OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS, IT seems to me that we have implemented and learned more about presbyopia and patients who desire innovative solutions. While technology has been available for years, we continue to progress, and there is always a subgroup of patients who are eager and willing to try the next great thing. It is from these patients that I learn so much about their preferences, motivations, and expectations so that I can home in and customize my treatment options for other patients who are less decisive.

As I head into the coming year, I would like to really focus on learning and innovating the solutions that I have for my patients, and as such, I need to attract more early adopters into the practice who are looking for better technology and are willing to pay the more premium price for innovation. Rarely do early adopters consider low-price alternatives as a solution for their desire to innovate.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a larger part of our marketing programs in that it can help us better understand the online and search habits of our patients. If we know what our patients are looking for, we can specifically target our marketing efforts to draw them into our channels to educate them, and then attract them into the office.

Let me use a marketing example for one of the major trends in presbyopia: the aesthetic consideration that presbyopes desire. When it comes to glasses, patients are looking for stylish eyewear that has a range of colors and fashion designs. They want options for rimless frames and to know that you offer photochromic lenses. The freedom from glasses continues to drive patients, and many of them are not aware of the glasses-free options that we have available to them. Take a series of pictures and videos highlighting the fashion within your optical selection.

Consider developing a Frequently Asked Questions series around various topics. For multifocal contact lenses, AI suggests the following topics: What are multifocal contact lenses? How do multifocal contact lenses work? What are multifocal contact lenses suitable for? Are there different types of multifocal contact lenses? How do I choose the right multifocal contact lenses for me? Do multifocal contact lenses take time to get used to? Can I wear multifocal contact lenses if I have astigmatism? How often do I need to replace multifocal contact lenses? I would suggest setting up a camera in the exam room and giving a 15- to 30-second answer to each of these questions. Start off by saying: “Hi I’m <name> at <XYZ Eyecare>, and I’m here to answer your questions about multifocal contact lenses.” Then, state the question and give your answer. Do this for all the questions that AI gave you.

This rich content can now be used for a few things. First, you can post this content as a series of reels on your social media site for your practice. Second, you can link that content back to your website. Finally, you can create a blog post on your website using the answers that you gave (you can have AI listen to you talking and transcribe what you say, and then you can ask it to create an article based on the transcript).

One of the hardest things for us to do in practice is market ourselves. With the use of AI, we can make it just a little easier. This technology will help draw patients into our practices who desire the services that we want to be providing and about which we are passionate. ■