Orthopaedic Practice Marketing: A 20-Year Case Study

What works best in orthopaedic practice marketing?

Abra Marketing is happy to share our insights from our 24 years of orthopaedic practice marketing experience.
Our oldest client is Shasta Orthopaedics in Redding, California. Since 2001, we have helped them grow from 6 providers to over 30.

Abra completed hundreds of marketing projects through many eras of marketing and we can tell you what has worked best.

Our orthopaedic practice marketing projects have included:

• Features on network TV news
• A special television program hosted by famed interviewer Larry King
• A community back pain event that drew over 400 people
• Monthly practice patient education events that drew 40-60 people
• Partnerships with global orthopaedic leaders Smith Nephew

In those 2 decades we produced countless tv commercials and videos, print ads, and other marketing programs.

So what works best for orthopaedic practice marketing?

First I will say what works best in all healthcare marketing is consistency.
The big splash projects certainly drive a lot of attention – especially the way Abra leverages those through other marketing activities.

But what helped Shasta Ortho grow from 5 providers when we first started working with them to over 30 now, is that every month we were marketing.
Every month we were connecting with the community, planting seeds about how the practice could help.

Some of those seeds brought immediate return, others took years to blossom, but in between we were constantly planting more.

And the most consistent marketing that has delivered is quite simply digital marketing. There is not one program – including the huge exposure we got from the Larry King show – that consistently delivered new patients to the practice.

The combination of targeted online ads, social media, SEO and a great website are just unbeatable for growth.

Why? Because it’s consistently connecting with people where they are: online.

An effective online program connects with people when they are actively searching, but also is the perfect way to build a connection when they are not.

The most important take away: the best approach to orthopaedic practice marketing is having a consistent program. Do SOMETHING marketing related every month and include digital marketing as your foundation.