Eye Care Marketing: Effective E-Newsletters The Easy Way

You would think that once you’ve collected a the patient emails, uploaded them to your email delivery system, and refined your website, that the rest would be smooth sailing.

What’s the big deal, right? You get a ton of email newsletters in your inbox. Which ones do you read?

But a lot of people have a hard time from here.

Obviously, you have valuable insight on a subject people need and want to know about. But how do you deliver this efficiently

Here are the keys:

Keep it short and sweet.

Everyone is busy and we tend to scan ‘E-stuff’ quickly. And ‘Sweet’, in this context, also means lively – so keep it fun where appropriate.

Speak in your voice.

This a personal connection. Much more so than most imagine. If you are thinking about all those emails in your inbox, STOP. This is different. Your patients SEE you in an  entirely different manner than we see marketers and spammers. This is an email coming from the Doctor!

Give THEM something valuable.

Say you’re on a long flight. Your neighbor – a really nice, well-adjusted person you could get along with. They have problem-X and they want to know how and why it happened to THEM and what THEY can do about it. Tell them. Who knows better than you? If someone does know better than you, tell them that too.

Show them how to act.

We all need a little guidance. If you have a link to your appointment schedule or if people make appointments the old-fashioned way (they call), then remind them about. And tell them specifically what to do – as a service.

Once you have that, the next step is simply a matter of pressing send! Then watch the appointments fill in.

Not ready for this? Most doctors have a tough time with this aspect of practice.  Click to learn more about email marketing for your practice.

Optometric Practice Management and the Internet

Consider two ways of looking at optometric practice management:

One practice looks at it in terms of what’s worked in the past for acquiring and retaining patients. Assuming an “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” mentality, they continually return to ads in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, and on the radio to get the word out.

Another practice relies on the same means of advertising to a point, but has added a new dimension to their optometric practice management. This practice is increasingly moving toward communicating with patients over the Internet. They maintain regular contact with patients via e-mail and have a great-looking website with printable coupons and free eye care advice.

Any idea which practice is most likely to gain new customers in today’s competitive marketplace? I think it’s pretty obvious: the second one. Using the Internet to build your optometry practice is of immense importance when growing your practice.

But what is the best way to use the Internet to your advantage? Here are some tips that will get you started.

Growing your practice in today’s competitive marketplace is no easy task. Traditional means of getting the

• Write a periodic newsletter and send it to patients via e-mail.

• Build a better website. Include special offers to visitors, and offer them the opportunity to sign up for you e-newsletter.

• Ask visitors to return. It’s amazing what a simple, “Thank you, come again!” will do for your optometric practice management. Courtesy counts.

• Ask for a referral. In other words, if you can tell a patient is happy with the service you’ve provided, see if they can’t recommend some of their friends, relatives, or co-workers to visit you. Make things easier by handing them a few extra business cards for good measure.

One thing to remember about the e-newsletter: federal spam legislation now requires permission from the people to whom you intend to send your messages. Your patients have to agree to get e-mails from you. By creating an “opt-in” for these patients, you’re following the guidelines and showing your courtesy at the same time.

Want to market to your current patient base effectively? Following the practice management suggestions listed above will get you on the right path.

Optometric Websites – Time For Enhancement

There is an art to designing optometric websites—if you do it right, you’ll see an instant boost to your practice. And while a basic website is better than no website at all, going the extra mile can really expand your patient base. This is one case where attention to detail really pays off.

Here are a few tips culled from successful optometric websites that will have your own site getting all kinds of buzz:

Keep it User-Friendly. Given that many of your visitors might have varying degrees of vision impairment, this is a given. Providing a user-friendly environment gives your patients confidence in what you do and the services you provide.

Address the Basics. It may be hard to believe, but new websites often leave out important information like hours, directions, and services. Think about what you’d definitely want to see if you were a patient, and make sure it’s included on your website. Go a step further, even, and solicit feedback before going live—just to make sure you didn’t miss anything important.

Talk about Yourself. People want to know about you, so include some general “about” information, like the history of your practice, and short, individualized biographies of key staff. This will build trust and familiarity among your patients, a key step in actually retaining them.
Make Your Site Known. If people in your area don’t know about your site, they should. Get the word out through search engine optimization so your site will appear in local searches on Google, Yahoo, and other popular search engines. Sign up with Yahoo Local and Google Maps, too, so that patients know exactly where to find you.

Give Patients a Reason to Visit. Incentives, incentives, incentives! Including special offers, coupons, an opt-in newsletter, and other services that people will find useful will be a big plus for your website.

Go the Extra Mile. What can you put on your website that will benefit your patients the most? Interactive features like a glasses suggestion tool or real-time online scheduling rank high on this list. Including features like these will help your site stand out and will ensure return visits from your patients.
Optometric websites that focus on what patients want and need are generally successful. By following the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to establishing your presence on the Internet and using it to build your patient base.

Eye Care Practice Management in Today’s Competitive Marketplace

Growing your practice in today’s competitive marketplace is no easy task. Traditional means of getting the word out to your patients—ads in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, and on the radio—are effective, but also costly. How can you expand your practice without also paying more? Does optical practice management need to cost a lot?

Fortunately, it doesn’t. You can harness the power of the Internet to do all of the things that traditional advertising did for you, and at a fraction of the cost. Your current patient list is like a pot of gold waiting to be discovered. By revising your optical practice management to be in step with current best practices, you’ll be well on your way to outperforming the competition.

Here are some ways you can market to your current patient list:

o Write a periodic newsletter and send it to patients via e-mail.
o Build a better website. Include special offers to visitors, and offer them the opportunity to sign up for you e-newsletter.
o Ask visitors to return. It’s amazing what a simple, “Thank you, come again!” will do for your optical practice management. Courtesy counts.
o Ask for a referral. In other words, if you can tell a patient is happy with the service you’ve provided, see if they can’t recommend some of their friends, relatives, or co-workers to visit you. Make things easier by handing them a few extra business cards for good measure.

A quick note on the e-newsletter—make sure you get permission from the people to whom you intend to send it. Federal spam legislation now requires that people give you permission before you send an e-mail to them. By creating an “opt-in” for these patients, you’re following the guidelines and showing your courtesy at the same time.

Want to market to your current patient base effectively? Following the eye care practice management suggestions listed above will get you on the right path.