Urban Smile
Helping an Australian Clear Aligner Orthodontic clinic build awareness and credibility, capture ready-to-book leads and maintain a steady flow of new patient bookings
Background
Founded in 2022 by Melbourne Specialist Orthodontists with more than 40 years of combined experience, Urban Smile was established to make teeth straightening more affordable and accessible. Backed by expert orthodontic oversight, Urban Smile delivers clear aligner treatments that do not compromise on quality. The innovative studio-and-app hybrid model combines in-studio comprehensive consultations, featuring 3D scans, X-rays, and dental photography. This allows for fewer in-clinic visits through the convenience of an AI-powered home monitoring app.
The Challenge
Driven by a strong demand for clear aligner treatments, Urban Smile dental clinic had high expectations for business growth and expansion. With SearchMax as their digital marketing agency partner, Urban Smile aimed to scale their operations, strengthen brand awareness, and increase patient bookings. This ambitious expansion plan faced numerous hurdles, including competition from off-the-shelf teeth-straightening products.
Our Approach
Urban Smile’s collaboration with SearchMax in November 2022 was built around a shared vision of positioning the practice as patients’ first choice for specialist-led clear aligner treatments. Backed by extensive experience developed over the years since our business expanded in 2015, we took charge of their entire campaign. As a results-oriented dental marketing agency in Melbourne, we implemented an omnichannel digital marketing approach, which centred around three key digital pillars (SEO, SEM, and Social media). Our data-driven strategy focused primarily on sustainable lead generation and brand visibility, ensuring they achieved a substantial return on investment (ROI) across multiple digital channels with future scalability.
Objective #1: Building Visibility from the Ground Up
When we began working with Urban Smile, they had a brand new website, which meant there was neither an established domain authority (DA) nor an organic footprint. We boosted their visibility by:
- Implementing technical SEO best practices to ensure search engine visibility and site health.
- Developing high-quality, keyword-rich content that educates users on their treatments and highlights the specialist-led approach.
- Building quality backlinks from relevant and trusted domains to strengthen credibility and improve rankings.
- Structuring the website strategically to support future location expansion, ensuring new studios could be seamlessly integrated without compromising performance.
Objective #2: Getting Ready-to-Book Leads Fast
To achieve rapid lead generation, we relaunched a targeted Google Ads campaign that could reach high-intent dental patients, prioritising quality over quantity. As results began to show a strong ROI, budgets were quickly scaled up. This innovative approach helped capture more ready-to-book leads and build a steady flow of new patient appointments.
Objective #3: Strengthening the BrandThrough social media advertising, we showcased Urban Smile’s expertise with actual patient transformations and their modern facilities and equipment, thereby creating awareness and credibility among both prospective patients and referring partners. This cohesive strategy ensured their brand presence remained strong and consistent across all channels, driving visibility, engagement, and conversions simultaneously.
Results
Within just a few months of launching the new digital campaigns, our partnership bore incredibly fruitful results:
- A significant increase in qualified leads through both paid and organic channels.
- Higher conversion rates from Google Ads, with consistent ready-to-book patient enquiries (High SQL)
- Leads
- CPLs
- Market share
- Steady improvements in organic visibility and keyword rankings across high-value search terms.
- Bonded Retainer #1
- How to Fix Gap Teeth #1
- Retainers Melbourne #1
- A stronger social media presence, increasing brand awareness and trust among local audiences.
Notably, we successfully translated this digital momentum into further growth. With expertise in handling both independent practices and cluster brands, our dental marketing company paved the path for Urban Smile to expand from one clinic location to three in a remarkably short period, solidifying its position as a leading provider of specialist-led clear aligner treatments in Melbourne.
