Are You The 200 Millionth User On Facebook?

Earlier this week, Facebook announced it reached a momentous milestone: the 200 millionth user signed up for the popular social-networking site. It was only a few short months ago that Facebook reached the 150 million and 175 million users milestones, and there are no signs that the legion of Facebook users will stop growing.

With so many users on Facebook, it’s almost a certainty that some of your clients are already on Facebook themselves—along with dozens of other potential clients who are looking for a new veterinarian. Creating a Facebook page for your veterinary practice is a great way to reach out to both current and potential clients and build your vet website marketing campaign. You can share videos, photos, event invitations, medical information and so much more with your clients, employees and potential clients by using Facebook.

Facebook is open to everyone and creating a profile is free. However, Facebook differentiates between pages for people and pages for businesses. The difference is important—while people can seek out new “friends” on Facebook, businesses cannot and must wait for users to become “fans” of their page.

To increase your practice’s ability to market on Facebook, create profiles both for yourself and your practice! First, create a professional profile for yourself. You can do so by signing up on http://www.facebook.com. Include only information that you’d like your clients and potential clients to know—information about your education, a link to your veterinary hospital’s website, and so on. Use Facebook’s search function to find pet owners in your “network” (the geographic area you select while creating your profile) and other nearby groups devoted to pets.

Next, create a page for your veterinary hospital by going to the “Create Facebook Page” at http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. The next step is to start letting people know about your Facebook page. On your vet site practice’s page, you’ll find a “Suggest To Friends” link in the top left, underneath your profile picture. Click this link and select the Facebook “friends” you think should know about your page. Be sure to include a link to your Facebook page on your veterinary hospital’s website as well. No time? We can create a vet hospital Facebook page for you!

Once your veterinary practice’s Facebook page is up, flesh it out. Be sure that your Info page includes your physical address, phone number, hours of operation and veterinary website address. Your can also add photos to your vet practice’s Facebook page. Facebook allows you to upload photos and group them into photo albums. Create a number of different photo albums showcasing the various aspects of your hospital—an album featuring candid shots of the staff around the hospital, another album featuring photos of clients and their pets, and an album of photos taken during special events at your practice are all good places to start.

Sharing information about hospital events with current and potential clients is easy when you use Facebook. The Events section on your Facebook page allows you to post information about events at or hosted by your hospital. You can share details about dog training programs at your practice, upcoming rabies clinics or spay/neuter days where you and your staff may volunteer and community events sponsored by your veterinary hospital. You can send invitations to these events directly to the “fans” of your vet hospital practice and the event listings can be found by other users searching events on Facebook.

The Notes section is an excellent tool for sharing announcements and miscellaneous information about your veterinary hospital. Let your clients know when your staff or fellow veterinarians are celebrating a birthday or other event, share links to interesting articles you’ve found on the internet, provide links to your veterinary hospital’s blog—turn whatever you want your clients and potential clients to know about your veterinary hospital into a note on your Facebook page.

Facebook is an excellent addition to your veterinary marketing toolbox. In addition to connecting you with clients, a Facebook page can increase your position in Google’s search results. Search engines use Facebook pages to populate search results, and setting up a Facebook page can boost your Google rankings. VetNetwork can help you set up your veterinary hospital’s Facebook page and help you fill it with the sort of engaging, informative content that will bring potential clients to your veterinary hospital website. Call us today at 800-564-4215 to get started on a vet Facebook page, and/or to see what other veterinary marketing services we offer.