Welcome to VetNetwork’s February eNewsletter

   This month's articles:

• Eight Ways to Attract Pet Owners to Your Website

• Never Underestimate the Value of Client Feedback

• Big Five Marketing Strategies

• Smart Mobile Apps for the Smart Vet

• Simple Steps for Effective Blogging

• Website Report: Is Your Site Failing?

• VetNetwork Will Be at the Western Veterinary Conference

• Other Articles of Interest

• Cartoon Corner

Nourish Your Business with
Fresh Marketing Ideas

8 Ways To Attract Pet Owners To Your Website

A website for your veterinary hospital is a must-have in today’s world. That much seems obvious. However, just having a website is not enough to pull in visitors and convert them to clients. Your website must be good at drawing pet owners in and then encouraging them to become clients.

The following website attributes will help you do that:

1. Localize It – Your website needs to be geographically relevant to potential visitors because they want to find local practices. The best ways to do this are:

• Use keywords with local terms;

• Include a blog and update it regularly;

• Ensure location is included in the snippet that appears with your link in a Google search results list.

2. Newsletters/Email Updates – Make sign-up boxes (for subscribing to your newsletter, practice updates, and blog) prominent. Also, sweeten the deal by letting visitors know these things will include periodic discounts and specials.

Read a half dozen more ways to attract pet owners to your website...

Never Underestimate the Power of Feedback

Do you know what your veterinary clients are saying about you?

If you think you do but are not set up to monitor online feedback about your business, you might be surprised by what you are missing.

User reviews on websites like Yelp and CitySearch are powerful. They boost your profile and visibility. And they do so whether the feedback is positive or negative. Of course, positive feedback is likely to draw business to you. And negative feedback will repel it.

Wouldn’t it be good to know ahead of time what people are likely to Yelp about?

As a business offering services to the public, you need to be proactive about collecting client feedback. This is easy to do and often free.

The number one way to find out what clients think about and want from your veterinary practice is to ask.

Here are a few ways to open up the lines of communication...

The Big 5: Top-of-the-Line Marketing Strategies for Your Veterinary Practice

You probably still lure in some new clients with the old standby marketing method commonly known as "word of mouth."

Yet, you probably are becoming increasingly aware that this once-reliable strategy is not nearly as effective as it used to be.

Blame the economic climate or the Information Super-highway: Certainly there are many factors at play. What’s most important, however, is understanding that even a great reputation and location can’t guarantee that your practice will continue to thrive and grow in this competitive market.

So what can you do to build visibility and promote your business? Here are the Top 5 Marketing Strategies. (In our next edition, we'll tell you the Top 5 Marketing Mistakes you should never make.)

‘DO’: Top 5 Marketing Strategies

1. Have a Marketing Budget: It’s a painful truth. You must spend actual dollars on marketing. It costs money to properly promote your practice. Be prepared for the expenditures with a reasonable, well-planned budget that amounts to about 8 to 10 percent of your net sales. Sound exorbitant? Consider this: That’s what your smart competitor is spending.
Bottom Line: With the right marketing plan tied to your budget, you’ll get enough new business in a year to defray the cost.

Read the next four marketing strategies...

Smart Mobile Applications for the Smart Vet

Smartphones are everywhere. With them comes an ever-expanding array of applications. Smart vets are taking advantage of them.

Here’s how you can use Smartphone technology to advance your business.

Applications for Veterinarians

•  A Vet Tool ($6.99): Provides five separate tools to help make life easier. Includes a complete small-animal drug formulary; list of common blood-value lab results; conversions for common weights and liquids; fully featured calculator with memory function; and a searchable notepad.

• Dropbox (free): Automatically syncs files on your Smartphone, desktop, laptop and any other Internet-enabled device. Allows you to make a change or create a file on your smartphone, and updates it on all of your other devices.

• Veterinary Dictionary by Blacks ($7.99): A complete, searchable veterinary dictionary. Goes wherever you go.

• All Recalls (free): Allows you to follow recalls from five government agencies for everything from products to drugs.

• VTNE Exam Prep ($6.99): Contains a targeted curriculum of 400 simulated exam questions for veterinary technicians. A great tool for a vet tech seeking certification or wanting to keep knowledge up-to-date.

Read about the Best Applications for Your Clients...

Simple Steps For Effective Blogging

Read more: What makes a good blog and what to write about...

Website Report: Is Your Site Failing?

Cartoon Corner

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