May 1, 2015

Five Ways to Market Your Practice

Illustration of writing tools alongside a test tube - Five Ways to Market Your Practice

As we all know, happy and satisfied patients lead to referrals, which helps to build your practice.

However, you also need to look at additional ways to grow your patient base. While traditional efforts such as advertisements, waiting room videos, and brochures are very valuable, being creative and expanding your efforts can help you prosper and be even more successful. Here are five additional ways to help you market your eye care practice:

Be Social

Having a social media strategy is key to engaging with current and potential patients. Your Facebook page, Twitter feed and/or blog allows you to inform and engage patients, their friends and family members, and provide information about your practice and eye health issues. Topics can include “New cutting edge solutions for dry eye” and “Promoting good eye health.” Filming videos—of you talking about a condition such as dry eye, or getting a patient’s permission to film them, then posting on YouTube and promoting through social media—can also be very effective.

Your Website

Your practice website is one of your best assets for letting people know about your offerings, new products, or services that distinguish your practice. Update content regularly with new and timely information, tips, and articles. You could also have a ‘pop up’ that appears when the website opens such as “Are you suffering from dry eye symptoms such as itchy, burning, stinging, or blurry vision?” that is linked to an educational patient event or information about PROKERA®. Also, having your website appear at the top of searches on Google and other search engines can be worth the investment.

Engage Your Community

Look for local health fairs, charity events, and fitness walks to attend, exhibit, and/or volunteer; answer questions about eye health, engage with the community, and let them know about you and your practice. Holding an Open House, such as one to demonstrate PROKERA insertion, is another way to meet new patients and communicate what you offer; invite a happy patient to tell their success story. You can also email potential patients to inform them you now offer PROKERA, and provide information on other services.

Leverage Local Media

Reach out to your local media (newspapers, television, radio) and let them know your practice now offers PROKERA for dry eye and ocular surface conditions. Also, leverage holidays and awareness days such as July 4 when eye injuries can occur or Save Your Vision Month to let local media know you are available as a resource and for an interview.

Referring Physicians

General practitioners and other local doctors are great referral sources and are more likely to refer to someone they know and trust. Reach out to local doctors by email and/or letter and let them know you now offer PROKERA. Hold a luncheon or wine and cheese tasting event at your practice, provide a product demonstration, and explain your services and care approach. Attending hospital events or local trade shows are also good ways to interact with other physicians.

These are just a few ideas to help you raise awareness and increase your patient base. What are you doing to market your practice? Share your ideas on Twitter.

Our new infographic on the effectiveness of PROKERA for treating dry eye is a great tool that can be given to patients in your reception area, shared on social media, and handed out at local events or an open house.

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