Orthodontic marketing consultant for practices and ortho groups. More consults that turn into starts.
Your consult calendar looks healthy and starts stay flat. Say you run 60 consults a month and start 30. Lift that to 36 and you have six more starts without one more ad. As your orthodontic marketing consultant and fractional CMO, we connect referring dentists, consult-to-start conversion, pending patients and adult aligner demand into one plan.
Seven places an orthodontic practice loses starts.
Every start passes through a referral or search, a consult, a financial conversation and a decision. The seven dimensions decide how many patients make it through.
- Problem 01Marketing strategy
You market braces to parents, and adults go elsewhere for aligners.
Your message speaks to parents of 12-year-olds. Adults searching for clear aligners see direct-to-consumer brands and general dentists offering Invisalign. Without a separate adult plan, patients paying for their own treatment never hear why a specialist is worth it.
- Problem 02Marketing data
You can't tell which referring dentist sends patients who start.
Dolphin or Ortho2 tracks the consult, but referral source, ad clicks and start status rarely line up. Without starts by source, you thank the dentists who send lookers and miss the ones whose patients begin treatment.
- Problem 03Funnel friction and CRO
Families leave the consult to think about the down payment.
The treatment coordinator presents a fee and a down payment with no flexible option. Parents comparing three offices go home to decide. The office that offers a low down payment and monthly terms on the spot gets the start.
Where new patients drop out before booking - Problem 04Marketing process
Pending and observation patients sit on a list nobody calls.
Kids told to come back in six months for a growth check and adults who said not yet are your warmest leads. Without a recall cadence for pending and phase 1 observation patients, they start with whoever reaches them first.
- Problem 05Marketing team
Your treatment coordinator closes alone, and nobody coaches the close.
The TC runs the tour, the records appointment and the financial talk. When conversion drops, nobody reviews the consult or tests a new script. Starts rise and fall with one person's month.
- Problem 06Marketing technology
Your practice software, financing and texts don't share the patient.
Dolphin, Cloud 9 or Ortho2 holds the chart, OrthoFi or an in-house plan holds the contract, and a separate tool sends reminders. Pending patients get no automatic follow-up, and nobody sees which offers turned a consult into a start.
The healthcare practice marketing stack - Problem 07Marketing communication
Your site looks like every orthodontist's smile gallery.
Stock photos of teenagers and generic smile copy give a parent no reason to pick you over the general dentist offering aligners. Explain what a specialist does differently, how phase 1 works and what payment looks like each month.
How we turn more orthodontic consults into starts.
We judge orthodontic marketing by starts. So we begin with your consult, referral and pending data.
- 01
Weeks 1 and 2
Inspect
We pull consults, starts and pending patients by source and by referring dentist from your practice software.
Then we review consult recordings or role-plays to see how the TC presents fees, phase 1 and aligners. The dashboard shows spend, consults, starts and cost per start by source.
What you getA dashboard of consults, starts and cost per start by source and referring dentist.
Marketing Impact OSOrthodontic practiceInspectMarketing attributionLast 90 days vs the 90 beforeConsults kept437+7%Cost per kept consult$128+1%Show rate72%−2 ptsRevenue$528,400+7%Source Spend Booked Kept Revenue Cost per consult Google Ads $27,000 180 135 $162,000 $200 SEO $9,000 150 120 $156,000 $75 Meta $13,500 150 75 $67,500 $180 Zocdoc $6,600 60 44 $48,400 $150 Referrals $0 70 63 $94,500 $0 Total $56,100 610 437 $528,400 $128 No ad pixels on patient pages
- 02
Weeks 3 and 4
Ideate
We rank fixes by starts gained: consult-to-start conversion, pending follow-up, a referring dentist program, flexible down payments or a separate adult aligner campaign that answers the direct-to-consumer comparison.
Each move shows who owns it and the starts we expect.
What you getA ranked plan of moves by starts gained, each with an owner and expected gain.
Marketing Impact OSOrthodontic practiceIdeateThe plan, ranked by impactGains per month- 1Confirm every booking by text and callMeta bookings have a 50% show rate.+20 kept consults+$24,000 revenue
- 2Move $1,500 a month from Google Ads to SEOSEO costs $75 per kept consult. Google Ads costs $200.+12 kept consults+$15,000 revenue
- 3Answer every call before the third ringMissed calls book somewhere else.+8 kept consults+$10,000 revenue
- 4Ask for a review at checkoutMore reviews lift your rank on Maps.+4 kept consults+$5,000 revenue
If the plan holds+44 kept consults a month
- 1
- 03
From week 5, biggest fix first
Implement
Pending and observation recall, same-day financing options and referral reporting come first. Then adult aligner pages, local search and paid campaigns.
The TC gets a consult script and weekly start targets.
What you getA TC consult script, weekly start targets, pending recall and a work list with owners.
Marketing Impact OSOrthodontic practiceImplementThe work2 of 4 done- Two-way confirm texts 48 and 2 hours outFront desk lead · Week 1Front desk leadWeek 1Done
- Move $1,500 a month from Google Ads to SEOAgency · Week 2AgencyWeek 2Done
- Overflow calls to a second lineOffice manager · Week 3Office managerWeek 3In progress
- Review request at checkoutFront desk · Week 5Front deskWeek 5Next
Monday check-in Every open task gets a status. A late one gets a new date and a reason.
- 04
Every week, with a review every 90 days
Iterate
Every week we review consults, starts, pending conversions and referrals by dentist. When a referral source cools or a campaign brings lookers, we adjust it before the month closes.
What you getA before-and-after of consults and starts every 90 days, with a review that names the next decision.
Marketing Impact OSOrthodontic practiceIterate90 days laterBefore → after- Cost per kept consult$128$106−18%
- Consults kept437530+21%
- Show rate72%81%+9 pts
Cost per kept consult by monthZachary's reviewKept consults went from 437 to 530 on the same $56,100. Show rate went from 72% to 81% once every booking got a confirm text. Next: call every kept consult who did not start within two days.
The numbers that predict next month's starts.
- Consult-to-start conversion rate
- Starts by referring dentist
- Pending patients converted to starts
- Cost per start
- Phase 1 versus comprehensive starts
- Adult aligner share of starts
The right level of help for where you are.
Single-office orthodontists usually start with the Marketing Impact Roadmap to find where consults stop short of starts. Practices that want weekly leadership keep the Fractional CMO Retainer. Multi-location ortho groups growing through acquisition often need the Fractional Marketing Team, so every office runs one consult and referral playbook.
Compare all fractional CMO servicesFrequently asked questions.
What does an orthodontic marketing consultant do?
Owns starts, not clicks. We look at referrals by dentist, consult-to-start conversion, pending patients and financing, find where starts leak, then direct your treatment coordinator, your agency and your software to fix them in order of impact.
How do orthodontists compete with direct-to-consumer aligners and general dentists?
Explain what a specialist adds, and remove the reasons to shop on price. Adults compare convenience and monthly cost first. Clear pages on specialist training and complex bites, a fast virtual consult and payment options that match what they see online keep you in the running.
Should we still market to general dentists for referrals?
Yes, run as a program, not a yearly lunch-and-learn. Track starts by referring office, send progress updates the dentist will actually read, and visit the offices whose patients start. Some general dentists now offer aligners themselves, which makes each relationship worth managing closely.
How do we convert pending and observation patients?
Give them a schedule and a reason to come back. Phase 1 observation kids need growth checks on a set cadence. Adults who paused need follow-up tied to what stopped them, which is often cost. A recall sequence with flexible down payments turns that list into starts.
How much does a fractional CMO cost for an orthodontic practice?
Pricing depends on scope: how many offices you run, whether you have a coordinator or agency, and whether you need strategy or hands-on execution. We quote after the assessment call. Ongoing orthodontic engagements run month to month with no setup fees.
Where to next.
Start with your free Marketing Impact score.
It takes a few minutes. You get a score from 1 to 5 on each of the seven dimensions of your marketing and see where to start. If you’d rather talk first, book a free 30-minute call.