Optical Practice Grows 30% in Average Monthly Revenue and Online Appointment Requests, Gets a Luxe Rebrand
“The reality is, everyone goes online for everything, and as OD’s, we cannot cover the sun with our hand and say I’ll be fine, word of mouth is my thing, because people are still going to Google you, and if they're not wowed, they’re going to look for someone else.”
The Importance of a Website for Your Optometry Practice
Sixteen years ago, most eye care practices didn’t even have a website. But Dr. Canto-Sims of Buena Vista Optical understood the importance of having a web presence for her optometry practice.
“It’s more than just a digital business card,” she explains, “it’s what drives optometry patients through your door. A strong website positions you as an expert, and if it looks and performs well, you’re on top of your game.
Growing Your Optometry Practice With EyeCarePro
Dr. Canto-Sims came to EyeCarePro with a one-page website, built by some high-school and college kids and an unremarkable marketing agency from the Yellow Pages.
She was wowed when she discovered EyeCarePro.
“What attracted me to EyeCarePro was that you are positioned as optometry experts, with websites designed specifically for optometrists. You know your subject matter, and when I researched you more, I saw that the things you were talking about were the things everyone was saying I needed to be doing to grow my practice.”
And patient growth is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Since switching to the ODCapture plan and rebranding to a luxury optical, Buena Vista Optical is attracting high-revenue patients and has grown 30% in average monthly revenue, from $10,750 USD in 2019 to $14,025 in 2020, and up to $16,260 and growing, in 2021! New patient appointments are up 30% as well, and there’s a 46% in website traffic, from averaging 862 website visitors in August 2019 to 1682 in August of 2020. In 2019, the average monthly appointment was 36, and it grew to 47 in 2020, and is up to 55 in 2021.
Much of their growth can be attributed to the luxury rebrand. As Dr. Canto-Sims says, “what you put out is what you get”. And of course, “if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one”. By producing luxury-focused content and designing the site with the high end user in mind, Dr. Canto-Sims has effectively targeted the upper-class patient, seeking designer eyewear.
The rebrand really drove higher revenue patients who were looking to spend money on their eyewear.
“I remember when we had the college kid website- we put on “eye exams, this much”, and “bogo, this is going on”, and we got the people looking for sales and low cost.”
The strategy behind the shift to high-revenue patients is simple. Buena Vista Optical used to be high volume, and saw a lot of Medicaid patients. But with the onset of COVID and social distancing, the practice was limited in how many people they could schedule, and revenue went down. Because her doctors get paid a percentage of the revenue generated, they began to get nervous.
“We said, what can we do so we still only see half the patients while increasing our revenue?” The answer they came up with was, multiple pairs and luxury eyewear.
The practice began to carry high-end brands such as Lindberg, Face a Face, and other brands that charge upwards of $850 for a pair of frames. When a patient enters the optical, they see the prices and the brands, some of which are so new and boutique that they aren’t household names yet, and then the patient will see a Gucci frame for $500 and think, this is a bargain. In fact, Dr. Canto-Sims shares, some patients will end up buying two pairs of Gucci frames, with the reasoning that they are cheaper than one Face a Face. This helped so much with revenue growth that even though they were closed for two months, Buena Vista Optical turned more revenue in 2020 than 2019.
Shelly, their Marketing Manager, ensures that Buena Vista has luxury-focused social media and helps Dr. Canto-Sims to strategize each month and stay focused on their new brand.
Because EyeCarePro is constantly making changes and updating her site and the SEO, Dr. Canto-Sims generates patients who book appointments online all the time. She advises other optometrists to take advantage of the digital marketing tactics that EyeCarePro uses for their clients.
By the Numbers
Finding The Right Marketers for Optometrists
But when she first started out, Dr. Canto-Sims didn’t have digital marketing tactics, and her website struggled to generate patients. Back then, Dr. Canto-Sims did everything herself, building from the ground up. “Our domain was available, which isn’t even heard of these days”, she laughs, remembering.
Luckily, Dr. Canto-Sims soon came across a website powered by EyeCarePro, and the rest is history.
Aside from the well designed, content-rich websites that EyeCarePro offers, Dr. Canto-Sims liked that she would not have to sign a contract, as she’d signed with the web agency and was dissatisfied.
The exclusive focus on optometry, the excellent quality of design and content and the no-contract policy EyeCarePro offers made Dr.Canto-Sims say, “I want that”. She signed up for EyeCarePro’s marketing plan in 2008 and has never looked back.
Increased Professionalism
In her journey with EyeCarePro, Dr. Canto-Sims shares that one of the first improvements she noticed was not only with the website, but with herself. “My self-esteem went way up; I was no longer embarrassed to send people to my site”. Her increased confidence grew along with her new online presence and gave her practice a boost of professionalism.
Optometry-Focused Content
Another benefit of joining EyeCarePro was that Dr. Canto-Sims no longer had to do the heavy lifting. “It was getting hard for me to keep up with writing articles for my practice every month, and I love that EyeCarePro writes relevant articles for me”. For example, EyeCarePro studies online search and content trends and then writes articles to help the website rank. Whether it’s the latest news in myopia management, a new contact lens, or an industry trend, it’s covered and it’s being ranked for.
Ranking on Google
“If you don’t optimize for Google, you’re losing money. When I run a report, I see thousands of dollars coming in, all generated by EyeCarePro. They give me a quality website, optimized for SEO that can book patients any time of the day. It makes me money while I sleep.”
Remaining Competitive in a World of Private Equity
A lot of private practices are being bought out by Private Equity firms. As management changes, the practices change as well, and the patients become unhappy. They go online to find a new optometrist, and Dr. Canto-Sims, who ranks so well on Google, welcomes them with open arms.
A Digital Marketing Agency You Can Rely On
The reliability that EyeCarePro provides is also really important to Dr. Canto-Sims.
“If you’re with a company that has tech issues–they may be cheap, but they may also be incompetent. If they’re not reliable, if your website is down, then you lose money to your competitor.” Dr. Canto-Sims knows she can rely on EyeCarePro to keep her website running–along with the steady stream of patients who generate revenue.
Booking More Patients with an Optometry-Focused Website
Dr. Canto-Sims loves that her website allows patients to book on the spot. While some doctors care only about how beautiful the site looks and how glossy the images are, Dr. Canto-Sims knows that she needs a combination of both aesthetics and conversion rate optimization, or CRO.
“Our website encourages people to book here. We have a bilingual bot that helps people from our target demographics who speak different languages, and that alone generates 100 appointments a month. Using a combination of technology and the flow of the website, all help us book new patients.
“There's a strategy to it, I don't know what it is, I don't want to know it is, I want a pro to do it for me. I want patients to book appointments, and that’s what EyeCarePro is doing. The end in mind is important to me. What’s my end in mind? Is it a pretty website, or is it a website that will create revenue for my practice, if your end in mind is a website that generates revenue, you need to hire EyeCarePro.”
Want strategic marketing campaigns and measurable new patient growth?
