Optometry Branding

Your brand is your promise to the patient. Your promise is what the patient awaits from you, your expertise, your experience, your unique value proposition that he cannot find at any of your competitors. Many Optometrists think that branding strategy is the responsibility of the marketing team or the practice manager. When it comes to practice branding, it is the sole responsibility of the Optometrist to set a consistent tone for the practice. The first and the last thing that the patient sees, hears, and feels should be decided by the Optometrist.
The difference between branding and marketing is that branding is strategic and marketing is tactical. The optometrist starts by setting the practice strategy and then plans marketing in a way to achieve the strategic goals.
A strong positive perception of the practice in the patient’s mind consists of the practice logo, practice design, vision and mission statement, as well as the theme that help differentiate the practice from its competitors and help build a growing database of recurring patients.
Patients want to see, hear, and feel the same tone on social media, on the website, over email, on phone calls, on the parking lot, reception, waiting room, and every exam room. The most challenging thing is the consistency between online and brick-and-mortar branding. It is easy to have a consistent logo online and in the real world. However, consistency becomes more challenging in strategic decisions that consist of what your practice serves and more importantly what your practice does not serve. You should be able to clearly communicate your strategy including who you serve, how, what, when, and where. Remember that, you don’t drink soda, you drink Coca-Cola, you don’t wear sunglasses you wear Ray Ban. You can only establish a brand with equity if you can show that what you provide is more than eye care. You provide the experience that your patients know, love, and chose among all the eye care experiences and options available in the market.