After all was said and done, 2018 proved to be a monumental year for the Consumer Awareness Program (CAP). Total annual visits to the AAO consumer website increased significantly - a 311% increase when comparing total annual visits 2017 (1,819,477) versus 2018 (7,491,818), and a 1,730% increase when comparing to 2016 (409,290) to 2018.

Throughout our expansion into digital marketing, we adapted new creative formats and strategies to drive consumer engagement and increase our exposure. With ads reaching over 145 million consumers in 2018, we wanted to keep that momentum going. How did we do that exactly? By simplifying and modernizing our messaging.

By utilizing simplified messaging, our focus is to make the complexity of orthodontics relatable and relevant. The That Feeling When social media ads served as the attention grabber, sparking curiosity and interest, which lead consumers to a relevant web page to educate and inform on the importance of oral health. Within one month of running these ads, our engagement rate increased by 62% and website traffic grew 58% month-over-month. While these may look like a bunch of percentages; to us, these numbers meant that every month more consumers continued to engage and become aware of the specialty of orthodontics and the overall importance of oral health.