Marketing for the optical practice
Marketing for the optical practice is the work that makes it clear to the customer who you are, which needs you can address and what they can expect: it covers value proposition, range, services, prices, space, communication and relationships, not just advertising.
To work, communication has to reflect what really happens in the relationship and in the sale. Before the calendar comes the message: whom we are speaking to, which questions we answer, what the customer needs to understand about us in the first thirty seconds in the practice.
Content prepares the conversation with the customer: it clarifies the differences between solutions, makes the services visible and helps the team develop a consistent explanation. Visibility is a figure to interpret, not the result.
You do not compete on price. You compete on the clarity of who you are.
When I ask an owner what sets them apart, nine times out of ten I get a list of brands. Never a positioning. The Optical Retail Marketing Wheel puts marketing in its place: one of the connected areas of the optical practice, working together with services, prices, selling and relationships.
Where to start
From the magazine, on marketing
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The Charismatic Optometrist
Marketing and communication to enhance the services of the optical and optometric practice: defining the services, choosing the business model and communicating their value.
Those consistent with the positioning: making professional services visible, explaining the differences between solutions, looking after the experience in the practice and the continuity after the purchase. An idea without a positioning is an expense.
It depends on the scope. The project may include direction and coordination of content with existing resources; operational production is a separate activity, to be specified.
It contributes to the relationship and to the understanding of the offer. The result also depends on proposition, audience, distribution and sales process: that is why we work on positioning first.
With indicators consistent with the purpose: content consumption, relevant enquiries, conversations and actions attributable to the initiatives. Visibility figures have to be read in context.
Marketing prepares the conversation, consultative selling conducts it. If what you communicate is not matched in the practice, the customer notices immediately.
Yes: the space is one of the places where the customer understands who you are. Making the space readable is one of the areas of the Optical Retail Marketing Wheel.
Alessandra Salimbene is a consultant, trainer and author for optical retail. She helps independent optical practices, groups and companies in the sector with strategy, marketing, branding, digital marketing and training, using the Charismatic Method and the Optical Retail Marketing Wheel. She founded Optics & Love and wrote Il Centro Ottico Carismatico, L’Optometrista Carismatico and Eyemage. Alessandra’s page →