Loyal clients and word-of-mouth marketing is effective, but it’s imperative to diversify your marketing strategy to grow your veterinary practice.
Digital marketing strategies such as a fine-tuned website, social media, and SEO can help you target potential local clients and gain more appointments for your practice.
Whether you’re brand new to marketing or your practice needs an overhaul, keep reading for helpful tips and instructions for marketing for vets.
1. Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
Around 65% of pet owners make posts about their pets on social media twice per week. One in six people have a social media profile dedicated to their pets—and often, the pets have more followers than the owners do!
Studies show that posts featuring animals garner more engagement than regular content. With so many pet owners scrolling through their social media feeds, having an active social media presence must be a part of your practice’s marketing plan.
There are several ways you can liven up your social media accounts to create more awareness for your veterinary practice.
Think Out-of-the-Box
You can post just any type of content, and posting the same thing repeatedly isn’t fruitful. To engage your audience, it’s time to think out of the box.
Consider using your veterinary practice’s platform to promote competitions—think “cutest pet” competitions or guessing how many dog bones there are in a jar.
Another way you can generate interest is through pet success stories. For example, make your followers smile by sharing pictures of a pet that’s in good health after a scare or a fresh litter of puppies.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags to make your posts searchable. By adding hashtags, users who search for a phrase can stumble upon your account through searching for those hashtags.
Search for popular hashtags to add to your posts and experiment with some that are specific to the realm of animal lovers. Just be careful not to use hashtags that are so specific that no one searches for them.
2. Contact Local News Outlets
One of the easiest ways to generate awareness for your business locally is to reach out to local news outlets for press coverage.
To do this, reach out to local journalists and reporters. If no one around your clinic has connections and can introduce you, visit your local newspaper’s website for contact details.
Once you get in touch with a reporter, set up a meeting with them and offer a story that features an interesting, inspiring, or philanthropic edge to it. Journalists look for potential stories that are timely and newsworthy. If your story is one of a kind and is picked up by a news outlet, your practice will be visible to a much bigger audience.
3. Adopt Search Engine Optimization
It’s not just a trend—investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for marketing your veterinary practice. Organic search makes up 53% of all trackable website traffic.
Businesses that practice SEO focus their marketing efforts on user experience. In turn, their websites are rewarded by showing up in higher positions on search engine results pages (SERPs).
To optimize your website for SEO, first, check for technical issues that are detrimental to your website’s success, such as non-mobile-friendly pages and slow load times.
Then, clean up your website so that all information is accurate and up to date. Search engines will rank your website higher if you focus on replacing outdated information with new data.
Consider implementing a plugin to guide your veterinarian marketing strategy. The right SEO plugin can act as a sidekick, helping you ensure that you’re making the right decisions to encourage SEO.
4. Set Up a Google My Business Profile
Google My Business (GMB) is a tool you can use to market your practice to nearby pet owners. To get started, create a profile and verify your business’s location.
A GMB profile will increase local visibility for your veterinary practice. If a user searches for something like “veterinary clinic in Lexington” or “pet hospital near me,” Google knows that they’re looking for local results.
To improve your chances of showing up in local SERPs, you must optimize your local SEO tactics, including setting up your GMB profile.
The more information your profile includes, the more likely it is to show up in a prime position for locals searching for a new vet.
5. Try Content Marketing
Next, set up a blog for your veterinary clinic. This is one of the best ways to engage with potential customers naturally, without direct advertising.
Pet owners will do anything to ensure that their furry friend is happy and healthy. They have questions, and you have the answers. Therefore, share those answers in the form of a video or written blog. Then, use social media to get that content in front of local pet owners.
If you create inspirational content, you’ll increase the chances of your business showing up in SERPs when people search for answers regarding their pets’ wellbeing.
6. Get Listed in a Veterinary Directory
One of the best ways to increase visibility for your practice is to be listed in a veterinary directory. If your business is mentioned on another website, it increases the credibility and trustworthiness of your brand.
Search engines don’t just scan your website for information about your clinic—they look for information on other sites, as well. So, think of a directory listing as a recommendation. The more recommendations your website receives, the more likely your business shows up in front of pet owners looking for a new veterinary clinic.
Creative Marketing for Vets and Other Small Businesses
Marketing can be easy once you take an effective, creative approach to digital marketing. Then, you can further your own efforts with the expertise of experienced marketing professionals.
At Harris & Ward, we strive to provide a one-of-a-kind agency experience. As a result, you can focus on what you do best as we help you meet your business goals through building your online brand.
If you’re interested in what we can do to grow your veterinary practice, contact us today.
