Ophthalmology Marketing Ideas

Over 2.2 billion people are visually impaired or blind, making ophthalmologists essential to the  healthcare system worldwide. But when it comes to opening up a practice, competition is growing. While your ophthalmology practice delivers an excellent patient experience, you also have to ensure your local community is aware of your practice — and that’s where ophthalmology marketing comes in.

When ineffective, marketing can be a time-waster and budget-drainer. When it works, current patients come back for regular checkups and additional procedures, and more new patients walk in the door. To ensure your practice gets the most out of its marketing strategy, we’ve compiled 17 of the most effective ophthalmology marketing ideas. 

Is the Ophthalmology Field Oversaturated?

Ophthalmology is growing quickly, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a growth rate of 9%, nearly twice the rate for all industries. This is in part because 3.4 million Americans ages 40 and older are visually impaired, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and that number is expected to grow due to increased screen time. 

While ophthalmology is an in-demand specialty, it can be challenging to open and successfully run your own practice. To do so, you have to differentiate yourself from larger hospital systems that have better name recognition and larger marketing budgets. Fortunately, innovative and cost-effective marketing strategies can be a big help. 

How to Get Started With Ophthalmology Marketing

A successful ophthalmology marketing plan blends online and in-person marketing ideas. Effective marketing centers around the patient and communicates in a way that empowers patients to take control of their eye health. 

17 ophthalmology marketing ideas that encompass this approach include modern techniques such as updating your website and email marketing, traditional methods such as direct mailers and patient surveys, and more outside-the-box concepts such as local art sponsorship:

1. Improve your ophthalmology practice’s website
2. Create a digital storefront for online "window browsing" and sales
3. Optimize for local search
4. Get noticed online with paid ads
5. Try email and text marketing
6. Connect with your audience online through social channels
7. Sponsor local events
8. Send direct mailers
9. Advertise on TV
10. Start a referral program
11. Create memberships
12. Survey patients
13. Ask for reviews
14. Follow up to sustain patient engagement
15. Give away free merchandise
16. Donate glasses and checkups
17. Sponsor local art

Online Marketing Ideas

Online marketing tactics should play a central role in your outreach strategy. They allow you to target the right audiences faster and via multiple channels. Plus, they are often easy to implement with the right automation flows. 

1. Improve your ophthalmology practice’s website

A website is the virtual “office space” for your practice. It should be as clean, organized, and logical as your physical space. To test your website’s effectiveness, have a friend or family member navigate around your practice’s website. Ask them how easy it is to:

1. Understand the main services your practice provides
2. Identify the best patients for your practice
3. Book an appointment 

For scheduling, a robust patient portal can reduce the steps and effort required to book an appointment. When the Eye Center switched providers for its EHR, practice management, and patient portal solution, they were pleasantly surprised by how much patients could do online — and how easily they could do it.

Tracy Keniff, the practice’s administrator, reflected, “From the administrative standpoint, we were impressed by the PM system’s full range of capabilities, having patients check in online, making payments, and more.”

2. Create a digital storefront for online "window browsing" and sales

While eye exams are completed in-person, your practice can open an online shop to make it easier and quicker for patients to shop for eyecare accessories. With the right EHR, you should be able to document inventory and accept online payments so your online store runs as smoothly as possible.

If you don’t feel comfortable selling accessories online, you can still have images of what’s in stock. People can add items they’re considering into a virtual cart and mention those options later during an in-person appointment.

3. Optimize for local search

There are many Google searches your practice can show up in, but not all are equally beneficial. For example, ranking nationally for “what is glaucoma?” may not bring in new patients for an eye clinic in Cincinnati. The term “glaucoma treatments Cincinnati,” may have a lower search volume, but being highly ranked by Google for it will most likely bring in more patients for that Cincinnati eye clinic.

To optimize for local search, follow these tips:

• Set up a Google Business Profile if you haven’t already
• Once set up, make sure your Google Business Profile is up to date and includes all relevant information about your practice
• Include your location and contact information on all website pages

4. Get noticed online with paid ads

Paid ads are a great opportunity to show up first in Google search results or to be more visible on social media. If interested in investing in paid ads, there are two types to consider:

• Social media ads: Build brand awareness and attract new followers to your social media profiles. Over time, these ads strengthen your practice’s community and can lead to more bookings. 
• Google Ads: Show up first in search results for key terms. This is best for booking appointments quickly, though it doesn’t build brand awareness as effectively as social media ads. 

5. Try email and text marketing

A well-timed email or text reminder can inspire patients to create an appointment with your practice or increase the likelihood that they show up for an already booked checkup. In fact,  a recent study from the American Marketing Association highlighted specific benefits of email and text marketing:

• Increase the number of patients
• Remind patients to come back
• Educate subscribers on eye health
• Improve brand recognition

While your team can manually send out text and email reminders, there are automated ways to do so. Connecticut Retina Consultants appreciated how their EHR and PM solution could send automated emails and text before and after appointments, with the option to personalize these messages.

6. Connect with your audience online through social channels

Showing up on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), or Facebook can help get new patients in the door. But showing up on all five? That can lead to social media burnout.

For more impact and to ensure your team’s social media efforts are effective, focus on one to three platforms where your audience interacts the most. On those platforms, create consistent posts answering patients’ frequently asked questions, advertising your services, and educating followers about eye health. 

Traditional Marketing Ideas

While digital marketing gets most of the buzz, traditional marketing tactics can differentiate your practice. The three below can target multiple generations and patient demographics offline.

7. Sponsor local events

There’s nothing quite like connecting in real life. Perhaps that’s why 89% of business leaders prefer in-person events.

You can harness the power of in-person marketing by sponsoring a booth at a local event or hosting events for groups that may be in need of an ophthalmologist. For example, sponsoring a local bingo night at a community center may be a good use of your marketing spend.

8. Send direct mailers

Eighty-two percent of marketers are increasing spend on direct mailers in 2024, because snail mail is still effective and helps your practice stand out. However, this kind of messaging can get lost amid the junk mail if you’re not strategic about what you’re communicating. So, be sure you’re delivering the right kind of information in direct mailers. This marketing method isn’t for fast, instantaneous communication, but evergreen marketing, such as a reach out to potential patients, or for pre-scheduled events, like holidays and birthdays. 

To make it easier, effective EHR and PM software can automate these mailers. For example, the system could track patient birthdays and send them a Happy Birthday postcard your practice’s team created.

9. Advertise on TV

TV is worth $337.50 billion in 2024, and it can drum up new business for your practice. Consider investing in local TV ads as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. One well-placed advertisement during the local evening news can result in new patients, especially among older generations who still primarily rely on television as a primary source of information. Plus, video ads can be repurposed as social media content. 

Patient Marketing Ideas

At the end of the day, your ophthalmology practice aims to provide an excellent patient experience. Your marketing strategy should also be centered around your patients, and these five strategies can help.

10. Set up a referral program

A happy patient often brings in more business than any paid ad. Take advantage of your happy patients by setting up a referral program. For example, patients who refer friends and family could get a discount on eyecare accessories or gift cards to retailers.

You can also develop relationships with local partners, such as primary care providers, who can refer patients.

11. Offer memberships

The best marketing strategy is a repeat customer. Make it easy for patients to come back, whether for a checkup or an elective procedure, by setting up a membership program.

This membership could help cover the cost of in-demand preventive services and make it easier to book popular elective treatments.  A 2022 study by Frontiers in Medicine outlines the areas with the most research (and patient demand) in ophthalmology: prevention, screening, treatment of ocular disease, and telemedicine. 

To create memberships efficiently, invest in an ophthalmology EHR & PM equipped to process and price memberships.

12. Survey patients

Conducting regular market research ensures your services meet your patients’ needs. One of the easiest ways to gather this data is to survey patients, either as they leave the office or via email. 

To increase survey response rate, a 2023 study by AEM Education and Training recommends: 

• Write positively worded messages (e.g., what aspects of your appointment were most useful to you?).
• Instead of using a strongly disagree to strongly agree scale, ask a specific question and have more specific answers.
• Design questions on a sliding scale instead of a yes/no response.
• Make sure the survey format isn’t overwhelming. 
• Don’t ask too many questions. The shorter they are, the better the response rate.

13. Ask for reviews

Firsthand accounts are a powerful addition to your marketing toolkit. Potential patients often read them on Google and social media to decide which ophthalmologist to book an appointment with. Plus, more reviews boost your Google Business Profile ranking for terms such as “ophthalmologist near me.”

You can also use patient reviews in blogs, website pages, case studies, and more to showcase your services and excellent patient experience.

14. Follow up to sustain patient engagement

Sometimes, good marketing is as easy as remembering to follow up. When patients have upcoming procedures or a checkup on the calendar, your EHR/PM software can send them an automated reminder. These reminders decrease no-shows and can improve patient outcomes, especially for patients who receive procedures with a recovery period, such as LASIK and cataract surgery. 

While rare, retinal lesions can pop up after LASIK. To ensure any complications are caught and treated, a 2021 study by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology recommends regular check-ins with patients post-LASIK. Reminders increase the number of patients who book and show up at these follow-up appointments. 

Cataract surgery follow-ups work similarly. Along with sending follow-up messages, it may also help to provide remote cataract follow-up appointments, according to a 2023 study by BMC Ophthalmology.

Guerilla Ophthalmology Marketing Ideas

Like guerilla warfare, guerilla ophthalmology marketing plays on the element of surprise to get people’s attention. It's a great way to impress potential patients and intrigue them to learn more about your practice.

15. Give away free merchandise

Finding a new patient can be five to 25 times more expensive than retaining a current one, according to Harvard Business Review. Reward your patients — and let them know about other services — with an unexpected gift like free merchandise. For example, you could provide potential LASIK candidates with a branded pen, a pair of sunglasses, and a small leaflet on LASIK eye surgery when they come in for an eye checkup.

A good EHR/PM system can help your team identify ideal candidates for optional, elective treatments faster. Scarsdale Ophthalmology Associates uses their EHR/PM to see important trends, such as patients with a glaucoma or patients who are a good fit for LASIK. Dr. James Murphy, the office’s glaucoma and anterior segment specialist, reflected, “It’s very easy to see the big picture all at once. There's a lot you can do and it’s highly customizable.”

16. Donate glasses and checkups

Giving back to the community is incredibly rewarding and a great way to get your practice’s name out there. As an ophthalmology practice, you can provide free checkups and glasses to those who can’t afford it at a local school, soup kitchen, or community center.

The worst-case scenario? You improve your community’s eye health.

17. Sponsor local art

Guerilla marketing got its start in graffiti, art installations, and advertising in unexpected places. Ophthalmology practices can commission art or sponsor an artist’s work at a local festival to get their brand name out there and support the arts. One St. Petersburg optometrist, for example, hired a local artist to create a mural at her practice. 

Future Marketing Trends in Ophthalmology

Health marketing trends change fast, and being on top of them can boost your patient base and help you customize patient communication. Some marketing trends to be aware of include:

• Customizing emails and text
• Ensuring patient data security when using different marketing tools
• Automating reminders to reduce patient no-shows

To successfully implement any new trends that arise, it’s important to invest in EHR/PM software developed by a team who is staying current on ophthalmology marketing trends so you don’t have to. 

AI Marketing in Ophthalmology

Artificial intelligence is an increasingly popular marketing trend. AI has great potential for your practice, when used responsibly. Here are a few effective ways to leverage AI for ophthalmology to enhance your practice’s marketing strategy:

• Get more face-to-face time with patients while AI does administrative work in the background. This will improve the patient experience, which helps increase referrals and encourages patients to return.
• Increase how quickly and easily you can identify ideal patients for elective treatments. These patients are ideal targets to send educational materials via email or text about those procedures.
• AI insights can create personalized ophthalmology treatment plans, which lead to better outcomes and patient experiences — a great combination for building patient loyalty.

By using these 17 marketing ideas, your practice can differentiate your services and improve your community’s eye health. To make ophthalmology marketing more effective, invest in supportive technologies, such as a robust EHR and PM software.

Schedule a free demo to learn how Nextech’s EHR and PM software can improve your practice’s marketing efforts.