing magic…
Embarking on this campaign begins with a dive into our patient database—a treasure trove of prospects who, at some point in the past two years, flirted with the idea of braces or Invisalign . . . but didn’t quite take the plunge.
The list is a gold mine of free money waiting to be found:
This list, my “leaky bucket” patients, symbolizes missed opportunities. They’ve danced around the idea, scheduled consultations, perhaps even stepped into our clinic…
…but the final leap eludes them. In many cases, they’ve slipped through the cracks of our system, hence the apt label, “leaky bucket patients.”
My practice has already invested resources in generating these leads, had new patient consultations with many of them, and yet, they languish in our database, generating no revenue.
Enter my Black Friday campaign—the mission: to coax these potentials, lost in the crevices of our metaphorical bucket, to FINALLY take that crucial step and start treatment.
In the realm of Black Friday campaigns, your audience is primed for something special, something enticing. Through trial and error, I’ve discovered a winning formula:
This year, my irresistible offer comprised:
Now, you might be skeptical about such generosity in your practice, but remember…
…this is a list of patients generating $0, and the campaign costs you nothing! If it sparks even a bit of production and profit, that’s a clear win for your practice.
Crucially, this offer must have an expiration date and a compelling reason to act immediately. This list is composed of individuals who’ve procrastinated starting treatment for a while; hence, urgency is key. I emphasize in the offer that scheduling their new patient exam before the month’s end is the golden ticket to seizing this limited time offer.
Generally speaking I have the offer run between the day before Thanksgiving until the last day of the month.
When it comes to spreading the word about your irresistible offer, timing is everything. Here’s my playbook:
Now let’s look at the tech requirements to pull this off…
You MUST have the following:
If your Patient Management Software (PMS) lacks built-in emailing or texting capabilities, worry not. You can export the list and use a 3rd-party marketing automation software. Some of the popular marketing automation software include:
Now, rewind the tape a bit, and you’d find me waving the Infusionsoft banner as a user and a fervent advocate. Fast forward to the present, and let me drop some wisdom – Wave Orthodontic software has essentially taken a page from the Infusionsoft playbook and embedded all those game-changing features right into their own system.
Believe it or not, I’ve successfully orchestrated this entire campaign, from inception to the grand finale, within the Patient Management Software (PMS) itself. If you haven’t taken a peek at what Wave Ortho has to offer, it’s high time you did! Trust me; it’s a game-changer.
Executing this campaign through your PMS might require someone on your team to manually send out each email/test message. This is possible, but just takes a bit of time and planning.
While not an absolute necessity for this campaign, let me tell you, it’s worth the added effort. Adding a dedicated landing page can turn the dial on your conversion rate.
The idea is straightforward: when your prospects receive the email or text about your offer, they are interested but likely still have questions. So we get them to tap into the link that leads to the Black Friday Landing Page.
(Feel free to stroll through the actual Black Friday Landing Page I used for my campaign: Premier Orthodontics Black Friday Page)
What does this page offer? Hopefully everything the lead needs to make a decision: comprehensive information about the offer, details about our office, a gentle nudge of urgency with a countdown timer, and a simple way to opt into the special offer right there on the page.
If you don’t have a dedicated landing page spectacle, you could opt for the prospect to call the office to schedule their consultation and to ask questions. The catch? Your phone team will be needing to answer the phones during the holiday season when these emails / text messages are going out.
In the past, our phone squad worked tirelessly on Black Friday, answering calls left and scheduling new patients. But now we’ve evolved. Our patients schedule themselves on the website, and we give our employees some time off during the holiday season.
My initial list of “leaky bucket” prospects was 2200 names. Fast forward three days into the campaign, and here are the numbers:
With five more days left of the campaign we’re looking at a promising stretch ahead.
As it stands today, we’ve scheduled 23 new patients, and it didn’t cost me a dime. We’re forecasting an additional 15-20 sign-ups before the end of the month.
Here’s the good news. You don’t need to wait until next year for another shot at a campaign like this. In my practice, we roll out a seasonal campaign resembling this one once every quarter. It’s my method of consistently attracting new patients from our trusty “leaky bucket” list.
Thanks to my Facebook/TikTok marketing system in my practice, we’re in the lead generation game year-round. Historically 50% of our social media leads will show up to their appointment. Of those that show up 50% will start treatment.
These leads that don’t show up or start treatment seamlessly flow into our ever-growing “leaky bucket” list. The seasonal campaigns are strategically woven into our marketing calendar. They’re the ace up our sleeve, a fail-proof method to squeeze even more production and profit from the social media campaigns we are running.
If you’re not sure if you have enough “leaky bucket” patients to do this type of campaign I highly suggest diving into the world of TikTok and Facebook Ads to start generating new patient leads. When done correctly these ads can almost guarantee an immediate positive ROI for your practice…
…and you’ll begin constructing your very own “leaky bucket” list, primed and ready for those seasonal campaigns every quarter.
Between now and the end of quarter 1 next year is the perfect time to start pulling in new patients with social media ads with a positive ROI. While you’re growing your practice with new patient leads and adding to your “leaky bucket” list you can work on your systems and software…
…ensuring you’re primed and prepped for an impactful “Spring Break Special” campaign for your leaky bucket list come the quarter’s conclusion.
And hey, if you haven’t caught it yet, do yourself a favor and check out the replay of a recent webinar I hosted. I describe my exact process on Growing Your Orthodontic Practice With TikTok Ads.
I unravel my complete blueprint on how I consistently pull in hundreds of patients through TikTok and Facebook ads in my practice…
…all while boasting an impressive 9:1 ROI. (Spoiler alert—it’s not sorcery; it’s just about using marketing math having the right system)
Click below to catch the webinar replay and kickstart your journey today!
1379 E Canyon Creek Dr
Gilbert, AZ 85295
sales@startorthoboost.com
(480)933-5656
