Optometric Marketing on the Internet

What does your optometric marketing plan look like? A typical plan—successful, but typical—might rely on getting the word out to patients via the Yellow Pages and ads on radio and television. There’s nothing wrong with this approach in and of itself—except when you compare it with what you can do on the Internet.

If you want to increase revenue and see a steady stream of new patients, you need to be conversant with how the Internet and your optometric marketing plan can work together to produce results. The great thing about it all? It’s actually pretty easy!

First, consider the following: How do people—particularly young people—get their information today? Increasingly, it’s not from magazines, TV, or newspapers, but rather the World Wide Web. Your optometric marketing plan needs to take this into account. But how?

It’s one thing to be on the Internet, and another thing to be able to found there. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Metacrawler are you friends in this case, as are directories like dmoz.org. Make sure your site is listed and available to the major search engines. For starters, you can submit your site to Google here.

When you consider content for your website and other Internet-related matters, the following tips will make a difference:

• Send out an e-newsletter to patients who opt to receive it. Your newsletter should contain coupons redeemable for things like eyewear and contact lenses, as well as interesting optometry-related articles for your patients to peruse.

• While you’re at it, put some of those articles—or others you or your staff write—on your website, too. It’s a professional touch.

• Submit your articles to article database sites like e-zinearticles.com. Use the articles to link back to your site. This is a simple way to increase traffic.

While this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of using the Internet to grow your practice, following the tips listed above will give you a great start. Your patients are moving forward—is your optometric marketing plan going with them?

Optometry Marketing and Email – How To Use Links

Using links in your optometry marketing email campaigns is an excellent way of demonstrating your good intentions and essential to getting the most out of this powerful and inexpensive marketing tool.
Your patients like to know what you recommend or find interesting.

Not only are giving them valuable information, but the link is also perceived as an added benefit and testament to your sincerity.
This fits with good optometry marketing ethics, plus you have the unique ability to test and measure the effectiveness of your broadcast(s) and links.

Here are a few guidelines on how to incorporate links into your weekly or monthly broadcasts:

• Plan to distribute the link once or twice in the body of the message.
• Only use trustworthy sources – especially when citing news content.
• The ‘PS’ should repeat the main link, but also include a link to your appointment scheduler, blog, and an email link to you or staff for questions.

For specials, have a link to a ‘landing page that goes into more detail’ and finally, make sure to describe the link or at least make it work with the rest of the email context.

Here’s an article you might find helpful for your optometry marketing email endeavors.

http://www.tlcpracticebuilder.com/archives/AnOptometristsGuidetoEmailMarketing.pdf