We are in a small West Texas town with no competion. One man eyedoctor town. However we still have to compete with towns close by that have chains such as Walmart and so forth. Here is my question. Has anybody in the same instance as mine used any local T.V. advertising to promote business and if so, how did it work for you. We are thinking about shooting a couple of commercials with local people...input would be appreciated.
W
Actually, running commercial's on the television has not worked to well for just about every OD and optical I knew that has done it. I'm not including "chains" into this little scenario.. You mainly gain by repetition and since the majority of them do NOT have a L.C. or Pearle advertising budget then they just were not on the market long enough to draw .. any commercials you see, that are not some whacky commercial, do you pay attention to it? Specially the ones that do not run often? I figured that with that same amount of money they could have run a lot bigger ads for "weeks" in the local paper and even able to change the ads around as well (something you can't do in TV)
I can only base it from the ones I have seen try it ..one OD spent over $3,000 and got a hand full of commercials and all at crazy time slots.. shoot he could have run a quater page ad for 3 months for that kind of cash.
One of the better marketing tools I seen was using flyers delivered to the houses.. One other thing that I found that was worse then TV was radio.. it was to fast and people tended to gloss right over it and if you do not have that "instant" name recognition then it was a definite up hill battle...
But then again you know your market far better then any of us :) I just stated some things that did work and did not work for local here in FL. ..just my .02 worth
Jeff "I knew I had that advertising and marketing degree for something" Trail
If he's a doctor self referring his own Rx's he already has an edge. Why sink lower and advertise? Just to quality work (fill a different niche than the competition, don't be jealous of the high volume, low quality, cheapie eapie stuff the competition does) and you will have your cup filled to overflowing.
While if have competitors that advertise a lot (all about low prices, I've been here a long, long time I still can't keep up with what I have to do.
[This message has been edited by chip anderson (edited 11-07-2000).]
Along the lines of echoing Jeffs comment. TV or Radio advertising is "Decentralized" to your market. The big chains benefit by this kind of advertising because they have a place in just about every town. However, the TV and radio coverage area is probably far beyond where most of your customers will be coming from. Therefore, they may hear or see your commercial which influences their decision to purchase eyewear but it may be more convienent for them to buy from one of their local retailers. Local newspapers and mailers is where you will probably find the greatest advertising response for your situation.
Also, if your doc has a patient base with patient records why not just take the money you would spend in advertising and send postcards. This is a market who already may have confidence in your abilities and will easily be your next customer with a little incentive such as a free tint & UV or 50% off AR.
You could try capitalising on the ads already being shown, for example, if someone is promoting extended wear contact lenses, you stick an ad in the paper about yours, if there's an advert for Transitions, you leaflet for photochromics. That way, the customer makes the connection (want lens from Big Chain, lens available at iglsldy's shop, iglsldy's shop nearer, will go there), you get TV advertising at a fraction of the cost.
I suggest this because, over here, VE advertise flexon frames, Boots advertise varifocal contacts, and we get patients for both who don't realise it wasn't our advert, and have no idea who actually did it.
Maria 'is it theft or plagarism?' K
I would think your money would be best spent using a billboard in a high traffic area, let people know you're the "hometown" place for eyecare and eyewear. Gotta be cheaper than tv/radio, etc.
Now there's a contradiction for us over here "Small" and "Texas" thought everything was big in texas.Originally posted by iglsldy:
We are in a small West Texas town
Joke out of the way :D
I would go with the billboard and leaflets to local homes and maybe once a month in the local paper just to remind everybody of who and where you are.
Or maybe what about sponsoring a local event or team.
John "keep you name on their minds" R
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Every day a grind
Every week a bind
www.iooi.co.uk
Hi Folks;
I use a little 10 second thingy on the 5:00 PM knews. It is on the health segment by Lucky Severson. It just gives my name and the office location, and what we do. It runs twice a week, and believe me, people see it and mention it when they see me out some where, or when they come in to the store. It costs me $75.00 a week. and it is worth every penny. You need to let people know you are there. You can't just sit there and wonder why they don't come in. I have found that Yellow pages do nothing. I would be better off to help an OD or MD pay for their ad in the yellow pages. I am no where if I don't get their referrals. My little ad gets the ones that are undecided where to go. Ya'all have a great day, and let them know you are out there.
Jim Seebach
Many frame companies, Varilux and SOLA all offer co-op funds for advertising. I believe that they budget for redemption rates of only about 25%. That means you folks are leaving a whole bunch of green stuff out there that could decrease your costs 50% or more.
Some proven methods of generating patients are: recall cards (how many of you actually use those?) or, better yet, a recall phone call; direct mail to both current and potential customers (lists by zip code by age by damn near anything including sexual preference are available fairly inexpensively); trunk shows; establishing a relationship with local businesses for either safety or a PPO, 3rd party plan; sending a "greeting" to every new resident; etc. Newspaper and/or TV advertising both require "repetitions," a commitment you'll have to make before starting your campaign.
When looking at the effectiveness of an ad campaign, keep in mind that the average repeat for a Rx is over 2 years. Chances are that you won't be bowled over with your first attempt...or second...or fifteenth.
Without a doubt, the most effective ad campaign is word of mouth...and that is totally up to you and how you treat your customer(s). By the way, do any of you ever send a card or call recent patients to both thank them as well as ask about satisfaction? I get those from my local oil change franchise... Nuff said.
I have to agree with the comment that word-of-mouth is the best. Simply called internal marketing.
Why not put a simple program together that your Doctor gives the patient a small referral card at the end of the examination that says:
Refer one patient....10% off your next eyewear purchase Refer two patients....20% off your next eyewear purchase three patients....30% and so on until you give 100% off with 10 referrals up to a total value of $150.00. You just keep track of this on the referring patients file every time someone writes a name on your 'Welcome to the office' form where it says who referred you to our office.
Not only are you basically putting together a 'sales force' but it is also word-of-mouth!
I have samples of this if you would like one. 'E'mail me at Uvexs@aol.com if interested.
Tom (Here to help) Bowman
Williams Consulting Group
My best advertising has been a coupon on the back of a supermarket register receipt. Supermarket is across the street, so everyone who gets it is a potential customer. That receipt also gets stuffed in the purse or thrown on the bureau, so it's around a while.
My coupons have been "$ off a complete pair of glasses". Not to be combined with other offers or insurance. "Eye exams available" is also on the receipt.
Harry
not too long ago an article in one of the journal/papers did an exhaustive study on every kind or advertisement mentioned in the discussion and more. then it showed the return on the dollar. every single on was at the negative; more spent then returned, except one. the only, only, only was WORD OF MOUTH BY A HAPPY PATIENT. unfortunately with the very big boys sucking up the insured, along with the over supply of doctors how long will the happy patient be the winning answer in the large metropolitian areas. the boondocks, another matter. sam
We have used a radio campaign for the past few months with very favorable results. Consistency over a determined time frame has been the biggest factor. Radio time isn't cheap but we are now recognizing the benefits of our persistance.
We had a 1 minute commercial educating the listeners on how POLARIZED RX sunwear could improve their visual performance and make them more aware of their surroundings. This proved fruitful as folks were in their cars listening to the radio during their morning drive to work and afternoon drive from work as the sun was most disturbing. Many came in requesting a polarized lens demonstration. As a result we now sell over 80% of our RX sunwear with polarized lenses.
Advertising has developed a positive cognative effect that we are making an investment in informing our consumers while competition is hoping for their doors to swing open without exhibiting such effort. We do not discuss prices in any of our advertising and do not give any negative digs about all the shortcomings of our competition up and down the road. However, we focus on informing consumers how we can provide their best eyewear purchasing experience.
We do not use co op funds for major advertising since we have found most vendors advertising reimbursement parameters requiring most of our money to toot their horn while we receive fractional recognition.
Alive & Well
Kevin
One idea that i have seen suggested is to use "SMS" for stuff like this. Now this is a good idea in that you dont bug the customer with phone calls they dont want. All you need to do is find a online service that lets you send lots for free and you only have to find the time to send them. Some companies will charge you for bulk sending of "SMS" but even then its still a good idea..Jim G said:
better yet, a recall phone call;
I would like to second Sam's post about "word of mouth", most major retailers feel pretty good when they have over 20% repeat business(can't understand why?). such low repeat business creates the need to come up with marketing "gimmicks" to attract new customers, since the old ones aren't coming back, unless of course, they have some insurance...so, it's really about establishing and maintaining relationships; taking the time to first be current on your knowledge and skills as an optician. develop an attitude of being in it for "the long haul", not "the quick sale". Opticians used to be a "trusted" profession, then along came folks offering bogos, and half-priced, and two-fer deals and that blew the foundation of any long term relationship...trust. Develop an attitude of "gratitude". your clients can and will go anywhere they please to acquire their glasses. So, be sure that the clientele knows that their patronage is apprecaited, a simple "thank you" goes a long way, a note is better yet. Keep you clientele informed of new products and services, a quarterly or semi-annual news letter helps. Periodically send a client a "recall" letter; prefferably on letterhead, and not "bulk mailed". Be more concerned about the quality of the finished product that how fast and cheaply it can be done. Apprecaite the relationship with your vendor community, don't shop for the cheapest price, get the best workmanship. Pay your bills on time. If at all possible, do not participate in third party insurance plans. and finally, love your clients like cousins! the surest sign that things are going well, is when you have folks coming in with new rxs saying that (one of your clients) referred them, now treat this person like the person who referred them, and you've got it made!
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