Social media marketing is a valuable tool that can help you build engagement, find new pet owners in your area, and fill up your appointment slots for your hospital. These social media strategies for every veterinary practice can help you expand your digital footprint, and make the most of your social marketing. 

Social Platforms Can Help Grow Your Veterinary Practice

Some people think of social media marketing as a necessary evil. Other people maintain their pages begrudgingly, but don’t really consider how social media can actually grow their business. With a little bit of strategy and effort, though, your social platforms can help you grow your veterinary practice. Business growth from social media includes:

• Creating a reputation as a trustworthy veterinary resource.
• Adding a personal touch to your brand that allows pet owners to feel connected to you even before they walk through your door.
• Increase your visibility locally.
• Boost engagement.

Consistency Wins

When it comes to successful social media strategies, consistency is key. In order to take advantage of this kind of marketing, you have to post regularly. Do a quick audit of your social media profiles and pay attention to the following:

• When was the last time you posted?
• Are your posts consistent with your brand?
• Are you using social content to drive traffic to your website?
• Are you only using your own content or only sharing links, photos, and videos from other sources?

If your audit shows that you aren’t posting regularly, don’t have a particular brand for your content, or that you’re only sharing posts from other creators, it’s time for some updates. Create a posting schedule and try to stick to it as much as possible to ensure you are regularly giving the algorithm more content to work with. Develop a brand guideline for your posts so they all reflect the colors and images that you use in your other marketing materials. Be sure you are creating your own content and linking to your website for better organic search results (it’s still okay to occasionally share content from other reputable sources, too). 

Social Media Strategies for Your Veterinary Practice

Now that you know the why of social media for veterinary marketing, we’re going to take you through a bit of the how. These social media strategy ideas will help you grow your pages, increase engagement, and make the most of your marketing efforts:

Educational Posts and Service Reminders

Educational posts are great options for veterinary social media pages. When you make a post about a topic that interests pet owners, you are creating content that people are searching for. Making an infographic about gum disease in pets, for example, gives you a piece of content that covers a topic a lot of pet owners are searching for. Making this content for your social platforms can help you expand your reach and be seen as an expert in your field. You can also make creative posts for service reminders like monthly preventives to inspire new and old clients to make an appointment.

Team Culture

Your social media profiles provide the perfect opportunity to highlight your team and your company culture. Adding a face to your hospital name creates a human element that makes people feel more comfortable with you and your team. This content can include employee spotlights, team outings, or even photos of your team pets. 

Short-Form Videos

Video is still a great addition to a social media marketing plan, and it can really boost your engagement and increase your followers. Consider creating some fun, short videos inside your practice. This might include behind-the-scenes videos of a typical day in the hospital, quick shots of certain procedures (with client approval, of course), or short videos where your team lists their favorite pet names. 

User-Generated Content

Asking your followers to share content is a great way to get some extra content for your pages without having to put your thinking cap on. Create a photo or video contest where your page followers submit pictures or videos of their own pets. You can also ask your followers to submit stories about how their pets joined their families. User-generated content boosts engagement and makes your page followers feel more connected to your practice.

Building a Foundation for Paid Social Ads

When you do the work of creating a strong organic social media presence, your paid ads will perform better. When you already have created authority and credibility with your social media profiles, you’ll be able to easily grow your audience, and book appointments through your paid ads and boosted posts. 

Beyond Indigo Pets, Your Social Media Marketing Partner

If you don’t have the time to devote to your social media marketing efforts, Beyond Indigo Pets is here to help. We provide strategic content creation and posting services to ensure you are marking the most of your social media marketing to see real results. We also have a selection of monthly resources for ideas that can be found here. 

Contact us to start the conversation about how we can help you maximize your social media platforms.