Recommendation for Marketing 4ECPs
I have been asked if I would provide my impression and a recommendation for Marketing4ECPs based on my experiences with 4ECPs over the last 6 months. I quickly agreed, as I feel strongly that they are working with my best interest as the driving factor, and I have seen results in my office.
The first hurdle to working with 4ECPs is the cost. As optometrists, we have historically had a very limited marketing budget, and spent this budget with little or no ‘big picture’ plan. And, I was certainly no exception. I would spend sporadically, for specific events, or sponsoring community charities, but would never really see any results. Any events that we held never went well. Community sponsorship was simply philanthropic, which is fine if that was the goal. I had to justify the cost for 4ECPs which was multiple times
above my historic marketing budget. I wanted to have a cohesive and unified
marketing plan with proper oversight to make sure that things were working. Needless to say, I signed on with a plan to watch it for 6 to 12 months and make sure that the marketing spend actually drove office revenue.
When I first signed on the amount of behind the scenes work that 4ECPs engaged in to get things set up specific to my office and my objectives was simply overwhelming. 4ECPs took the time to understand my wants and needs and to tailor a plan specific to those. This include my goals and why I wanted to advertise, as well as tailoring the look and feel of the website and digital media to match my office. The attention to detail continues to this day, with frequent updates and meetings, and always quick updates to any changes that are needed.
4ECPs is keen to work with me not only to create a website and to create a social media presence, but also to work with me to create a marketing plan that is complete, including updates to all things digital, and also to update any print marketing within the office as well. This has been key to having the office presence feel in harmony with all the marketing objectives.
4ECPs are also very keen on making sure that their program is working. Metrics are key, and the amount of metrics that they can track from the website, search engines, and social media platforms is very impressive. If a program or an ad is not performing, the metrics will prove that, they will report those findings, and propose a change to make sure that our advertising dollars are being spent where they have the most
impact.
My overall goal, the reason that I wanted to use the power of marketing, was not to get patients in my chair. My goal was to raise the awareness of my office as a place to purchase eyewear and sunglasses. I wanted consumers who were not my patients to think about my office as a viable alternative source for glasses, contacts, and sunglasses. Non-patients purchasing products without sitting in my chair is a source of revenue growth when chair time is already used to capacity. We have seen an increase in non-patient purchases, but I still feel that there is capacity for growth here. What has
happened, however, is our new patients have already studied us, going to the website, accessing the social media channels, and they have chosen our office already primed to purchase. Converting these new patients into consumers is now easy, as they have come in knowing that they are going to purchase from us.
So, I will continue on the trend of advertising in this way. Instead of trying to simply fill my exam chair with clinical exams and then trying to convince them to stay here to purchase, I am getting patients in my chair that already want to purchase here.
Year to date 2016 has been highest grossing to date, on track to exceed our gross revenue best by 10 to 15%. So, yes, marketing (in general) is expensive. But, in choosing to market wisely, digitally, with a cohesive in office print presence, I have seen significant results.
So, would I recommend Marketing 4ECPs to a colleague? Absolutely. Their team is very impressive, with great attention to detail, a great understanding of how digital marketing works and how to prove and adapt based on metrics, and with a desire to create a plan that respects the individuality of your office. Yes, that first hurdle is significant, but I am glad that this team is on my side, and not my competitors!
