PERFORMANCE MARKETING IS no longer a buzzword. It’s the new normal, and while many businesses are still adjusting to this, those that have already jumped on the bandwagon are reaping the rewards.
For 2020, we present two modern marketing tactics that work … and are especially effective in the eyecare space.
Pay Per Click via Google Ads, Facebook
PPC came about in the mid-’90s, as enterprising website owners looked to monetize the then-newfangled thing called the internet.
In 2000, Google rolled out its ADWORDS platform, which allowed advertisers to market on the search engine. In 2002, Google switched from selling impressions (how often your ad was shown) to selling clicks. The difference was significant; now advertisers only had to pay when traffic landed on their website. This differentiation created the modern performance marketing industry.
Google Ads
Now an industry powerhouse, Google Ads are the default PPC tactic every agency employs (and you should, too). Not only can you target specific key phrases (“eye doctor [CITY]”), but you can also target users by geography, device, and affinities (“people who like fashion”). Google Ads allows you to hyper-target your audience, including specific zip codes (or even city blocks).
Facebook
Imagine being able to advertise to women age 28-36 who like the movie Castaway. Facebook ads offer a level of targeting that is more or less unmatched. You don’t pay for your marketing until someone clicks your ad.
Email Marketing
Assuming you gather patient email addresses (in a CAN-SPAM compliant fashion), you can take advantage of the opportunity to connect with your patients via email. This inexpensive tactic works really well. Tools such as MailChimp make it easy.
Growing Your List
The first thing you need to email market is a list of names/email addresses. If you’re unsure of how to do this, consider:
- Adding a form/call to action on your website that encourages visitors to sign up
- Providing an easy way to do so when patients visit
- Creating a promotion or contest where entering their name/email is an entry
- Being active on social media and encouraging people to sign up
Market to Your List
If you don’t provide value, don’t expect email marketing to pay off. Consider your inbox; how many marketing messages do you engage with? Making it work comes down to two factors you control: the quality of the message and the frequency of your emails.
- Do it right; invest in a modern email layout that is mobile-optimized
- Use quality graphics
- Be consistent in font, color use and spacing
- Only send emails when you have something worth sharing
- Sales/promotions
- Major changes to your business
- Upcoming product lines/launches you’re excited about
- Events happening in your community that you support
- Information that will actually help your customer base
- Don’t overdo it
- Consider starting with monthly or biweekly frequency
Watch the response and adjust frequency accordingly; if you’re emailing weekly and seeing a lot of unsubscribes, consider reducing the frequency to see if that impacts your unsubscribe rate.
Track it All
The above two tactics are called performance marketing because you can directly track how well they perform.
Use call tracking (via a company like CallRail) and conversion tracking (via Google Tag Manager) to analyze performance. This helps you identify areas in your marketing tactics, website, or emails you can improve. Over time, these continuous optimizations will turn your performance marketing into a revenue-generating machine.
For 40 more of the best marketing strategies to grow your eyecare business from 4ECPs, download the free e-book at invisionmag.com/40-marketing-strategies-book