CLICK Connects—And Save the Date for The First-Ever CLICK Conference This Fall!

Attention to digital media is growing exponentially. And new ideas about how to develop a strong online presence is driving CLICK in new directions. Vision Monday’s CLICK e-newsletter is now issued twice a month.

Also, please Save the Date for our first-ever CLICK Conference, a special session designed to help ECPs and optical retailers learn more about social media and the Web. The CLICK Conference will be held the morning of Oct. 7 in Las Vegas just prior to the start of International Vision Expo West. Leading Web experts and ECPs will share what’s shaping today’s Web success stories, what works and what doesn’t. Space will be limited at the Conference, so mark your calendars now!

Catch up on CLICK! Learn from dozens of stories, tips and interesting ideas in the easy-to-access archives of CLICK at www.visionmonday.com. Tried something new on your website 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

As Its Vision Care Business Grows, Smile Reminder Introduces New ‘Glasses Ready’ Feature

LEHI, Utah—CLICK first wrote about Smile Reminder a year ago and we talked about the digital media company, which offers a full suite of e-services for health care professionals, starting to target the vision care market. (See the CLICK archives for June 2009.)

Smile Reminder provides practices with messaging solutions designed to improve office efficiency, enhance the patient experience and increase overall patient loyalty. The company’s patent-pending solutions use the latest in messaging technology that works for today's mobile society.

Now, the comprehensive patient communication service—based on the growth of its business in the vision care market, according to executives—has introduced a new “Glasses Ready” feature to notify patients that their eyewear is ready for pick-up, via customized email or text. The Glasses Ready feature produces an automated message from the practice when a patient’s eyewear is ready and patients can then pick-up their glasses at their convenience.

“The vision care segment is our fastest-growing business, said Mark Olson, Smile Reminder’s vice president of marketing and business development, who also told CLICK that the new Glasses Ready feature is a quick response to a need identified by some of the company’s eyecare professional customers. In addition to its work with dentists, plastic surgeons and dermatologists, Smile Reminder’s business with optometry and ophthalmology is growing, Olson said, adding, “In fact, the Texas State Optometric Association is endorsing us now, and we are building traction with other groups.”

The standard features offered through Smile Reminder’s communication platform allow offices to simplify their daily routine and strengthen doctor-patient relationships through services such as: automated appointment reminders and confirmations, last minute appointment openings announcements, e-newsletters, e-surveys, custom promotions, patient recall/recare, patient referrals, and a new suite of tools that take advantage of Web 2.0 opportunities.

Smile Reminder has added social media tools to help doctors establish Facebook and Twitter accounts, and facilitates all the messages on their behalf to their patient base. “This helps doctors build their networks more quickly through one intergrated effort. Social media is reducing our need to go out and search for information,” Olson noted. ”So much is pushed from our networks—people who are trusted friends and individuals. Every day through our networks we hear about great movies, good restaurants, good health care experiences, too—if doctors don’t put themselves into that mix, they are not part of the information flow in those social networks.”

New Trends in Interactive and Mobile Marketing, Per Shop.org

NEW YORK—The first State of Retailing Online (SORO) 2010 survey results were issued a few weeks ago by Shop.org, the digital media resource and information community of the National Retail Federation.

The full results of the survey are available to those who become members of Shop.org but the top-line survey, which covers interactive marketing, social media and mobile, provide some really interesting facts about how the digital realm is transforming the retail realm.

- Retailers surveyed reported an average of 29 percent growth in Web sales for 2009 vs. 2008.

- Search still takes the lion’s share of interactive marketing budgets, with paid search dominating as the largest single allocation of marketing spend. Furthermore, nine out of 10 retailers surveyed noted search engine marketing was among the most effective customer acquisition sources last year.

- Retailers are investing this year in browse and navigation functionality, as well as product page content.

- Four out of five retailers surveyed that this is a great time to pursue social marketing strategies so they can experiment and learn from them—even if the return is as yet unclear.

- To date, social marketing initiatives implemented include social network pages, microblogs, and customer ratings and reviews, among others. Anticipated investments going forward center on further leveraging customer/user generated content.

- Mobile is another significant focus for online retailers. While many are still developing their mobile strategy, retailers surveyed have big plans for functionality for this emerging channel.

The Shop.org survey also breaks out results by company type (multi-channel retailers vs “pureplay” or internet-only), size in annual Web revenue and other metrics by category for apparel, accessories & footwear; beauty & personal care; general merchandisers; home; and sporting goods & accessories. Shop.org Members can also register for the playback of a May 5 Webinar, which included some high level initial findings from this survey, along with a discussion of those with Brian Walker of Forrester Research and Rob Schmults of SmartDestinations.

Even though most are major-size online and retail players, the data provides insights that can be helpful to any online initiative, including vision care.