2020 Public Education Program (PEP) Update

Australian Societyof Orthodontists

Presented by Keep Left

Click here to view a video highlighting the work we’ve been doing since Congress 2018.

COVID-19 ResponseThe global coronavirus pandemic has been a completely unprecedented experience for everyone. We have been consumed by daily updates from multiple sources and regulations that changed rapidly.

To support members and consumers during this prolonged period of uncertainty, we have been responsive with our actions and created a number of assets to aid practices with their communications and to educate their patients.

These have included:• 1 x live COVID-19 article and social posts, updated as

the recommendations change• 1 x practice closure fact sheet PDF & Word Template• 3 x COVID specific hygiene blogs• 1 x Handling Orthodontic Issues at Home fact sheet

We’ve added these assets, along with all our relevant existing GIF / Social content to the Members’ Google Drive folder.

IntroductionWho are we talking to?Website & SEOMedia RelationsMember Content & AssetsMeasuring SuccessTracking conversionsAwardsWhy a Digital Approach?What Does All This Ladder Up To?Where To Next?Brand Campaign 2020

CONTENTS

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Hello,It has been a BIG two years for the orthodontic industry, with widespread industry disruptions and a consumer landscape that is constantly evolving.

But the good news is that despite this, the ASO’s Public Education Program (PEP) has continued to achieve exceptional results in educating consumers about the importance of seeing an orthodontist.

This ongoing success is no accident - but rather the result of a strategy built on a foundation of data and insights.

Ahead you’ll find some of the data that is driving our Public Education Program, and how we’re using insights to shape and evolve our targeted marketing and communications program to have an impact in the years to come.

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Who are we talking to?Everything we do is fuelled by research.

Search, social and audience data can help us pinpoint the best people to target with our messaging across multiple platforms. Our consumers are divided into groups based on their demographics, interests, behaviours and beliefs, which helps us ensure that we’re providing them with valuable information at the right time.

Audience JourneyOur audiences are constantly in a state of growth and flux as they move through the different life stages of their orthodontic journey. To accommodate this, we’re always optimising and improving our audience segmentation.

This means we’re getting the best return on investment from our advertising spend, and not wasting time or budget on audiences who aren’t receptive to our messages.

45% YoY Website Traffic Increase

Website & SEOTo compete with industry disruptors who are armed with large advertising budgets and a dominant online presence, having a strong website with impactful organic search results ensures we are seen when orthodontics is being researched.

In fact, creating content that consumers are searching for increased our web traffic to the Orthodontics Australia website by 45% over the past year.

40,000 consumer Google searches every month

How do we do it?We use analytics tools to find highly-searched keywords, topics and questions related to orthodontics and find ways to optimise our website in order to be placed as the top expert to answer those questions.

For example, there are over 40,000 consumer Google searches in Australia every month relating to cost and orthodontic treatment. That’s a lot of potential patients.

The existing article ‘How much do braces cost’ attracts at least 10,000 visitors every quarter and has consistently been one of the top performing articles since the Orthodontics Australia website was launched in 2017.

This led us to create the Cost Hub and Treatment Hub on the Orthodontics Australia website, allowing us to provide consumers with comprehensive and valuable content, from a trusted and reliable source –and provide them with the ability to search for a specialist orthodontist at the same time.

Content Hubs

Media relationsWhile we are proud of the impressive results our digital work has achieved, perhaps the biggest indication of the success of our Public Education Program is the increasing number of requests for expert commentary from media outlets of all sizes.

There’s no doubt that direct-to-consumer companies are going to continue changing the orthodontic landscape in Australia, just as we have seen in the United States. But our proactive and reactive media strategies have positioned us as reliable experts in the field.

This positioning as the leading source of orthodontic truth in Australia has enabled us to combat misinformation and threats from industry disruptors.

Some of our CIC spokespeople were even featured in high-reaching outlets including A Current Affair and Choice Magazine.

Member content and assetsOur program was designed to give our members creative assets they can use independently, which have also been requested by international organisations including AAO for use their markets.

From fact sheets and eBooks to social tiles and videos, our creative studio has delivered hundreds of new assets for you to test and share as part of your Members Toolkit.

These can be accessed at any time and shared across your own channels, giving you an easy way to share fun and educational content with your local audiences and support your own organic growth.

And there’s more to come. In the year ahead we’ll be exploring new formats including ASO-branded brochures for your waiting rooms.

Since everything we do is based on data and insights, it makes sense that we would map our own KPIs against a combination of industry benchmarks and our program objectives, to ensure we’re challenging ourselves and moving closer to our overarching goal each month.

Our broader KPIs include growth and visitation metrics, such as search and referral traffic, as well as measuring our cost efficiencies for digital advertising to stay below our own benchmarks and industry averages. Some of our 2020 KPIs are listed below.

Reach

Cost per click

Traffic

Conversions

Over 6 million Australians

Over 400,000 new visitors

Under $0.65 on all channels

10,000 Find an Orthodontist searches

Measuring Success

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We also introduced a new prospective conversion metric to measure the number of people who use our Finder Tool that go on to click on the phone, website or email link to contact their chosen orthodontist.

This is a key focus of our program in 2020 and it is great to see this number grow consistently each month.

In the past year, we’ve seen 70% year on year growth in Finder Tool searches, with more than 10,000 potential patients using it to find an orthodontist in 2019.

Tracking Conversions

70% YoY Finder Tool Search Increase

Content Marketing Strategy of the Year

Best Digital &Social CampaignHighly Commended - Victoria Shortlisted

AwardsIn 2019, we were shortlisted for several industry awards recognising excellence in content marketing, proving that we’re already taking a market-leading approach.

This included the Content Marketing Strategy of the Year at the B&T awards, where we joined the likes of Optus, PayPal, Velocity Frequent Flyers and even Facebook.

We also received highly commended for our first ever Brand Campaign in the Best Digital and Social Campaign in Victoria category at the PRIA Golden Target Awards.

It is fantastic to see our campaigns and strategy holding their own against well-known brands with vast advertising budgets.

Why a digital approach?One question we’re often asked is why we chose a digital approach for the Orthodontics Australia communications and brand campaigns in the past.

We want to assure you that we frequently explore alternatives including traditional media, television advertising and even ‘out of home’ ads on billboards and bus shelters.

Our research (and results) has found that a digital approach can be one of the most cost-effective methods of sharing and amplifying our key messages.

It can allow us to target our messaging to core groups, and most importantly, measure its effectiveness.

18 million

16 million

Australians (or 69% of the population) are using a social media platform every day.

monthly users on Facebook alone.

vAustralians are some of the most active social media users in the world, with 69% of the population – which is 18 million people – using a social media platform every day.

In fact, Facebook alone has 16 million monthly users and when combined with our audience insights, the platform allows us to target users who are primed for orthodontic information.

So with a budget of $1million, we could reach a targeted audience pool of over 10 million people, as well as directly measure our ROI.

Based on our audiences, objectives and budgets when we began this education program, we were confident that a digital-first approach would deliver the best return on investment - and it has.

Why a digital approach?

Digital Lead Strategies

Some of the biggest brands in the world are seeing success with content-led digital strategies, from Red Bull and Coca-Cola to BMW. Even our contemporaries at the AAO and CAO have adopted similar approaches in recent years, largely modelled off our strategy.

The way Australians consume media is evolving before our eyes. In just ten years, the share of total web traffic through mobile phones grew from just 0.7% to over 50%. Free-to-air television is also experiencing a dramatic decline as younger generations embrace streaming services.

We won’t rule out using traditional marketing channels in the future and will always consider their value for each campaign, objective and audience channel when planning our campaigns.

What does all of this ladder up to?In 2019, Our ASO Public Education Program achieved:

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Visit Searches Conversions

Finder Tool Activity in 2019

What did this lead to?159 consumers called the ASO office to check they’re seeing an orthodontist or to find an orthodontist – this is a significant increase on last year’s inquiries.

Almost 15,000 people used the newly merged Finder Tool to search for a specialist orthodontist in Australia (160% YoY increase / 124% above KPIs / 82% conversion on page visitors)

And 2,220 people went on to make direct contact with the practice through the OA site by clicking on a practice’s phone number, website or email address. (270% above KPIs)

Why is this important?

160% increase in Finder searches

This 160% increase in Find an Orthodontist searches since 2018 demonstrates that we’re moving the dial towards our overarching goal of educating the Australian public on the importance of seeing a specialist orthodontist.

2,220 Conversions

15,000 Searches

66,800 Visitors

Since 2018, the Find an OrthodontistTool has achieved:

Where to next?2019 was a year of immense growth, from how many people we’re reaching and the traffic we’re driving to the website, to media coverage and most importantly, conversions from our Finder Tool.

In order to maintain this trajectory in 2020 and compete with the big budget marketing campaigns from direct to consumer brands, we need to continue to innovate our approach, extend our reach and increase our engagement with Australian consumers.

While our brand campaign messaging and creative have been successful to date, it is best practice to ensure we’re reviewing and refreshing this regularly. We’re revisiting our insights and learnings from the past two years and mapping them against any identified opportunities to redefine our campaign strategy for 2020.

This will culminate in a new creative campaign, designed to extend beyond 2020, laddering back up to our core brand message that ‘there’s no substitute for a specialist’ in engaging new ways. More to come on this!

Brand Campaign 2020

Awareness – Offline Activity

Consideration –Short Online Campaign 1

Education / Consideration – Always On Social Media Activity

Conversion – Always On Paid Search Activity

Consideration –Short Online Campaign 2

Maintaining Engagement We will also continue to utilise smaller blockbuster education campaigns throughout the year. This will help extend our impact, improve our content hubs and ensure we’re guiding consumers through their orthodontic journey effectively.

What does this meanfor you?

Get Anyone in need of orthodontic treatment

ToBook a consultation with a specialist orthodontist (instead of a dentist or with a direct-to-consumer product)

ByBuilding confidence in the profession and educating consumers on the difference between an orthodontist and a dentist

All our work up to this point and our plans for the future are designed to maximise our budgets, boost our ROI and ensure we’re nurturing an evolving audience through the consumer journey.

We’re working tirelessly behind the scenes to boost the reputation of Orthodontics Australia and the Australian Society of Orthodontists, so that when consumers are researching orthodontic treatment, they already understand the importance of seeing a specialist.

And when the profession is held to high esteem, it should translate to higher quality leads for member orthodontists.

Our end goal:

iThank you. ASO CIC & Keep Left