Optometry Practice Marketing Budgets 101

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from PECAA Max members is, "How much should I be spending on marketing?" This question can be challenging to answer — while there are general benchmarks, a marketing budget is not one-size-fits-all. However, there are general guidelines to help you craft the most effective budget for marketing your eye care practice.

Why Do You Need A Marketing Budget? 

Without a marketing budget, time and money are more likely to be wasted, which can keep you from capturing new patients or even maintaining current ones, which is exactly the opposite of the reason you market your practice. Establishing a budget helps you stay on track and avoid spending money on marketing initiatives that aren’t consistent with your goals.

A clear budget will allow you to set realistic goals, financial parameters and prioritize marketing resources that yield positive results. This will not only maximize your return on investment (ROI) but will also enhance your ability to measure the success of your marketing efforts, making it much easier to adjust when needed. 

Creating a marketing budget provides a roadmap that everyone in the office can follow and will help build a strong brand presence that attracts and retains patients.

The Industry Standard

The industry standard for an eye care practice marketing budget falls in the range of 1-5% of the practice’s gross revenue — a balance between investing enough to see significant results while maintaining financial stability. 

Factors That Impact Your Marketing Budget

• Practice Size: Eye care practices of all sizes need a marketing budget to remain competitive. A larger or well-established practice with strong brand recognition may be able to achieve effective results with a slightly smaller percentage of their budget — which would fall on the lower end of the range (1%). If a smaller or less-established practice with less brand recognition wants to aggressively expand their patient base and/or increase engagement with existing patients, it may require leaning on the higher end of the range (5%).
• Location: The location of your practice is also a factor. If you are in a highly competitive area, you may need to invest more in marketing to elevate your visibility in the competitive landscape. Think of the Little Fish/Big Pond scenario — while you may need to cut through more noise in this competitive environment, strategic planning will help you not only compete but thrive!
• Your Patient Demographics: Understanding your ideal patient will help you tailor your marketing strategies to create targeted messaging with relevant content and offer appropriate services to your patients on the right channels — not only will this enhance your overall patient experience, it will also lead you to understand where your budget needs to be year after year. 

Marketing Channel Budget Allocation

The channels you use to market your practice should align with your patient base. For example, if you are in a high-tech area, putting your dollars towards advertising in a printed publication will likely not provide a return on investment. Compare and contrast these channels with your ideal patient:

• Your Website: An absolute must-have, which should be well-designed and always up to date. Your website is what you should link TO from all other channels. 
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is a multifaceted approach that involves optimizing various aspects of your online presence to improve your visibility in search engine results.
• Online Advertising: Whether it’s pay per click, banner ads, or other paid ads, these can provide multiple ways to target specific segments of potential new patients.
• Social Media: Engage with patients through social media platforms — such as Facebook or Instagram — and utilize paid ads ON the social channel the majority of your patients use. 
• Email Marketing: Regularly use email, send newsletters, promotions and practice updates to reach your entire patient base, segmenting your messaging to specific subsets of your patients as appropriate to the messaging.
• Community Engagement: Participate in local events such as health fairs, school sponsored events, etc., to build brand awareness. 

Wherever your budget falls, creating a plan to implement effective optometry marketing strategies can help build a strong brand presence that will attract and retain patients. As PECAA’s Marketing Business Advisor, I am here to provide optometry marketing services, including tools and resources, for your practice. If you’re a PECAA Max member, our Business Advisory services come complimentary with your membership — reach out to me anytime. Not yet a PECAA Max Member? Contact us to learn how PECAA can help propel your practice forward.