12 Creative Ophthalmologist Marketing Strategies

Have you put off creating a digital marketing plan because you’ve been too busy with patients? Even if your practice is fully booked for the next few weeks, having ophthalmologist marketing strategies in place is always a good idea.

Ophthalmology practices with a digital marketing plan and defined goals are more likely to succeed in growing their practice and retaining patients. So how do you craft an effective ophthalmology marketing campaign?

To help you get started, we have compiled twelve of our most creative digital marketing ideas for eye doctors like you. By implementing these ophthalmology marketing ideas, you can increase your practice’s revenue and see more patients while retaining your current ones.

1. Develop a High-Quality Eye Care Website Design 

To make an excellent first impression, you need a website that lets users know exactly who you are, what you do, and what specialties you offer, along with providing content that will educate your prospective and current patients.

If people are searching for an eye doctor in your area, your website will appear at the top of Google’s search page, and having a poorly optimized site will not make that happen. 

As an eye doctor, your practice should provide resources that existing and potential patients can use. This is where they can access information on your business hours, your practice’s email address and phone number, your services, and advice regarding eye health, tips, and best practices.

You can attract new patients to your eye care website by adding promotions, freebies, and discounts. You can also mention specials on eye care products like contact lenses, frames, eye drops, and more. 

The Importance of Your Call-to-Action

One thing to not miss when creating an eye care website is your call to action! Encourage your patients to set an appointment, purchase a product or call you. You want one CTA per page. Do not bombard your web visitors by having too many calls to action. Ensure that your CTA’s are easy to understand, for example:

• First Visit Discount – CLICK HERE
• Fill Out this Form for a Free Contact Lens Exam
• Book Your Appointment Online – CLICK HERE
• New Patient Specials: Free Eye Exam
• Your First Pair of Glasses are 50% Off
• $1,000 Off Any LASIK Procedure –  Redeem Offer 

Finally, ensure your eye care website loads quickly and is optimized for mobile devices!

If your practice’s website does not load quickly on mobile devices, you must fix it immediately. More than half of internet traffic is on a mobile device.

You don’t want your website visitors to have a poor experience, and in today’s digital society, you have less than 3 seconds for your site to load, or people will leave it.Click hereto check the speed of your website and what you can do to improve it. 

Another way to get a good idea is to check your website on your mobile devices or tablets to get a first-hand experience of how your website loads on different devices.

Learn More: Your SEO Guide to Optimizing Your Optometry Website

2. Build Your Online Reputation & Grow Your Practice 

Remember, prospective patients look for eye exams, prescription glasses, contact lenses, and other eye care products and services online. Adding your local business listing is a sure way to improve your search engine performance in your area. The first step is to claim your Google My Business account and to: 

• Add your current hours of operation and location address
• Include your practice’s front desk phone number and other contact information people might need
• Respond to every business review on Google and other top review sites like Healthgrades, Vitals, CareDash, DocSpot, Doctor.com, and more 

Moreover, your ophthalmology practice should be active in reputation management. Positive online reviews are a significant factor when it comes to attracting patients to make a decision about which optometry practice they will visit. To present a solid online presence, gaining positive reviews from loyal patients is a must.

Ask for a review if your patient mentions how great their visit to your office was. It’s a pretty simple concept, and it can be overlooked. Additionally, you can add a ‘review us’ section at the end of your emails or surveys to encourage patients to leave a comment. These reviews will appear on your local business listing to anyone who sees your practice online and will take your reputation marketing to the next level.

Learn More: How to Encourage Clients to Leave Feedback and Strengthen Your Online Reputation

3. Send Post-Visit Surveys to Your Patients

Understanding and measuring patient satisfaction can help you identify ways to improve your practice, resulting in better care and happier patients. Here are some questions to ask your patients: 

• How easy was it to schedule an eye appointment with us?
• How would you rate our receptionist’s efficiency and the overall care your eye doctor provides? 
• How likely will you refer a friend or family member to our practice? 
• How do you feel about the cleanliness and appearance of our facility?

Take this opportunity to learn not only what your patients think of your services but make notes on things you can actively improve around the office to enhance your patient experience.

4. Get Active On Social Media & Engage With Your Followers

More than 2.95 billion people use Facebook monthly – over 36 percent of the world’s population! Meanwhile, there are over a billion monthly users on Instagram and 1.1 billion on TikTok. If your ophthalmology practice isn’t only social media, you miss plenty of opportunities. Businesses today need a social media presence because it builds their brand,  attracts more potential patients, and keeps their followers updated on everything related to their practice. 

Engage with your audience by sharing helpful eye-care content. You’ll be amazed by how much community you can build on Facebook once you start conversing. Here are the types of content you should post on your social media channels:

• Seasonal or Celebratory Posts – these posts are timely or relevant for your audience and keep your page fresh and updated. Examples include Healthy Vision Month, Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, and Glaucoma Awareness Month.
• Client Education – these posts can be used to inform your clients on various eye care topics, from general health to a detailed surgical procedure. 
• Preventative Care – these posts raise awareness and encourage patients to schedule eye exams.

To give you a head start, we have preparedsocial media posts you can use on your channels immediately. The kit includes informational and seasonal eye care posts for your social media followers. Click here to download your free social media kit. 

Learn More: 10 Eye Care Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

5. Post-Educational Eye Care Content 

Your current and prospective patients are looking for answers, tips, and best practices for eye health online. Make sure your website is their one-stop shop for all eye care content. Content marketing is key to ensuring more patients will turn to your ophthalmology practice for expert information in eye care. Content marketing involves creating and publishing compelling online details to boost your digital marketing strategy.

Some popular content you can include in your digital marketing strategy is blog articles, videos, and infographics. Ophthalmology practices should maximize their information to entice new patients to visit their practice while encouraging current ones to return to their clinic.

Content marketing can help with patient retention and help your website rank high on search engines. This will build your credibility online, and website visitors will trust your practice and the content on your site. Try these content ideas to promote your practice: 

• Is your child in need of glasses?
• When can kids start wearing contacts?
• How can eye muscles be strengthened?
• Why is reading harder as you get older?
• What are the options for reducing digital eye strain?
• How are reading glasses different from prescription glasses?
• What smoking does to your eyes
• The connection between sleep and vision
• What are the best frames for my face shape?
• Contact lenses versus prescription eyeglasses 
• What to expect during your eye examination
• Common misconceptions about reading glasses
• What is a LASIK surgery, and why should you get one?
• When should I change my glasses?
• What happens when you have glaucoma?

Don’t forget to insert easy-to-rank and specific keywords into your content, meta description, search engine optimization (SEO), title tag, blog title, headings, and image alt-tags, and avoid keyword stuffing. The key to content marketing is keeping your audience first. Your content marketing efforts should be tailored to what your target audience might find interesting.

Learn More: Writing Website Content for Beginners

6. Email Newsletters to Existing and Prospective Patients

Email newsletters provide a direct channel to patients and prospective patients because they: 

• Keep your practice top of mind and constantly engaged
• Interact with patients and remind them to consider eye exams, eye checkups, refills for contact lenses, etc. 
• Offer you an opportunity to share best eye health practices and advice
• Allow patients to easily forward eye care information about your clinic to friends and family

Sometimes they’re interested in learning more about your practice or interesting articles you’ve written. You will be able to collect patient demographics based on your website visitors. This will help you with list building for who will receive your newsletters via email. Newsletters are great a great way to ensure results and generate a steady stream of leads online. 

If you’re reaching out to prospective patients, you should educate them on what services your ophthalmology practice offers. This will help them better appreciate your practice. If you are targeting current patients, you can insert a smart reputation management tactic by encouraging them to share a review of your practice online. Satisfied patients can share positive patient reviews that may entice other people to visit your clinic.

Learn More: Simple Strategies to Improve Your Newsletter Open Rates

7. Set Up a Referral Program for Patients

When you build your eye care marketing plan, the goal is to get new patients and earn conversions for your practice so that you can generate more revenue. By implementing a referral program, you ensure practice growth by using your existing patients to expand your outreach. Word-of-mouth marketing remains one of the most effective traditional marketing strategies today, and a referral program can help more people discover your ophthalmology practice.

Here is a tip you want to gain attention with one short sentence and explain the benefits of joining simultaneously: your customers will be intrigued.

Imagine it as a kind of reward for your customers. They become more engaged with your brand when they know they are appreciated. Here are some headlines you can use to generate more patients: 

• Get 50% Off Your Next Pair of Glasses When You Share With Your Friends 
• Spread the Love, and Have Your Eyes Checked for Free!
• Invite Your Friends and Earn $100 On Contact Lenses 
• Refer a Friend and Get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card 

Aside from mounting a referral program, your ophthalmology practice should also explore implementing a loyalty program. You should incentivize customers who frequent your practice to encourage them to return. This tactic can increase patient retention and motivate new patients to try more of your other services.

8. Invest in Paid Search Advertising

If you want your ophthalmology practice to rank high on search engines, you should try pay-per-click advertising or Google Ads. It can complement your search engine optimization efforts and ensure your practice will rank high on search engine results.

What’s excellent about investing in paid advertising is that you can set the budget and scope. Even if your ophthalmology practice has a modest budget, you can reach a wider audience of people who may be interested in your services.

Paid advertising is easy to measure and track, providing you with insights to improve your digital marketing campaigns moving forward. Thus, it will be easier for your business to maximize its budget. Moreover, you can adjust your advertising campaign to suit your goals better.

9. Put Up Display Ads

Another ophthalmology marketing that can help your business become more visible to people is putting up display ads. Display advertising is essentially putting up images, videos, or GIFs on other websites to get more people’s attention.

You can invest in display ads on relevant websites for more people to discover your ophthalmology practice. However, it would help if you were strategic in the websites you’re aiming for. It would help if you chose websites relevant to your business or with the same target audience. An eye-catching visual with a compelling copy can drive more people to your ophthalmology website.

10. Create a Strong Local SEO Plan

To increase your ophthalmology practice website visitors and people who visit your clinic, you should invest in a robust local SEO plan. Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to help your business become more visible in local search results.

This digital marketing strategy allows more people in your local vicinity to learn about your business and what it offers. With a formidable local SEO plan, more people would recognize your clinic as a trustworthy expert in eye care in your area. Moreover, this strategy will make it easier for people to find your clinic.

11. Build a Network within the Healthcare Industry

If you want your business to be a respected member of the healthcare industry, you should try to network within the industry. Your business should join relevant organizations and attend conferences to take your healthcare marketing to the next level.

This ophthalmology marketing strategy is instrumental in improving your healthcare services as you get access to the latest technologies and trends in the industry. Moreover, it’s also a great opportunity to get more patients as you can partner with other practices for special offerings. It’s a tried and tested method for obtaining patient referrals.

12. Hand Out Flyers and Print Ads

While your practice should invest in good digital marketing strategies, you shouldn’t neglect the power of traditional marketing. Handing out flyers and print ads to people within your community can help more people in your vicinity discover your business.

When executed correctly, your flyers can quickly communicate messages and educate people on the value of investing in your services. Moreover, flyers give your business a physical presence. It’s something people can touch and feel.

The key to handing out print ads is maximizing space and balancing your visuals and texts. If your ophthalmology business is new, this strategy can be helpful in local patient growth.

Let Us Help You Implement Your Eye Care Marketing Strategy

Finalizing and executing all these ophthalmology marketing strategies while also trying to run the daily routines of your practice can take a lot of work and be frustrating. However, it doesn’t have to be. Our digital marketing experts are here to ensure your online success! 

If you’re interested in these ophthalmology marketing strategies, let’s collaborate to make them happen. Call us at800.792.8384or click hereto learn more about our digital eye care marketing solutions and available marketing programs.

FAQs

How big is the ophthalmology market?

The global ophthalmology market is estimated to be nearly USD60 billion in 2023. It is expected to grow to almost USD 94 billion in 2030.

Where do ophthalmologists make the most money?

Germany, Canada, and Switzerland are regarded as the countries with the highest ophthalmology salaries or income. However, this depends on the experience and accreditations the specialist has.