By Stephanie Woo, OD, FAAO, FSLS
May 29, 2019
Marketing is essential to staying in touch with existing patients, and reaching out to your community to bring in new ones. Here are two marketing investments that resulted in increased patient volume and revenues, and one investment that marketed the practice effectively to recruit new employees.
Self-Made Video Displayed in Office Waiting Area
We created a DVD with videos we found on YouTube from eyecare vendors highlighting the benefits of products such as anti-reflective lens treatments, multifocal contacts and optomap for retinal health.
Cost: $100
Videos, which Dr. Woo and her employees created, allow patients to learn about the eyecare and products available to them, as they wait for their appointments to begin.
Results: At least three patients per week inquiring about multifocal contacts, at least 10 patients per week opting to receive retinal imaging, and at least three patients per week inquiring about blue light-blocking anti-reflective lens treatments.
What made this investment so effective? It’s a great way to educate patients as they wait, time when they would be looking for a way on their own to pass the time.
Tips for other practices that want to do the same? Find free videos online, or get permission from companies you’d like to work with, to use those vendors’ videos, and find someone who can splice the short videos together and display them in the waiting area or in the exam rooms while patients wait.
Ad in Local Newspaper
We felt that, in addition to reaching out to patients everyday on social media, it was worth making contact through our local newspaper with a display ad that ran for around two weeks. Particularly for older patients, ads in print can be effective.
Cost: Approximately $500
Results: About 30 new patients
Dr. Woo says social media is a prime place to market to, and recruit, potential new hires from the younger generations.
What made this investment so effective? We were highlighting a new doctor in our practice, including the expertise and services of that doctor. Giving the community this information let them know what our practice could do for them.
People who had never heard of us learned who we are, and those who may have heard of us, but had not yet made an appointment, were given reasons to visit.
Tips other practices that want to do the same? Keep the ad short and simple and to the point. If you have a new OD, highlight the pros of having someone young, or new, and what their niches are. This can generate interest from many patients in your community who are looking for a fresh approach to their eyecare.
Social media ads for new hires
You need to market not only for new patients, but for the kinds of new hires you seek. In our case, that meant younger people, who could reach out effectively to Millennials and Generation Z. It’s illegal to advertise that you are looking specifically for young people for jobs, but what you can do is advertise in places where young people are likely to be.
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Cost: About $200
Results: About 40 resumes dropped off within two weeks
What made this investment so effective? Younger generations don’t typically read the newspaper looking for job opportunities. Knowing this, it is important to find effective ways to market to them. We found social media was extremely helpful in recruiting candidates.
Tips for other practices that want to do the same? Create a social media page and then create a paid advertisement. You can then specify the target market (for example, within a certain amount of miles from where your practice is or if you only want to advertise to a certain age range or other demographic).
Stephanie Woo, OD, FAAO, FSLS, practices with the Contact Lens Institute of Nevada.
