Your patients have probably become immune to Valentine's Day-related marketing campaigns by now. They've seen all the branded candy conversation hearts, cards, and love puns for patients. We don't want your practice to fall into the sea of gimmicks.
That's why we've brainstormed a few ways to show your patients some love without creating hokey messaging. They'll appreciate your creativity and maybe even return the love this Valentine's Day.
Keep reading to get a few ideas that might delight your patients this February.
Delight Your Optometry Patients This Valentine's Day
Patient Education
Your current patient education might consist of videos, pamphlets on common eye diseases, or even a guide to the best products offered in your dispensary.
Take advantage of the holiday and create a new set of educational materials based on practicing love for your eye health. This infographic is also a good place to start. You could provide a few key recommendations based on the needs of the patient such as nutritional supplements or eye drop brands. Incorporate these into an email as a "top 10" list for all patients post-exam in February.
Freebies
Encourage patients to spread the love by giving them branded pink & red pens, notepads, erasers, etc that they can give to their friends and family. We know that word-of-mouth is the strongest marketing avenue for many eyecare practices, so make the messaging more interesting and relevant by printing love and eye-related phrases on your marketing merchandise. If you're able to, provide a small referral discount for anyone who brings in a branded item that says "spread the love" on it.
Love-Based Marketing Campaign
In order to attract new patients to your office, you probably already have Google ads, posters, or newspaper advertisements. Switch the messaging out in these to include "show love for your and your family's eye health" messaging. It might be more eye-catching than the typical optometry practice ads.
Tailor the imagery to your patient demographic. If your practice is family friendly, you can include images of parents with children in the ads as well as inside your practice. Because this messaging doesn't explicitly mention Valentine's Day, it's more evergreen and useful in the long-term.
More marketing advice can be found in our ebook, OD Handbook: Small Business, Big Profits.
