Your Eye Care Marketing Niche

ou know how a lot of practice management consultants will say you need to develop a specialty within that practice?

Low vision, specialty contact lenses, and vision therapy come to mind.

It’s true.

So, why don’t you just have one big practice that does it all?

As optometrists, we pride ourselves in being the general eye guy – we can take care of most problems – or at least get people to where they need to be.

So why all the fuss about developing a side-specialty?

For the very same reason why niche-focused marketing is the most
effective way to grow your patient base.

You see, today, in early 2009, we have become a very specialized
society.

For example…

Years ago if you needed legal advice you went to a general attorney.

Today, if you needed an attorney for something, you wouldn’t think of going to a general lawyer.

You’d choose an attorney that specializes in your area of need
(i.e. divorce, personal injury, trial, intellectual property, etc.)

(We’ll talk about WHY in a second.)

And, we see this kind of specialization in every area of commerce… from ultra-specialized doctors all the way to stores just for a specific type of sunglasses.

Fact is, today, people want products and services that appear to be designed for their specific, targeted needs.

They want a SPECIALIST, NOT a generalist.

If they have cardiovascular problems, they want the cardiologist. Not a general doctor.

If they have a foot injury, they want the podiatrist. Not a general doctor.

If they have chronic sinus problems, they want a sinus specialist. Not a general doctor.

Funny thing is… people will happily pay more money for a specialist than they will a generalist.

It’s why the cardiologist gets paid a heck of a lot more money than the general M.D.

Or, why a Mercedes Benz mechanic gets paid a lot more than the Goodyear mechanic.

People want SPECIALISTS, and they happily pay more for their “perceived” expertise.

**So, what does this have to do with the low vision or vision therapy and you and your practice?

Well, the reason the practice consultant recommends these specialities and doesn’t want you to have just one big general practice that they don’t want to be perceived as one big general practice!

You want to accommodate those sliced, targeted, specific groups and their needs.

In return, you are able to attract a larger share of each of those little
groups AND charge a lot more for the service.

Which is the same exact thing you should do when marketing your practice.

You NEVER want to appear as a generalist in your marketing because it totally devalues what you do and causes people
to NOT think of you as a specialist or expert.

Hence, general eye care marketing lowers the perceived value prospective patients have of the care you provide.

Instead, what you want to do is target specific niches and conditions in different marketing pieces, so you position yourself as a
specialist in that particular area.

This makes prospective patients feel you are an expert with solving their problem and INCREASES the perceived value of your care.

Remember, people want someone who is an expert with solving their needs. NOT someone who is just a generalist.

My point is this…

Specialization in marketing is key, today, because of society’s move toward specialized solutions for their specific needs.

They want stuff just for them.

Good thing is, you don’t need multiple offices to accomplish this.

You just need specialized marketing that does it for you.