7 Optometrist Marketing Strategies to Attract Patients

Even the most established and profitable optometrist practices should have a marketing plan. If you don’t have one, it’s never too late to create one for marketing your optometry practice! Many practices have one year as well as five year marketing plans to ensure they always understand the direction of the practice.

Have you put off creating an optometry marketing plan because you’ve been too busy? Even if your business is booming and keeping you occupied, you really should have a plan! Practices with a marketing plan and goals are more successful in the long run.

Call 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about digital marketing services from WebFX, or keep reading to learn more about how you can reach more patients online with optometrist marketing.

7 optometry marketing strategies for your practice

Today, the most effective marketing channels are online. As an optometry practice, you have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to marketing your optometry practice.

The seven most effective optometry marketing strategies include:

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) for optometry

You may have already heard of search engine optimization, or SEO, but if you’re not yet using it to reach new patients, it’s time to start.

If your site isn’t optimized for search engines, you’re missing out on the benefits of traffic from search engines. That means people in your community who are searching for a new optometrist likely aren’t finding you.

Optimizing your website for search engines allows users who don’t know who you are but are looking for someone that offers optometry services to find you. The days of looking up a doctor in the phonebook are in the past. Today, your potential patients are looking for you online, so you need to make sure you are well represented online.

To learn about getting started with SEO on your website, try reading our beginner’s guide to SEO, which will give you some starter tips for optimizing your optometry website to rank better in searches.

2. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements for optometry

Pay-per-click, or PPC campaigns, are a great way to advertise to potential patients — making them an excellent optometry marketing idea. PPC advertising allows you to more specifically target your audience and more easily gauge the success of your advertising campaign than pretty much any other means of advertising. These ads appear along with natural results at the top and sides of search engines, and you only pay for them when interested users click on them.

You can set up your campaigns, so your ads are only shown to people in certain geographical areas who searched for something “optometrist in Boston” or “who sells Kate Spade Frames in Orlando?” This keeps you from paying for ads and clicks that aren’t relevant to your business, making PPC a cost-effective optometrist digital marketing strategy.

3. Content marketing for optometry

Content marketing is exactly what it sounds like — using original content to attract your target audience to your site. This content can take many forms, as long as it’s focused on topics that interest potential patients.

If you’re not yet publishing original content on your site, blogging is a great way to start. A blog is a great way to share interesting and engaging information with your patients and the world. Regularly posting to your blog sends good signals to Google—search engines like websites with fresh content—and to your patients.

If you’re blogging about optometry or optometry related items, not only are you up to date with technology, but you also start earning their trust. Blogging about optometry-related topics shows that you’re good at what you do, and you care about your profession.

Blogs are also easy to share on social media, too, so creating one is a win-win because it makes your optometry marketing plan omni-channel.

4. Social media marketing for optometry

Engage with your patients on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Share pictures of new collections, promote specials, or talk about any seasonal discounts. Share fun facts with patients about eyes and vision they might not know, and educate them on the importance of contact lens care, annual eye exams, wearing sunglasses, a healthy diet, and so on.

If you’re using social media as an optometrist marketing tactic, make sure you’re actually being social! It won’t do your optometry practice any good if your pages aren’t being managed and updated regularly. Also, remember to respond to any questions or comments that are posted on your pages in a timely manner.

5. Online reputation management for optometry

Word of mouth has taken to the Internet through review websites like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and more. Encouraging happy customers to leave positive reviews, as well as managing any negative reviews, can do much to set your practice apart from the competition.

Online reviews tie in closely with another optometry marketing strategy, SEO. A search for “optometrists near [location]” will likely populate Google’s knowledge graph (that box to the right of the search results with lots of quick info) with the information for a nearby optometrist. It will often include snapshots of the practice’s overall rating on Google and/or various other review websites. Would you prefer potential customers to see 1/5 stars or 5/5 stars?

Use online review management and make it a part of your optometry marketing plan to encourage reviews and feedback from your clients, which can lead to more visits and even improvements to company policies.

6. Email marketing for optometry

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, but it’s still one of the most effective for staying in touch with patients and encouraging repeat visits.

That’s why it’s one of the best optometry marketing ideas.

Encourage your patients to share their email address when they register with your practice, and send them reminders when it’s almost time for their yearly exam. Try sending one email two months in advance so that they have time to schedule, and a follow-up email if they don’t make an appointment.

You can also create email newsletters with tips for maintaining their eye health, and other information that may be useful for your patients. Not every email needs to be focused on bringing patients in for an appointment — and your subscribers will appreciate your interest in their health, even when they aren’t coming into the office.

7. Start a referral program for optometry

There is no debating the value of a good referral from a current patient. Patient referrals are not only the best compliment you can get, but also a very trusted source that can easily convert strangers into patients.

Test out incentivizing your patients with a referral program. Give them a voucher for services or products, a discount off their order, a gas card, or enter them into a drawing for a big prize. Whatever it is, show your appreciation and make sure to promote the program, so they know how much you appreciate their referrals!

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Attract more patients with optometrist marketing

These are just a few optometry marketing ideas you can use to improve your optometry practice. We hope they’ve given you a few ideas you can use to grow your business and bring more patients to your location!

If you’re too busy to put any of these suggestions into play, reach out to one of our web strategists to discuss how WebFX can help you grow your optometry practice. We have many years of experience helping more than hundreds of businesses grow their presences both online and off, and we specialize in high ROI marketing methods that attract more leads and improve SEO.

WebFX will never pitch you a cookie-cutter marketing plan. If you work with us, we’ll deliver an optometry marketing plan completely customized to your needs, goals, and long-term plans. Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today for a no-obligation quote—we can’t wait to hear from you!

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