Based on recent market research by Technavio, the LASIK eye operation devices market expects to grow by $774.01 million by 2025. Demand for LASIK operation devices will increase at a CAGR of 6.48%.
This market growth implies that more and more practices are joining the LASIK business. Although there is already heavy competition in the LASIK eye surgery market, it will increase in the period forecasted.
The number of vision corrections started reducing in 2015; however, since then there has been a drastic increase in patients.
How Large Is The Target Market For LASIK?
A Refractive Surgery Council (RSC) report shows that the number of people doing laser vision correction procedures for the third quarter of 2021 was 190,911, a 48% rise over 2020. This is the highest performing 3rd quarter since the organization started tracking LASIK, PRK, and SMILE in 2015.
The RSC also counted more than 833,000 laser vision surgeries performed in 2021, the highest number so far. Jim Wachtman, the chairman, observed that the popularity of LASIK correction procedures is increasing rapidly.
Why Is The Target Market For LASIK Growing?
Multiple theories attempt to explain why many patients are undergoing LASIK and other related surgeries.
One of the theories is that wearing masks during the pandemic led to patients having fogged glasses, which made them search for another alternative. Because people couldn’t travel, they had a lot of disposable income to spend on the procedure. Many were working from home, so they thought it was the right time for the operation because it was easier to recover.
However, this theory may not be the whole picture. Why? Because even after the mask mandate has gone away, the demand for LASIK operation hasn’t decreased. In fact, Google trends indicate that the search for “LASIK eye surgery” bottomed out in March 2020 and peaked in June 2021.
The second theory is that the industry has matured. Patients are going past the superficial exploration of laser vision surgery, and they understand that there is a spectrum of options.
The third theory argues that the decline and then rise in laser vision correction surgeries is because of economic prosperity (or lack of it).
The fourth theory is that the growth in eye surgery is due to the high number of young adults deciding to go for LASIK surgery.
Who Is In The Target Market For LASIK?
Before coming up with marketing strategies for the LASIK procedure, it’s essential to know who your target market is. People between 35 and 42 years are the most common group to get LASIK.
However, the 20 to 28 years old range has the same distribution of refractive errors as any other group. These people are all old enough to get refractive eye surgery.
While the young generation understands LASIK, it’s not as important to them since they have other priorities such as educational loans, car buying, and possibly getting married. According to a Review of Ophthalmology article, LASIK is number seven or eight on their to-do list.
This means that it might take a few years (and a lot of marketing) before these young people are ready to get LASIK. Marketing to the younger generation will take different strategies than marketing to the 35+ group. That’s why you will need to focus on digital marketing techniques.
LASIK Digital Marketing Strategies
If your ophthalmology practice offers LASIK, you must implement robust marketing approaches to set your business apart from the competition. With millennials turning to the internet to look for a healthcare provider, it’s critical to have a solid digital presence with strong digital tools that attract and retain new patients.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO for ophthalmologists involves optimizing web pages so that they rank top on search engine results pages (SERPs) through organic search.
If you want to become visible, it’s critical knowing what patients are looking for by performing SEO research. You need to know your target audience’s needs and wants. And this is where local SEO becomes essential. It uses the geographical location of a facility in search engines. The location of your practice impacts your online visibility. For example, if you are located in San Francisco, and a user searches for a LASIK facility in San Francisco, you want your facility to come up first. Increasing your local SEO improves your online visibility, which increases the prospective pool of patients.
Paid Advertising
Paid search advertising methods such as pay-per-click are one of the fastest and most effective LASIK marketing approaches. However, you have to learn how to write ads and bid for paid search placement. Although paid search ads are a bit expensive to maintain, they generate instant results, and your services will appear on the first page of search engine results.
Content Marketing
Content marketing focuses on creating content for a target audience. It helps build brand loyalty by educating patients about LASIK or relevant topics. Content encompasses social media, blogs, email, and video.
To use content marketing effectively, ensure you publish new content consistently on your website. Your content should be informative, educational, and original to generate more leads.
SEO and content marketing are complementary. If you want content to rank top on the SERP, you must include keywords in your content. Ensure you have the keywords in your meta descriptions, page titles, etc. Keywords will help search engine algorithms identify your content when patients search for your services.
How Can You Estimate Your Local Target Market?
Before developing plans to target younger prospects, you should know what type of interest there is from these demographics. More than 110,000 people search for “LASIK eye surgery” each month, but only a fraction will be located close enough to your practice to be good prospects.
The hard way to figure out local interest is to cross-reference census data in your area code with Google search volumes for LASIK-related terms. You will also need the census data on surrounding area codes within a 15 to 30 minutes drive of your office. This will reveal how many potential patients you have and their average income. Breakdowns by demographics are also available.