Effectively marketing myopia management is about more than just spreading the word—it’s about educating families, building trust, and creating a seamless experience from the first point of contact. Whether through digital outreach, in-office communication, or community involvement, engaging parents and patients is key to growing a successful myopia management program.
In this Q&A, Dr. Tina Goodhew shares how she and her team at Abbey Eye Care in Oakville, Ontario, have implemented strategic marketing initiatives to raise awareness, improve patient education, and drive engagement in their myopia management services.
1. What initial steps did you take to market your myopia management services upon introducing them to your practice?
When we introduced myopia management services to our practice, we focused on both internal education and patient awareness to ensure a successful launch.
- Educating and Training Our Team – We started by training our doctors and staff to confidently discuss myopia management, ensuring they could effectively educate patients and parents about the benefits of early intervention.
- Creating Engaging Educational Materials – We developed an informative office brochure to provide clear, concise information for patients and families. Additionally, we worked with our suppliers to create visually appealing posters that reinforced key messages about myopia management.
- Enhancing In-Office Awareness – To further educate our patients, we produced a video highlighting myopia management, which played in our patient lounge to spark conversations and interest.
- Targeted Patient Outreach – We identified myopic children within our database and sent out a news blast announcing this new service, ensuring that families who could benefit most were aware of their options.
- Developing a Dedicated Landing Page – We created a dedicated page on our website to provide detailed information about myopia management, including its benefits, treatment options, and answers to common questions. This served as a valuable resource for both existing and potential patients.
By implementing these steps, we were able to effectively introduce myopia management, build awareness, and engage both our team and our patients in this important service.
2. How have you utilized digital marketing to promote your myopia management services?
We have leveraged digital marketing in multiple ways to promote our myopia management services and reach a broader audience.
- Content Marketing & SEO – In addition to featuring myopia management on our website, we wrote blog articles to educate parents about the risks of myopia progression and available treatment options. We also optimized our website and content for SEO to improve visibility in search results and attract more potential patients.
- Social Media Engagement – We actively posted educational and engaging content on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to raise awareness about myopia management. By using a mix of informative posts, patient testimonials (with consent), and short videos, we made complex information more digestible and shareable.
Unexpected Word-of-Mouth Growth – Interestingly, we found that some new patients discovered our services through personal social media posts made by our existing patients. This unique form of word-of-mouth marketing has helped us reach even more families in need of myopia management.
3. In what ways have you educated your existing patient base about the importance of myopia management?
We make it a priority to educate the parents of every myopic child about the importance of myopia management. One of the most effective tools we developed for these conversations is our myopia management flipbook. It clearly explains what myopia is, why we manage it, who is at risk, and the different treatment options available. This resource has allowed our doctors to introduce myopia management efficiently, refining our ‘elevator pitch’ to under five minutes.
Early on, we realized that time constraints often limited how much we could discuss during exams. To address this, we trained our staff and developed Myopia Management Champions—team members dedicated to guiding families through the process. These Champions take over the conversation from our doctors, answer questions, provide brochures and pamphlets, discuss fees, and schedule appointments. They are also the first point of contact for patients calling our clinic about myopia management. The initial consultation is handled by a Champion, who then books the patient for a myopia management baseline exam if they choose to proceed.
Additionally, we have an office brochure specifically on myopia management, along with product brochures readily available for patients who want more information. The reality is that most practices already have enough myopic patients to build a thriving myopia management clinic—simply by introducing the concept to existing patients.
4. Can you share how the design and content of your website contribute to patient engagement in myopia management?
Our website plays a crucial role in engaging and educating patients about myopia management. We have a dedicated landing page for our myopia management clinic that provides a comprehensive overview, including what myopia management is, why it’s important, and the treatment options we offer.
To address common questions from new patients, we’ve embedded our myopia management flipbook directly on the page, offering an easy-to-navigate resource that explains the condition and available treatments in detail.
Additionally, we provide links to MyKidsVision.org, an excellent educational platform created by Drs. Kate and Paul Gifford, as well as direct links to product websites for further information.
To build trust and credibility, we also feature patient testimonials, allowing families to hear firsthand experiences from others who have benefited from myopia management.
By combining education, trusted external resources, and real patient stories, our website helps guide parents and patients toward making informed decisions about managing myopia.
5. What role does community involvement play in your marketing strategy for myopia management?
Community involvement is a key part of our marketing strategy for myopia management. We actively participate in community health fairs, where we give talks on children’s vision and the importance of myopia management. Additionally, we contribute expert advice to parenting websites, helping to educate families on how to protect their children’s eyesight.
Beyond direct patient outreach, we also focus on professional education. We have spoken to educators, pediatricians, and opticians to raise awareness about myopia management and its long-term benefits. Recognizing that we can’t manage every child’s myopia alone, we also share our knowledge with fellow optometrists, encouraging more practitioners to join us in our mission to slow myopia progression in children.
By engaging with both the public and healthcare professionals, we are helping to build a more informed community and ensure more children receive the myopia care they need.
6. How do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts in myopia management, and what key performance indicators (KPIs) do you monitor?
We measure the effectiveness of our myopia management marketing efforts by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect patient interest and enrollment.
One of the most important metrics we monitor is our conversion rate, with an average of 8 new enrollments per month. To date, we have approximately 600 children actively enrolled in our Myopia Management Clinic, which speaks to the success of our outreach and education efforts.
Additionally, we track website traffic and engagement, analyzing how visitors interact with our myopia management content. We also make it a priority to ask new patients how they heard about us, helping us understand which marketing channels—whether online, social media, or word-of-mouth referrals—are driving the most impact.
By consistently evaluating these metrics, we refine our marketing strategies to ensure we are effectively reaching and educating families about the importance of myopia management.
Biography:
Dr. Tina Goodhew is a partner in private practice at Abbey Eye Care in Oakville, Ontario. Clinically, she has a special interest in children’s vision, specialty contact lenses & dry eye therapy. In the past, she has served on the College of Optometrists of British Columbia, on the IRIS Marketing Board and as an Eye Recommend Board Director. Along with her husband Dr. Jeff Goodhew, she co-edited the online eye care practice management magazine – Canadian Eye Care Business Review (eyecarebusiness.ca) until 2019. Currently she serves as a Key Opinion Leader and speaker for Bausch & Lomb, CooperVision and Otto. She also speaks for Eye Recommend (OD Business, Myopia Summit and Dry Eye Summit), Innova and InMode.
