Cut the Fluff: Website and Marketing Principles for Independents

The most important principle for a practice website is to use them for basic information only. Whether operating as an independent or a corporate chain, trying to do more is a waste of time and money.

Here are five key website principles for independents:

1. Stick to the essentials. You need a digital presence to ensure patients can find you, book an appointment and understand the services and products you offer. Keep the presentation simple, as the average reader rarely looks past the headlines.
2. Forget ecommerce. Your website is not a significant revenue driver for product sales. Unless you manage a chain of 25+ locations, tools like virtual try-on offer no real return on investment. The technical burden of keeping a frame inventory up to date is an expensive, time-consuming operation whether you have one location or 100. In reality, brick-and-mortar retailers seldom see online revenue exceed 5%.
3. Keep clinical details brief. Optometrists and their specialties (such as dry eye or myopia management) should be noted, but not in great detail. Most visitors will not read it. Keep in mind that most patients are looking for great glasses and assume the clinical care will be handled properly.
4. Minimize page count. Limit your website to as few pages as possible. The more screens a user has to click through, the more likely they are to abandon the site entirely.
5. One practice, one website. Retail and clinical websites do not work in synergy. Consumers rarely link the two entities in their minds. One of the biggest mistakes I made in my career was separating the LensCrafters retail site from the optometry site (Eye Exam 2000). It doubled our costs and more than doubled consumer confusion. Even in states like California, where legalities require separate business names, a split digital presence was a never-ending source of confusion and complaints.

That said, how should an independent leverage its website and other resources to maximize marketing impact?

1. Lead with visuals. On your homepage, and in any marketing you do, minimize copy in favor of pictures and imagery. If your market position is luxury eyewear, simply use logos and frame photos. Notably, frames on faces work better than frames alone (a principle even large chains tend to miss). Women in particular respond well to frames on the face of another woman.
2. Prioritize your existing patient base. Your most effective marketing will always be directed at current customers. Data suggests the peak response period to a special offer email is just six months after a purchase—sometimes as early as four months. Similarly, waiting two years for a standard eye exam recall is a massive missed opportunity. Across my global businesses, the average purchase cycle was 10.2 months.
3. Don’t overengineer your marketing. Unless you are an expert, skip print and radio advertising. If you must use traditional media, group coupons with strong incentives can be effective. Also note to be very cautious of third-party marketing services. The fundamentals of good marketing are simple enough that independent owners can and should handle them on their own.
4. Embrace the nature of retail. Keep in mind that most customers are primarily looking for a great-looking pair of glasses at a fair price. Like it or not, we operate in a retail business where traditional retailing principles still dictate success.

Read more on digital strategies here.