As an industry, we work very hard to understand the underlying causes and treatments of myopia and the apparent growth of this condition among children around the world. We spend so much time looking at our digital devices and so little time outdoors enjoying nature, is it any wonder we are becoming more myopic? But I’m not writing to address this, as so many of you are far more educated about it than I.
What I do want to examine though, is our own industry-wide myopia in the marketing of our services. We have been way too focused on the tools we use and not the results of those tools. Look at most optometry websites. What do you see? A phoropter.
Now look at most dental websites. What do you see there? Do you see drills? Do you see dental delivery units? Do you see photos of fillings, bridges or crowns? No. Most good dental websites show smiles. They show the result of their work, not the tools used to produce it.
Garden centers showcase flowers, not shovels, hoses, and hoes. Automobile makers show cars on mountain roads or on long stretches of ocean highways, not the assembly line used to make them. Fashion companies showcase expensive models looking better in their suits and dresses than we ever could, but still, they showcase the result, a beautiful dress or suit, not the $4 an hour foreign seamstress somewhere overseas making it.
“Only in optical do we take pride in showing the tools of our trade instead of the end results.”
When was the last time you saw a professional photographer brag that they shoot with a Nikon D810 or their crosstown competitor that they use a Canon EOS 5D? It’s their photos that do the talking for them, not the cameras they chose to take those photos with.
Only in optical do we take pride in showing the tools of our trade instead of the end results. We showcase phoropters, slit lamps, and expensive OCT machines instead of the beautiful smiles we create with well-fitting contact lenses and beautifully designed eyeglasses and sunglasses that make our patients and customers not only see well, but look good doing so.
Focus on the results of your experience and expertise. Like dentists, it’s time to showcase smiles, albeit it with eyeglasses instead of Snellen charts.
Daniel Feldman, is CEO of dba designs & communications an optical design and marketing firm specializing in promoting eye care practices and a co-founder to the Visionaries Group (www.the.vg). Learn more at dbadesigns.com.
This article originally appeared in the April 2017 edition of INVISION.