Click Play to listen to the Optometry Marketing Ideas for 2019 Audio Blog
Optometry Marketing is crucial if a practice wishes to expand its patient base and enhance its revenue stream. While many optometrists – especially those with a long history in the community – may rely on word of mouth to grow their optometry practice, use of modern marketing techniques can bring in revenue more quickly and efficiently.
When it comes to marketing, the standard for businesses in all industries is to make the company website the focal point. The website can offer several services and convey a message that will attract new patients/customers. And these days, the website absolutely must be optimized for mobile devices, since more than half of global web traffic is created through mobile, according to Statista.
Optometry Marketing CTAs
An important part of the website is the call to action (CTA), as is called in the marketing trade. A blog post from medical marketing firm Weave advises that one – and only one – CTA be used on each page. These CTAs basically prompt users to do something. In optometry, this can be used to get patients to call for an appointment or book one online. It can also be used for promotions, such as “fill out this form and get a free exam.”
That kind of offer is a common marketing and lead generation tool: Offer a tangible product in exchange for information, which grows your e-mail list and identifies new targets to convert to regular patients.
Optometry Marketing SEO
Another tip: The written words on the website and how they are arranged are crucial to getting the website noticed. This is called search engine optimization (SEO), which is the process behind helping search engines find your website based on specific keyword searches. When a user types into Google or Bing “Optometrists in my community,” you want your website to come up first – or at least on the first page of the results.
Search engines’ algorithms change constantly, but the best way to ensure a high listing is to completely explain products and services; have a “contact us” page with business hours, address and phone number; and do keyword research to identify the phrases that generate the most queries as it relates to optometry.
Additional Optometry Marketing Tools
But the website isn’t the only Optometry Marketing tool to use in your marketing strategy. Here are some other ideas:
- Groupon: Do a 24-hour special deal for discounts on glasses or contact lenses. This can bring in new patients who, with your level of service and expertise, will become regulars.
- Referral bonuses: Patients who refer friends, neighbors and family members to the practice could get a gift card, or a free exam, or a discount.
- Retargeting: Once a person leaves your website or a patient leaves your office without buying, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop trying to reel them in. For example, partnering with Click Optical allows you to retarget contact-lens patients who don’t buy at the shop by sending a courtesy email straight from your practice management system offering them easy online ordering. This is a quick, no-cost, no-hassle way to up your contact lens sales.
- Pay per Click Advertising: Paid advertising such as Google Ads or Bing Ads is another tool you might consider as part of your marketing plan to reach potential patients. PPC ads offer you the opportunity to increase your customer base as well as your online presence.
- Shoot a video: It’s not a new trend that video is overtaking the written word as the most-used form of marketing media. Yet, a Marketing 360 blog post suggests that video is largely ignored in optometry marketing. A well-scripted, compelling video can last indefinitely and can be repurposed on your website, social media, YouTube, etc.
Adopt Google Analytics to Track Your Results
And after utilizing these suggestions and others listed in the blog posts linked, be sure to track the performance of these campaigns. Adopt Google Analytics and discover which pages on your website are getting the most hits, which social media posts are generating the most clicks, and what kind of demographic breakdown is accessing the site. Once you have this data in hand, you will have the knowledge you need to finetune your marketing approach.
Optometry marketing, in its many forms, can make the difference between a stagnant practice and a growing one. Effective marketing means more customers, more revenue, and opportunities to add new equipment and services for your patients.
