Branding Tips for Optometrists

As a practitioner in the healthcare field, you may think you don’t have to worry about branding your eye care practice. However, that isn’t the case! Branding your business is just as important as it is in any other industry. Creating a unique brand for your local business helps set your practice apart from your competition and strengthen your reputation within your community.

Consider certain items you commonly use in your practice, such as contact solutions, frames, or cleaning products. How many of these items would you recognize if you couldn’t read the label? Logos, color schemes, packaging, website design, and other qualities contribute to brand recognition. This is the ability of a consumer to identify a business based on its branding.

Consistent branding should extend from your office, to your website, and all the way to your patients’ mailboxes! Need a little inspiration to get you started? Check out our favorite branding tips for eye care practices.

How to Brand Your Practice Online

It’s no secret that we’re nerds when it comes to websites and the digital space. It’s kind of our thing, after all. So, let’s start with how to create consistent branding online using your website and social media channels.

Build a professional website.

First things first. You won’t be able to do much with your practice’s online presence without a website! A professional website is an essential tool for your practice, allowing you to reach more prospective patients and expand your influence within your community. Plus, your website can help you convert more web traffic into loyal patients at your business.

If you already have a website, fantastic! You’re already a step ahead. However, you may want to evaluate the effectiveness of your site to determine if any areas need a little maintenance. Check out this blog post to help you spot issues you might have with your current site.

Whether you are creating your website from scratch or making changes to your existing site, follow these steps to ensure you are branding your business online.

Design a logo.

We’re willing to bet you would recognize the Apple or Nike logos anywhere, right? Logos play a huge role in brand recognition. A great logo can help members of your community spot your office from across the parking lot or recognize your brand on a piece of merchandise.

When designing your logo, choose something that relates to your practice. For example, you may work with a design that features an eye or a pair of frames. However, you don’t necessarily need to be that obvious in your design. Take this opportunity to stretch your creative muscles and have fun with it!
If you want your logo to feature the name of your practice, make sure your business name is easily legible. Custom fonts can be an excellent way for you to create a simple yet memorable logo.

Choose a color scheme.

Your logo may very well determine the color scheme you use on the rest of your marketing collateral, both on and offline. For example, if you choose blue and white for your logo, it’s likely that your website will be designed with cool, neutral tones rather than loud colors like red or yellow.

Whichever color scheme you choose, be sure to maintain consistency across your web presence and into your office. You can achieve this by using images with a similar style and color palette across your website. At your office, consider painting a wall an accent color that matches your logo or featuring your color scheme in the decor. Colors can be iconic, just ask Tiffany & Co. jewelers!

Use social media to define your brand.

Social media provides you with an opportunity to communicate with your current and potential patients in an organic way outside of your office. They can get to know you through your posts, interact with you through comments, or send an inquiry through messages. These platforms also give you an additional avenue to showcase your brand online.

Branding tips for social media:

  1. Get to know your audience and curate posts for them.
  2. Use your logo as your profile image or header image. Be sure to use the same image on all of your social channels.
  3.  Use your chosen color scheme in your photos and images as much as possible.
  4.  Develop a brand voice that speaks to your ideal patients.
  5. Create a social media schedule and post consistently.

As a local business, we suggest you create a Facebook profile for your practice. In addition to features like ratings and reviews, the platform also employs Facebook Insights, an analytics tool that lets you track the success of your page.

Branding Your Business Offline

We may be partial to online branding, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see the value in building brand strategies that work offline, too!

In your office, you can use more traditional marketing methods, such as creating giveaways with your logo on them. For example, you could create goody bags with lens cloths or solution bottles marked with your brand. Or, keep a stack of pens with your logo and phone number or website at the front desk. We all know people end up taking pens home with them anyway, might as well make the most of it!

As we mentioned earlier, you can also complete the brand experience by using your color scheme at your office. If you have a modern website with lots of whites and neutral tones, carry that same aesthetic into your workplace. Your patients will be wowed by your professionalism and attention to detail.

Brand Building Strategies That Work

Looking for more insight on what it takes to brand your eye care practice? Feel free to contact our team to discuss important components like professional websites, social media management, and more.

Check out these other helpful healthcare marketing resources.

How to Create a Social Media Schedule
Using Outreach Programs to Attract More Eye Care Patients
This Importance of Branding Your Eye Care Website

Let Us Help You Gain And Retain More Ideal Patients

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