Floris DiemelOptical shops worldwide face a massive challenge, marketing competition. Whether you’re focused on local outreach or online visibility, you need an optical marketing strategy that actually works to grow your business.
Instead of copying your competitors to grab more patients and clients, read our blog to find out the best 7 powerful marketing strategies for optical shops and e-commerce websites. We have researched market trends, reviewed case studies, and handpicked smart tactics to support your optical care business.
This guide will help you promote your optical shop brand locally and plan future marketing campaigns designed to boost sales and attract new customers.
What is Optical Marketing?
Just like other marketing techniques, optical marketing targets a niche audience of optic patients or customers looking for eyewear or similar products. If you have an optical shop, this type of marketing helps you develop a brand identity and appeal to customers locally or globally.
While usually, many optical websites prefer taking a safe approach, it is better to explore your marketing strategy options before settling for one. You can create attractive displays, targeted advertising (PPC advertising and email marketing), special promotions, and digital methods of promotion.
Tested, powerful optical marketing strategies can help you mainly with:
- Increase sales and convert your customers easily.
- Create customer loyalty, and repeat purchases.
- Establish a positive shopping experience online and offline.
Who Should You Target in Your Optical Marketing Strategy?
In the US alone, about 92% of their population, or 240 million Americans, regularly use some sort of eyewear. This can exactly be your targeted audience, however, understanding the demographics will help you form your marketing strategies for eyewear better.
New optical marketing tactics suggest that primarily, local residents, nearby shoppers, walk-in customers, and families are the first audience for local optical stores. But, if you have an e-commerce eyewear store, you will find young’uns (18 to 35 years old), budget-conscious people, and repeat customers due to the convenience of digital shopping.
These demographics and types of optical shoppers are important to understand. You will be able to customize your below given optical marketing strategies based on your ideal customers.
The 7 Best Strategies for Optical Marketing
Now that you know what optical marketing is and who you want to target, let’s learn how to do it. Here are some proven marketing strategies for your optical care business.
1. Email Marketing, SMS Marketing and Newsletters
Email campaigns, text messages, and newsletters are a great way to capture the attention of your target audience. You can promote new designs, customizations, discounts, and eye test reminders.
You can send the same promotions in SMS marketing, the benefit will be that SMS is direct so there are more chances of getting noticed.
An example of email marketing can be:
Subject Line: 👓 New Frames & Special Offers Just for You!
Body:
Hi [First Name],
Check out our newest frame styles and enjoy exclusive discounts this week!
Need a reminder for your next eye test? We’ve got you covered.
[Shop Now] | [Book Eye Test]
See you soon,
The [Your Shop Name] Team
And here is a short yet high-conversion example of SMS marketing:
👓 New frames just dropped!
Enjoy exclusive deals + get a reminder for your next eye test.
Shop now 👉 [Your Link]
Reply STOP to opt out.
2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
There are paid advertising options available on search engines and platforms, like Google, YouTube, and Bing. It is helpful to take help from such advertising as it helps with local reach, eyewear products (based on niche specifics), and eye care services. This promotes your ads and ensures they are seen by people to maximize the chances of sales.
For the initial stages, you can set up your Ads account by following the below steps:
Step 1: Create a Google Ads Account by signing up at ads.google.com and logging in.
Step 2: Choose a goal like “Website traffic” and pick a “Search” or “Display” campaign.
Step 3: Decide on your daily budget and target your local area or service regions.
Step 4: Add relevant keywords and terms like “optical shop near me” or “buy glasses online.”
Step 5: Write your ad copy by creating a clear headline, short description, and strong CTA (e.g., “Book Now”).
Step 6: Add a link to your website or product page, review everything, and go live.
3. Multichannel Marketing Campaigns
Your optical marketing game is incomplete without multichannel marketing campaigns. According to statistics, 80% of U.S. consumers prefer shopping online, especially eyewear. To make this marketing approach for eyewear a success, use digital outreach (ads + social media + email marketing + SMS marketing), in-person sales, and appealing in-store signage.
This follows the psychology of repeated exposure or the mere exposure effect. It can help you develop a liking for your brand by keeping them consistently familiar with your branding.
Tip: Don’t be too pushy or aggressive with your marketing. If your brand shows up too often online or in person, people might find it annoying and start to dislike it.
4. Virtual Try-On & PD Calculator Experiences
If you have a significant optical marketing budget, implement virtual try on and PD calculator technology. Like VARAi’s Virtual Try On Technology and Advanced PD Calculator can help you provide your customers with interactive features.
According to much research and studies, session duration and conversion rates are co-related. So make sure to include such functionalities that help the user engage, try on eyeglasses, and favorite frames before they even physically visit your store.
5. Use of Data Analytics & AI for Recommendations
You should invest in tools like VARAi’s AI Eyewear Recommendation that provide you with both, data and provide your customers with personalized recommendations. Data points like the most shopped frame, color, or style can help you with more functionalities of your business.
You can maintain your inventory, plan future collections, offer bundle deals, and more all while analyzing this stored consumer data. Your ecommerce eyewear business can greatly benefit from one such investment.
6. Launch a Loyalty Program/ Membership with a Twist
If you want to create an eyeglasses promotion that sure gets you more sales and demand, try to launch loyalty programs or membership plans. Most online e-commerce eyewear brands don’t know how to create a good loyalty program or membership plan, so you can refer to these examples:
Points-for-Purchase Program
Will help you set up a system where for every dollar your customer spends, they can get a point that is redeemable for coupons and other benefits.
Birthday Bonus Program
On a consumer’s birthday, you can provide them a certain amount slashed off their order ($50 off) or give them a customized offer (get 2 frames for the price of 1).
If you want to make a membership plan, consider the following options:
Vision Care Membership
Monthly Fee: $9.99/month or $99/year
Includes:
– 1 free eye exam/year
– 15% off all eyewear
– Free basic lens cleaning and adjustments
– Priority booking for eye exams
Family Vision Plan
Annual Fee: $199/year for up to 4 members
Includes:
– Annual exams for all members
– 20% off all frames and lenses
– Kids’ accidental damage coverage (1 repair/year)
7. Collaborate with Local Influencers
Your eyewear marketing can be the greatest hit if you collaborate with local influencers. You don’t even need to pay them, some influencers will help you market your optical, eyeglasses, and other products if you send it to them for free.
But a good way to guarantee a successful partnership is to pay them for promoting your brand, services, and products. To find these influencers, you can go on platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. Search with the Instagram terms like “#AtlantaInfluencer, #DelawareBlogger, #PennsylvaniaFashion, etc.”. You can remove the hashtags and search as a search term “Atlanta Influencer” on Facebook and YouTube.
Bonus Strategies for Small Optical Businesses
You might have a lesser budget compared to medium to large enterprises for glasses promotion. But don’t worry, you can try the following optical sales marketing strategies to start growing your business locally.
Consistent and Subtle Branding
Maintaining a consistent branding of your eyewear marketing is important. Start by making brochures, in-store promotional pamphlets, visitation cards, and prescription tracking documents that all contain your logo and brand colors. It will help your patients and clients recognize your brand every time they spot similar colors or documentation.
Run Community Vision Health Events
Set a budget for organizing or sponsoring local vision health programs and events. These live meet-ups can function as a subtle glasses advertisement that attracts new potential customers easily. Your audience will learn more about their vision health, while you will enroll more and more people to get eye tests or buy eyewear online.
Leverage User-Generated Content
Until you push your customers to create UGC content centered around your product, they won’t. Help your eyewear sales by showcasing these videos and photos of satisfied customers. This will increase your credibility and build trust in your local audience. It is proven true by the following statistics:
- 92% of people trust organic, user-generated content compared to traditional eyewear advertising.
- 6 in 10 customers (around 60%) believe that UGC content is the best type of content marketing.
- Also, 79% of buyers have said that user content had some role to play in their purchase decision of a product, like eyewear.
These are enough to understand how UGC can affect your sales and conversion rates.
Run a “Frame of the Month” Club
Running customized campaigns is quite unique. Rather than providing an amount off towards an order or providing a free membership plan trial, try to add “Frame of the Month” and a similar eyewear marketing strategy.
Introduce a new, trendy frame each month at a special price. More customers may lean to grab that offer as it seems like a limited-time deal and creates a FOMO that can drive sales quite easily.
Patient Referral and Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Do you know the best way to get more customers? Make your existing ones promote you subtly! Start by offering some sort of deal on referrals or encourage your satisfied patients to onboard new customers to get a specific percentage of the discount.
You can offer:
“Free Eye Tests on Referrals”
“Get $100 Off By Referring”
“Grab a 10% Discount on Patient Referral”
Are You Ready To Overturn Your Optical Marketing?
Maybe your existing strategy is draining you of energy, new leads, and sales. But our list of optical marketing strategies will help you bring in the numbers you always wished for. You will see a difference in how many customers buy eyeglasses, participate in eye tests, and maintain brand loyalty.
If you want to start eyewear promotion without the burden of a big investment, choose VARAi! We offer 100% AI-enhanced virtual try on, PD calculator, AI eyewear recommendation, photography generator, 3D model creation, and more tools. These will help you 2x your sales from the first day!
Let’s switch to a strategy that turns visitors into buyers!