It is important to strive towards creating a real relationship and connection between your practice and your patients. And social media promotions are a great way to help build those relationships, so the ladies at The Optical Vision Site have come up with the Eyecare Professionals Marketing Calendar for 2015. This list includes all of the holidays, events, and celebrations that your practice can use as promotional marketing to your patients!
Creative Eyecare Practice Marketing Opportunities
In a previous blog post written earlier this year we covered the 2015 marketing
opportunities occurring in Q1,
and now we will look at the second half of the year. Don’t be afraid to use some of these ideas in your eyecare practice marketing strategy, even though some of them are a bit wacky! Funny and interesting posts get shared, and can get your brand more awareness than you realize! Things like Throw-back-Thursday (TBT) or posting to Pinterest may seem unnecessary, but it is part of modern culture and leads to success more often than not.
We have picked out a few of our favorites ideas, but you can you view the full list at The Optical Vision Site. Use these ideas to help kick-start your creative thinking and get your patients more involved with your practice! While these are quite a few holidays and events they are not them all, you can always do research and find an opportunity to connect with patients in a unique and memorable way!
July
- National Hot Dog Month with a National Hot Dog Day July 23
- Comic Con (Celebrating Super Heros) Huge San Diego Event.
Holidays by Day:
- July 4 - Fourth of July- Eye Safety.
- July 11 - National Cherry Day– Engaging Patients
- July 12 - Different Colored Eye Day
- July 13 - National French Fry Day
- July 21 - National Junk Food Day
- July 23 - National Hot Dog Day:
- You can promote Doggles, Dog Days of Summer,Dog Trivia and even Contact lens for Dogs
- July 25 - National Merry Go Round Day
- July 26 - National Cowboy Day
August
- National Eye Exam Month (Marketing) National Eye Exam Month (Merchandising) , What Your Doctor Looks For (Infographic)
- Childrens Eye Health and Safety Month
- Dry Eye Awareness Month
- Shark Eye Trivia, Lessons From Shark Tank
To Do:
Holidays by Day:
- Aug 1 - International Drink Beer Day
- Aug 3 - Great Glasses PlayDay (double check day)
- Aug 9 - National Book Lovers Day- Merchandising Post, Event Post on Starting A Book Club and Having A Book Drive
- Aug 16 - Elvis Presley Death: Elvis Presley Eyewear
- Aug 19 - National Aviation day (Aviator Eyewear). The Eyewear Blog did a great post(s) on the history of Aviator Eyewear.
- Aug 26 - National Dog Day www.nationaldogday.org
- Aug 27- Banana Lover Day- Health Benefits of Bananas Infographic
- Aug 28 - National BowTie Day – Fun customer engagement, showing off bowties, wearing bow ties to work.
- Aug 30 - National Bacon Day - Bacon Eyewear (Fun)
September
To Do:
- Back To School
- Merchandising For Fall
- Sign Up For World Sight Day (October)
Holidays By Day:
- Sept. 3 - National Wildlife Day
- Sept 9 RIP - Jimi Hendrix
- Sept 18 - National Cheeseburger Day
- Sept 19 - Talk Like a Pirate Day
- Sept. 20 - Eat An Apple Day- An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away
- Sept 16-19 - Vision Expo West (Las Vegas)
October
- Adopt A Dog Month
- Home Eye Safety Month (Marketing)
- World Animal Day and Month
- Breast Cancer Month Event, Marketing and Merchandising on both sites
- National Reading Group Month
To Do:
- Prepare for The Holidays
- Prepare For Black Friday And Cyber Monday
- Prepare For Stocking Stuffer
- Order Gift Cards
- Prepare For FSA End of Year
Holidays by Day:
- Oct. 2 - National Manufacturing Day - This might be a good way to showcase your lab or a vendor on manufacturing. There are many YouTube Videos on manufacturing eyewear and labs.
- Oct. 3 - National Golf Day
- Oct. 9 - World Sight Day
- Oct. 12 - Stop Bullies Week
- Oct. 15 - World Handwashing Day
- Oct. 25 - National Orange Day– Wear Orange to protest violence against women and girls. Decorate in Orange, wear orange to commemorate this day.
- Oct. 29 - National Cat Day (Trivia) and Cat- Eye Eyewear. Both sites with trivia and eyewear.
- Oct. 31- Halloween
November
- Movember Month (Event) Merchandising and Patient Engagement
- National Diabetes Month, Resources and Infographics
- Thanksgiving (Eyewear) and Health Benefits of Turkey and Cranberries
To Do:
- Black Friday
- Small Business Saturday
- Cyber Monday
- Flex Benefits
Holidays by Day:
- Nov 1 - Day of the Dead
- Nov 1 - Great American Smoke Out (Infographics)
- Nov. 8 - National Radiology Day (History of x-ray Vision)
- Nov. 15 - America Recycles Day
- Nov. 26 - National Cake Day
- Nov. 26 - Thanksgiving
December
- Christmas
- National Safe Toys
- Hanukah
- National Bingo Month (Facebook engagement)
To Do:
- Set up Marketing Calendar For 2016
- Set up Business Plan for 2016
- Plan Holiday Party if haven’t already
Holidays by Day:
- Dec. 2 - National Mutt Day – www.nationalmuttday.org
- Dec. 6-14 Hanukkah
- Dec 8 - RIP- John Lennon
- Dec.12 - Poinsettia Day
- Dec 18 - Bake Cookies Day- Good recipe sharing.(Check out our Pinterest Board)
- Dec. 25 - National Chocolate Day (Check our our Pinterest Board Chocolate)
- Dec. 25 - Christmas
Check out all the other great information and resources available at The Optical Vision Site!
