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Are you looking for proven LASIK marketing strategies to help you market your ophthalmology practice and surgery center?
If so, you've probably noticed that you're not alone.
The market for LASIK eye surgery is exploding, both globally and nationally. One forecast predicts the market will grow by 4.52% in the next 8 years alone. That's an increase from $3.2 billion to 4.6 $billion.
Clearly, LASIK surgery is on the rise, and individuals are searching for providers now more than ever. With this increasing demand comes untapped marketing opportunities to share your specialty service and attract prospective patients. The question is: Are you making the most of these opportunities?
If your practice offers laser vision correction surgery, you’ll want to invest in specialized online marketing and advertising. Our team of agency experts handles everything from website design to content marketing and paid search ads.
As a premier LASIK marketing agency, it is our job to know your market and deliver data-driven results. That's why we've put together our top proven tips to market your practice, based on our experience and the latest market research.
You can't improve what you can't measure. And you can't meaningfully address things you're unaware of. This is why the first tip is to get some facts about your market and your patients.
Let's start with your market.
In 2019, OptiCall conducted a large research survey on eye patients. They found that word-of-mouth referrals, positive online reviews, and an SEO-optimized online presence led to the most leads and sales.
Now, let's talk about your patients.
Patients who have a positive experience give word-of-mouth referrals and post positive online reviews (how many reviews do you have on your Google Business Profile)? Yet these are just two important factors that lead to more LASIK consults. So yes, focusing on the patient experience -- from start to finish -- is paramount.
We're going to go into more detail about this, but for now, remember that getting data about patient experience is critical to track and improve upon it.
A stunning website is the first building block to any well-rounded marketing plan. That’s where prospective patients go to learn about your practice, see what services you offer, and decide whether to book an appointment. In many ways, your business (yes, remember you are a for-profit business) rises and falls with your website.
Aesthetically pleasing and highly functional websites draw in potential patients. Conversely, poorly designed websites can instantly turn patients away. You don’t just need a website — you need a website that leaves a lasting impression to best position YOU as the expert as a LASIK surgeon.
As you review your current website, consider several factors:
Overall design: Does your website align with your brand identity? Does it have high-resolution images, readable text, and an eye-catching color scheme?
Navigation: Is it easy to navigate your site? Does it effectively guide users from point A to point B and prompt them to take the next step (contacting you, scheduling an appointment, etc.)?
Engagement: Is your content marketing reaching the right audience with the appropriate message? Does the web content resonate with your ideal patient?
Of course, there’s a lot more to creating a spectacular website, but these fundamental questions will help you get started.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the heart and soul of every well-built website. As the term implies, it “optimizes” your website so that more patients can find you using Google search. Practically, it involves technical processes around the following:
Using relevant keywords to match search terms like “LASIK provider” or “LASIK surgeons near me”
Building and repairing links, avoiding issues like 404 errors
Improving page load times
Organizing the site’s backend
Creating mobile-friendly content
With proven SEO techniques, your website can rank higher on the search engine results pages. This means potential patients and their family members looking for a LASIK provider will find you sooner, translating into more patients, more appointments and more procedures.
Building a great website with a strong SEO backbone is essential. However, your marketing game plan cannot stop there. You can use many other LASIK marketing strategies to help your practice reach its growth goals.
Social Media Marketing & Paid Ads
The key to a robust marketing strategy is using multiple channels to reach a target audience. Most of that audience probably spends a portion of the day on Facebook or Instagram (regardless of age, trust us). Therefore, it makes sense to utilize social media marketing.
Facebook and Instagram paid advertising use insights from various platforms to connect with your desired audience. For example, potential patients may use mobile devices to do extensive research on a LASIK medical procedure. You can speak to their needs using well-placed pay-per-click LASIK advertising on social media. Paid ads put you in front of your ideal audience, fast!
You also should be consistently posting on all of your social media platforms -- Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) -- with relevant and engaging content. A minimum of 3X per week is recommended. Also leverage Facebook/Instagram stories and reels.
Although not a social media platform, YouTube is a fantastic medium to reach your “perfect patient.” Both with text and video ads. Turn your i-Phone around and shoot that video content!
Email Marketing Campaigns
In today’s world of ever-evolving communication, emailing is still highly effective. Emails have been around for decades, and most of your patients likely use email on a daily basis. With this in mind, you’ll want to incorporate email marketing into your LASIK marketing strategy.
One email’s objective might differ from the next. Here are some common types of emails a LASIK surgery practice may send:
Welcome emails: These types of emails function like a virtual handshake with patients. They give you a chance to provide accurate information about your practice and start the conversation about scheduling an appointment. Consider turning your i-Phone around and shoot a quick welcome email like this.
Reminder emails: Getting patients to book a LASIK consult is a big win. Ensuring that they show up is a whole other challenge. With reminder emails, you can keep your patients and leads informed and reduce no-shows and cancellations.
Follow-up emails: Checking in with your patients after LASIK eye surgery is vital to establishing long-term relationships. Follow-up emails function like patient phone calls, helping you understand the patient experience and find ways to improve your services. They also show you care and prioritize your patients.
A notable advantage to email campaigns is trackability. You can see past patients who opened your email, when they opened it, and how they engaged with it. Data like this will help you optimize your campaigns and make the most of your marketing efforts in the future.
All marketing packages from PracticeVIP provide a complimentary customer relationship management (CRM) platform, so you can communicate easily and effectively with your patients.
Google Business Profile (GBP)
Are you struggling with patient acquisition in the competitive LASIK market? It could be due to poor visibility. If no one knows you exist, no one will be able to find you.
Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) help many healthcare practices stand out from the competition. If you don’t already have a Google Business Profile, consider setting one up. Our team can also help you do this.
Beyond discoverability, GBPs make it easy for patients to find information about your practice. They don’t need to click on a bunch of links to view your ratings, see what your physical location looks like, and get in touch. Your profile can store all this and more in one convenient online location.
Also ensure you are actively collect 5-star patient reviews on your GBP account.
Online Patient Reviews
What do you do before trying a new restaurant or buying something online? You look at reviews. People rely on customer reviews to inform their purchase decisions.
Highlighting the patient experience through online reviews is an often-overlooked aspect of LASIK marketing. However, it’s one of the most effective methods because it offers a human touch. Success stories give prospective patients a sense of what to expect from your practice, and their LASIK journey.
Adding 5-star reviews from actual patients demonstrates honesty and reliability. It’s what every patient wants to see prior to selecting their LASIK surgeon.
Landing Pages
Outdated or poorly written content on your website is a major turn-off. Missing or hard-to-find information could be even worse. Visitors rarely become patients if they have trouble finding information about your practice or LASIK procedures.
Creating an entire page dedicated to LASIK surgery is always a good idea. Better yet, you can design a landing page for this specialty service. This will ensure that patients can easily find information and not move on only to find it on a competitor's website!
A landing page can be linked to social media platforms, paid search ads, and other online marketing channels to greatly increase web traffic and boost conversion rates. Ensure you have tracking in place, so you can identify where your traffic is coming from.
Blog Posts
Finally, a time-tested marketing strategy involves blogging. Writing articles for your website might seem lower on the priority list, but it is well worth the time and effort. Blog posts help you achieve practice growth in a variety of ways, to include:
Increasing online reputation: Publishing content about LASIK eye surgery displays your knowledge and authority in the industry. It also helps your website climb the search engine rankings list and stand out from competitors.
Informing LASIK patients: Articles may discuss common Google search results like “What happens during LASIK surgery?” and “Can a LASIK surgeon help with improved vision?” New patients have many questions — a blog can provide answers.
Keeping your website up to date: SEO and website maintenance are ongoing processes. You won’t land at the top of the search results pages overnight or double your customer base in less than 24 hours. However, regularly updating your site with fresh content will increae your Googe search ranking and provide valuable content for prospective patients.
Does adding LASIK marketing strategies to your lengthy to-do list sound overwhelming? It doesn't have to be.
Our team at PracticeVIP understands your world. Our founder and much of our team are former pharmaceutical sales reps, with extensive experience in healthcare marketing, branding and consumer direct response marketing. Our CEO called specifically on LASIk practices (former Allergan sales representative).
You went to med school to become an exceptional ophthalmologist, this is where your focus should be. That said, you have three options as you develop your advertising plan:
1) Market yourself
2) Add it to the list of responsibilities for someone in your office
3) Partner with a US-based digital agency that works exclusively with LASIK practices
We know you are busy, let us take LASIK marketing off your to-do list so you can 100% focus on seeing patients.
We'd love to learn more about you! For a complimentary practice growth consult, go right here to schedule.
