What Do You Need to Do to Build Your Web Presence?

Every month, CLICK reports how ECPs and optical retailers are using new approaches to build their presence online and grow connections with their patients. The latest in a series of popular e-newsletters from Vision Monday, CLICK is a monthly briefing designed specifically to provide practice insights and ideas about the latest Web site features, tools and Web-based applications.

Catch up on CLICK! Explore dozens of stories, tips and interesting ideas in the archives of CLICK at www.visionmonday.com. Tried something new on your Web site or have you launched a special social media campaign? Tell us about it and we'll consider it for an upcoming feature in CLICK.
—The Editors

A 'Nice Glasses' Drama Unfolds Online and In-Store
With Eyetique’s Social Media 'BoyMeetsGirl' Campaign

PITTSBURGH, Pa.—An innovative social media campaign is keeping people tuned in and connected via Facebook, Twitter and You Tube and the Web site of Eyetique.com, the successful six-location high-end optical retailer, based here.

Norman Childs, the founder and owner of Eyetique, wanted to remake the original Tasters’ Choice Coffee commercials (circa late 1980s) for the Internet-savvy audience of today. “I wanted to develop a new marketing campaign,” he says, “but I didn’t want to break the bank doing it.”

After consulting with Markowitz Communications last summer, the result of their collective musings is an online series dubbed “Boy Meets Girl.”

“After talking with Norman,” says Saul Markowitz, president of Markowitz Communications, “we realized we had the perfect opportunity to not only offer Eyetique an innovative, cost-effective marketing tool, but also bring our idea to life.”

With a budget of less than $5,000, Markowitz filmed a five-part series that is being seen exclusively online (via WatchBoyMeetsGirl.com, Facebook and Twitter). “First Encounter” hit the Internet on February 9 and the subsequent 4 installments have garnered more than 4,000 hits on WatchBoyMeetsGirl.com and YouTube.com.

A fifth chapter airs soon, culminating in a “live” sixth episode to be filmed next month at a special party at the Eyetique store, where customers will see the two lead “characters” encounter each other in person.

The WatchBoyMeetsGirl drama subtly promotes the latest Norman Childs Eyewear collection — worn by both characters in the story series. The collection is sold exclusively at the Eyetique stores.

The Markowitz’ team released one episode at a time over the course
of a few months to build a following, create a buzz and drive traffic to Eyetique.

Childs opened his first Eyetique location in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood in 1979 and now operates six stores (with a seventh set to open in Robinson), employs 45 people and offers 45 exclusive designer eyewear collections.

Childs said, “After 30 years of ads and direct mail pieces, which all served their purpose and did very well for us, I’m pumped about trying something totally different. We have a full-time marketing associate here who dedicates time to social media and what it represents—as a business, you need to be pro-active, it’s a new form of communication that’s here to stay—you have to be there.”

ZipEyewear Envisions New 'Site-to-Store' Ordering System, Seeking ECP Providers

FORT WORTH, Texas—Michael Nason literally grew up in the optical business, the son of two longtime opticians, he recalls his first job, as a kid, grinding lenses and then, as a teen, helping his parents with computerizing their point-of-sale system.

But his computer and internet technology interests grew during his time at University of California, Santa Barbara. As he honed his expertise in the field, working for the university and other companies, Nason saw a big opportunity in carving out a way for opticians to participate in the online Internet boom by “making it easier for a store to take orders from the Internet,” while maintaining the optician’s critical role in the eyewear dispensing process.

Declares Nason, “I am passionate about the optical industry, and I believe that the service of an eyecare professional trumps a mirror and a form on a web site any day.” The result? ZipEyewear.com, a new approach to online eyewear ordering for the consumer which also keeps the eyecare provider firmly in the mix. Now building that provider network, Zip is taking applications via its b-to-b site and working out the mechanics for its vision of a national provider network.

Zip is being developed as a new business service. “We channel Internet orders locally,” Nason told CLICK. “We are matching the order to the providers; we get the order, they choose lens, frame options; they pay Zip, we issue a voucher, we keep a small percentage but send the provider the voucher value—we send the customer to the provider, who remains in control.” Zip calls it a “Site-to-Store” ordering system.

He added, “We do the web marketing, the search engine optimization (SEO) and all connected to that, including social media. But providers will be able to display our ZipEyewear ‘badge’ and the visibility will build.”

ZipEyewear is in its buildup phase now, signing up ECPs across the U.S. and interest is growing, Nason said. The launch of the consumer-facing site is planned for later this summer, he said.

Said Nason, “The Internet opens up so many possibilities. As practices and optical retailers begin adopting these new technologies, the whole field will transform.”