Marketing for optometrists to achieve the best possible return on investment is always attractive, especially in the midst of tough economic times. Traditional advertising methods – like print media advertising, for instance- can be costly and difficult to evaluate.
In contrast, online advertising is generally low-cost, with a greater (or at least more easily trackable) return on investment. Here are five ways that you can advertise your practice without breaking the bank:
Email Marketing For Optometrists
One of the main advantages of marketing for optometrists via email is that it costs so little yet is still an effective way to keep you in your patients’ minds on a regular basis. Email marketing allows you to remind both active and inactive patients about your practice, while providing them with useful eye health information, electronic coupons, and other desirable content.
A monthly or quarterly e-newsletter is the perfect way to keep in touch, prompting your patients to schedule appointments rather than putting them off.
Website Marketing For Optometrists
A website is a necessity these days, and it’s also capable of yielding an extremely high return on your investment. Since more and more patients are seeking care providers via Google and Yahoo, making sure that your website is visible in search results and attractive to site visitors is crucial.
Make sure that your website targets local searches; register with Google Maps and Yahoo Local for the best results, and be sure to include terms related to your physical location on your website. For instance, if you are located in the lower west side of Manhattan, you may want to focus on specific neighborhoods that you’re close to: the West Village, Chelsea, Soho, and Tribeca. People tend to search by neighborhood (in a large city) or by town, county, or region.
Pay-Per Click Advertising
Advertising via pay-per-click can also yield excellent results, particularly if you have stiff competition in the organic search results (the ten results that appear on a typical search page.)
Blogs: Blogs are a great way for doctors and staff to inform patients on all areas of the practice. Blogs can serve as a way for optometrists to distribute information on important optical conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and even presbyopia.
Blogs can also serve as a way to update patients and customers on new shipments of frames, sales, and other marketing information. A frequently updated blog will also improve a website’s overall search engine ranking which will ultimately bring in new patients. Blogs also allow for patients to feel closer to their doctor and practice.
Glasses Information: A page or section dedicated to glasses is the perfect way for patients to become familiar with options that are available to them. This information can include the latest lens options such as Transitions or anti-reflective coatings, as well as the latest progressive lens styles and benefits. A list of offered frame brands and other information pertinent to glasses can also be listed here.
Contact Lens Information: With so many patients turning to contact lenses it’s only appropriate to have a section for contact lens wearers. Here prices for different brands can be listed, how many boxes are necessary for an annual supply can be listed, and care facts can be listed.
Practice Information: If your practice has new specialized equipment, a special service (such as Vision Therapy), or even if your doctor has new training, your practice information can be the perfect space to set your office apart. This is the ideal space to give your office a leg up on the competition.
Basic Information: Of course every website will include basic information such as phone number, address, office hours, and directions. This is a perfect resource for patients looking for an office to make appointments, or even return customers who misplaced your phone number. Having a website with basic information alone improves your practice’s chance of being found on the internet.