February 2022 - present
David Shanahan Optometrists is an upmarket independent practice that sells limited edition frames from select eyewear artisans in Fremantle.
My role is to tell the stories of these craftsmen and their products and how these narratives align with the essence of our practice.
I oversee the overall marketing plan, website management, Google ad campaigns, social media coordination as well as content creation.
Marketing Coordinator
Understanding local business
Coming into this role, I wanted to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the business ran, its goals, its pitfalls, and what made it successful.
To do this I started work on the floor of the store as an optical dispenser two days a week alongside my marketing responsibilities, and it is here where I learnt that the key to success as an independent business is in its community.
There is community in every business, and to productively embrace the power of community in marketing is to tell its story.
Our community is made up of the staff, the clientele, the frames themselves and the craftsmen behind each model. Effectively telling these stories was the key to unlocking a successful marketing campaign.
We used these stories through reels on Instagram, blogs on our website, photo infographics on Facebook and marketing slots in newspapers.
In 2022, two years after I began work, David Shanahan Optometrists achieved it’s highest profit in its 20 year history.
Brand Ambassador
My role in the store expanded beyond that of a typical marketing role, whereby I represented David Shanahan Optometrists at a number of events and meetings across Australia.
I flew to Melbourne to attend OMEGA 2023. I met up with numerous suppliers, notably including Eyemakers and ZEISS Vision Care Australia.
I also attended dozens of meetings with digital marketing agencies, notably Start Digital and Daisy Digital, as the soul representative of the business as we transitioned our marketing strategy towards greater Google ad expenditure as we prepared to launch an ecommerce branch of our business.
I crafted the 2022-2024 marketing campaign’s for the business, identifying key events and notable business milestones to craft an effective plan.
The marketing plan’s most pivotal campaign focussed on end-of-year optical health rebate reminders, utilising SMS messaging and email newsletters to encourage clients to utilise their private health insurance on new glasses before it resets each year.
We pushed our top-line glasses product, Jacques Marie Mage, in print, utilising the a page slot in local private golf club’s annual magazine, the Royal Fremantle Golf Club, as well as regular page 1 slots in the local paper, the Fremantle Herald.
Despite being our most expensive line of eyewear, Jacques Marie Mage has gone on to become our most sold brand in store.
Marketing Plan Design
David Shanahan Optometrists celebrated their 20th year in business in October 2023, a milestone I identified as a fantastic community building opportunity.
Along with the help of the staff, I invited 100 of our longest serving clients for a red-carpet event at our practice for an anniversary celebration.
The month leading into the event, I gathered together throwback content to post across social media to tell the story of the practice. I edited together customer and staff testimonials, and mixed it in with stories from the owner himself.
Across this month the practice received the highest engagement on social media it had ever experienced