Optical practices shared insights at Optix

Optical professionals heard from a raft of high profile keynote speakers at the Optix 2023 conference, which was held at Celtic Manor in Newport on March 13-15.

The three-day event armed independent optical practices with the business tools to succeed at marketing, leadership and customer service.

Marketing strategist Jeremy Hemmings presented David vs Goliath: Going toe-to-toe with a marketing giant; which advised how to approach marketing on a local level.

Hemmings spent over 25 years in the advertising industry and worked with established brands, including BMW, British Airways, Renault and Reuters.

He told Optix attendees that although multiples had big budgets, independent optical practices could thrive from creating their own marketing plan.

Hemmings said whatever definition of marketing was used by a company, the central pillars were the same: understanding your customer; why they should choose your product; and creating interest.

Hemmings then busted some common marketing myths, such as spend on marketing being wasteful. He said spend could be wasteful if a company does not target the right people and the message does not work. ‘Think of marketing as an investment, not a cost,’ he added.