Building and maintaining a strong patient base is essential for the success of any Optometry practice.
A steady stream of patients not only provides a steady income for the practice, but it also allows the Optometrist to establish long-term relationships with their patients.This can lead to increased patient loyalty and satisfaction, which can result in more positive reviews and word-of-mouth referrals.
Of course, let’s not forget that a larger patient base also means that the practice can serve more people and have a greater impact on the community’s overall eye health.
That is something that every company wants. Growth, Trust and Value.
Importance of Growing Your Optometry Patient Base
Another thing, it’s important to grow your patient base is that it allows an Optometry practice to plan for the future.
Knowing that there is a steady flow of patients coming in, the practice can plan for staff, equipment and other resources accordingly. This allows the practice to allocate resources like staff and equipment more efficiently, leading to cost savings.
With a steady stream of patients, an Optometry practice may be able to expand its services, open additional locations, or even pursue new revenue streams.
Don’t worry, growing your patient base is easy!
If you’re out of ideas and tired of racking up your brain on what you need to do to grow your patient base, don’t worry, we’ve made things easier for you.
We’ve listed 6 tried and true industry strategies that will set you on the path to attracting a consistent stream of patients for your practice.
6 Strategies to Grow Your Optometry Patient Base
1. Offer and Implement a Referral Program
It’s 2023 but this is still the best and most effective strategy to grow your patient base.
Why? Referral programs work because they leverage the power of social proof and word-of-mouth marketing.
Social proof refers to the phenomenon where people are more likely to trust and follow the actions of others, particularly those in their social circle. By encouraging your current patients to refer their friends and family to your practice, you are tapping into the power of social proof.
When a patient refers someone to your practice, they are essentially vouching for the quality of your services.
This carries more weight than traditional advertising or marketing, as people are more likely to trust the recommendations of someone they know and trust.
Related: Quick tips on how to improve patient retention and incentivize loyalty.
2. Incorporate Feedback and Garner Online Reviews
Asking for feedback and online reviews from patients is important to grow a practice’s patient base for several reasons:
- Reputation management: Positive reviews from satisfied patients can help establish a positive reputation for your practice. This can attract new patients who are looking for a trustworthy and reputable eye care provider.
- Search engine optimization: Positive reviews can also help improve your practice’s visibility on search engines.
Online reviews are often used by search engines to determine the relevance and authority of a business, and having a large number of positive reviews can help your practice rank higher in search results.
- Social proof, As mentioned earlier.
- Identifying areas for improvement: Feedback and reviews can also help you identify areas where your practice can improve. By listening to your patients’ feedback and addressing their concerns, you can improve the quality of your services and attract more patients.
- Building trust: Asking for feedback and reviews can also help build trust with your patients. It shows that you value their opinions and are committed to providing the best possible care.
Examples how to ask for feedback and reviews from your patients:
- Sending an email or text message to patients after their appointment, asking them to rate their experience and leave a review on a popular review site like Google or Yelp.
- Providing a feedback form at the front desk of your practice for patients to fill out before leaving.
- Asking to fill out a survey at the end of their appointment or after their appointment.
3. Expand Your Services
Expanding your services plays a pivotal role in growing your practice’s patient base. It allows you to reach a broader spectrum of patients and deliver more comprehensive care.
When patients have diverse eye care needs, they are more inclined to return to your practice if you can cater to a range of services under one roof. Offering a one-stop solution for an entire family. That’s an advantage you don’t want to lose.
Additionally, expanding your services can also help you attract new patients who are looking for a practice that can provide a variety of services.
This is a great way to differentiate your practice from others in the area. By offering unique or specialized services, you attract patients actively seeking a specific type of care that may not be available elsewhere.
4. Host Networking, Partnerships & Community Events
Networking and partnerships are important to grow a practice’s patient base because they provide an opportunity to build relationships with other Eye Care professionals in the community.
These relationships can help increase visibility for your practice and lead to more patients. You want ODs or MDs in the community to refer to your practice.
- Community outreach: By participating in community events and charitable organizations, you can increase visibility for your practice and attract new patients.
Building relationships with other Eye Care professionals in the community can help you get involved in these events and increase your reach.
- Professional development: Networking with other Eye Care professionals can also help you stay up-to-date on the latest developments in your field and improve the quality of care you provide to your patients.
Attending conferences and CE events are a great way to stay in the know. For example, attending the Vision Expo where you get more opportunity to meet hundreds of fellow doctors and industry professionals.
5. Investing in Public Relations and Marketing Outreach
Public relations allows you to reach a large audience by getting your practice featured in local newspapers, magazines, and online publications.
This can help increase visibility for your practice and attract new patients who may not have been aware of your services. Additionally, public relations can be used to position your practice as a reputable and trustworthy source for eye care.
Or,
6. Go Digital
Do you have to? Yes actually, because if not you’re missing out on a lot.
Out of the 4.48 billion worldwide social media users, approximately 93.33% are active users, which accounts for around 85% of the 5.27 billion unique mobile phone users.
If you want to grow your business, the digital space is where you need to be.
We’ll list down several reasons if you’re not convinced:
- Increased reach: Utilizing digital platforms such as social media, email marketing, and online advertising can help increase the reach of your practice and attract new patients. This can be especially useful for reaching younger patients who are more likely to use digital platforms to search for healthcare providers.
- Improved patient engagement: Going digital can also improve patient engagement by making it easier for patients to access information about your practice and eye care services. This can include providing educational resources on your website, creating a patient portal for easy communication with your practice, and hosting virtual events such as webinars.
- Cost-effective: Digital marketing is often more cost-effective than traditional marketing methods. By utilizing digital platforms, you can reach a larger audience at a lower cost than traditional methods like print or television advertising.
- Improved patient experience: Going digital can also help improve the patient experience by providing patients with easy access to information and resources about eye care. This can include providing online appointment scheduling, virtual consultations, and access to patient portals to view test results and communicate with the practice.
- Increased patient retention: By providing patients with an easy and convenient way to access your practice and eye care services, you can improve patient retention and attract new patients through word-of-mouth recommendations.
That includes utilizing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to connect with potential patients and promote your practice.
If you want to use another platform,
You can create a search engine optimized website where you can offer valuable information and blogs about your services, along with helpful resources for patients or use email marketing as means to connect with patients directly and promote your services.
That’s about it.
If these tips helped to provide you more insight on your next steps in growing your patient base, that’s great but if you think you need more guidance or consultation in growing your eyecare practice, or in the off chance that you need to fill a role, this must be destiny.
Eye To Eye Careers is a recruiting company that focuses on connecting eye care professionals with the industry’s best OD and MD candidates.
We’re also a consultation agency that provides help in terms of employee or practice management, employee retention, job hiring and more. Get to know more about us here!
