Veterinary Marketing News | Veterinary SEO, Marketing, Apps | Nov 2013

4 Small Changes | Open House | Mobile App | Reading | SEO | Contact

Veterinary Marketing Ideas You Can Use Now

veterinary marketing Dear Clients and Friends,

With autumn well underway, and while most of us here in the Northeast are celebrating our World Champion Red Sox, it is also the ideal time to look ahead to veterinary marketing efforts and strategies for 2014.

What better way to beat the coming winter doldrums than to start planning a spring open house for your veterinary hospital? In this issue of VetNetwork's veterinary marketing newsletter, we give you great tips to make your open house a huge success, bring new business, and strengthen your role in the community. In advance of that outreach effort, why not consider some small changes to your practice that are sure to bring more pet owners through your door? Read on! We offer you four great and easy tips. And don't forget about SEO for your website: We explain why it's crucial. In this issue, we also help you stay on top of what your clients are reading with a synopsis of a recent pet care article from Good Housekeeping magazine, read by more than 21 million American adults – which translates to millions of pet owners – every month.

Finally, check out our video, "Why You Need a Mobile App" to learn about a mobile veterinary app customized for your veterinary hospital. This is an exciting new VetNetwork product that pet owners will love; you don't want to miss out!

As a reminder, you don't have to wait for our veterinary marketing newsletter to learn about leading-edge strategies to keep you ahead of your competition, help you build and strengthen pet owner loyalty, and ultimately increase your veterinary hospital's growth and revenue. "Like" us on Facebook and follow our veterinary blog to receive important tips, tools, and offers every week!

As always, thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

—Dr. Mark Feltz, DVM, and the Creative Team at VetNetwork

If you like our veterinary marketing newsletter, please "LIKE" our page on Facebook...

4 Small Changes That Equal BIG Results for Your Practice

We've all read the statistics. The Bayer Veterinary Care Usage Study calculated a 50% drop in veterinary visits from 2009 to 2010, and 24% of pet owners think routine exams are unnecessary. The evidence is in. It's time to find new, low-cost methods to bring pet owners through your door.

A Lot of Bang for Just a Few Bucks

Consider the following veterinary marketing strategies—none of which require expensive new equipment or new staff:

Become a "cat friendly" veterinary practice. For tips, check out the Feline-Friendly Handling Guidelines created by the AAFP and the International Society of Feline Medicine.
Develop a specialized wellness program for senior pets with a price point specifically designed to attract pet owners in your area.
Focus on client education via Facebook postings, handouts, brochures, and instructional YouTube videos. According to the 2012 Veterinary Communications Gap Survey by Vet Economics and Trone Brand Energy, pet owners recommend vets who are "accessible" and "explain things well."
Improve patient experience. Mark J. McGaunn, a CPA who has analyzed methods for increasing veterinary hospital profitability, suggested offering the following amenities: free premium coffee; free wifi, automated check-in; appointment reminders via email and text messages; follow-up phone calls after every appointment; automated prescription and food refill service.

Get the Word Out

Maximize the value of your efforts by making sure clients (and potential clients) know what you're offering. With veterinary email marketing, your veterinary hospital website, and social media, this is easy.

Send Email Blasts: to clients with senior pets summarizing common problems and describing the specialized senior wellness packages your hospital offers. Add a page to your veterinary hospital website with comprehensive senior wellness information and include a link to the page in your email. This allows you to keep your email brief and drive interested clients to your website.
Tweet & Post: a mix of statistics and reminders related to senior wellness and cat preventive exams, along with prompts to call the office and make an appointment.
Post Photos: include waiting room amenities, such as a comfy chair, or an artful display of yummy treats and trendy reading materials.
Blog: about the steps you have taken to make your practice "cat-friendly" and how appointments will be less stressful for cats and their owners. Add the information to any tweets and posts about cat preventive care.
Enhance Your Website: with a client education section; include instructional videos and printable fact sheets – then tweet and post links to further drive pet owners to your site.

Small Changes Make a Big Difference

Compassion. Skill. Value. You don't need to spend a lot of money to communicate these effective veterinary marketing messages to pet owners in your area. But don't expect news to travel by word-of-mouth—be proactive. At VetNetwork, we know how to help translate these changes into growth and revenue for you. For more information about how we can help increase your business with effective veterinary marketing solutions, give us a call today.

Did you know... 27% of pet owners have taken their dog or cat to a professional photographer.

It's Time to Plan Your Veterinary Hospital Open House!

Recently, Dr. Ernie Ward published an article in Veterinary Economics detailing the benefits of a veterinary hospital open house. Open houses attract new pet owners to your practice, demonstrate your commitment to pet wellness and your community, and ultimately promote your services.

But how can you make your veterinary hospital open house a success?

According to Lindsay Reese, online editor at Veterinary Team Brief, "The first rule of planning an open house is to start simple." Set your budget and designate a planning team. Choose an organization to benefit (a local animal shelter is great) and develop a list of potential sponsors, such as pharmaceutical and pet food companies and local businesses. Invite pet-related businesses to run educational booths and local retailers to donate raffle items, which will also help promote their businesses. Reese mentions the Olathe Animal Hospital, who "partnered with Greenies Healthy Dog and Cat Treats to host a Pet Dental Checkup Day. Together, they offered clients a free dental checkup, complete with a goodie bag."

Contact potential sponsors at least six month prior to your event – and if possible during the prior fiscal year so they can include sponsorship in their budget.

Strategic Tips

Pick a Date: check community calendars for local events/conflicts of interest that could affect attendance; avoid holiday weekends
Solicit Volunteers: ask clients and local high school students to help
Pay it Forward: invite local rescue groups to bring adoptable pets
Provide Refreshments: include donated baked goods

Beneficial Activities

pet costume contests
raffle or silent auction
dog agility course
face painting, animal-themed temporary tattoos
grooming demonstrations, nail trims, and ear cleaning
basic obedience tips and contests
pet psychic
pet photographer
door prize

Advertising Begins 6 Weeks Prior to Event

Display laminated veterinary marketing flyer on lobby counter; attach simple flyer to invoices
Mail invitation to top 1000 clients; email to entire client list
Send press release to local newspaper and radio station; invite them to attend
Tweet and post FB updates: Include sponsor website links, information about the charitable organization you will support, and teasers about activities and prizes

Start planning now! It's the ideal time to set your wheels in motion for a June open house – a month that usually delivers ideal weather. For more information on how VetNetwork can help publicize your event via your veterinary hospital website, social media, and in print, contact us today!

Employment of veterinarians is expected to grow 36% from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Your Veterinary Hospital App:
Give Pet Owners One-Touch Access to You

As a veterinary hospital owner, you know that reaching pet owners and building loyalty is vitally important for the health and growth of your practice. Click on the video link below and watch members of the VetNetwork team explain how an app developed by us and customized for your veterinary hospital allows pet owners to access your content quickly and easily, keeps you connected to your clients and ahead of your competitors, and can ultimately have a real impact on your business – and why you need a veterinary hospital app today!

9 Million! The number of iPhone 5S and 5C smartphones sold during their debut sales weekend.

What Pet Owners are Reading...
And What This Means for Your Practice

"The Best Vet for Your Pet" – Good Housekeeping, September 2013

This September, the focus of Good Housekeeping's "Family Matters" column was dedicated to advice on how to find the best veterinarian. Here are three main points that author Sarah Bruning shared with GH's readers:

1. Research – Bruning recommends using a nationwide database such as myveterinarian.com and AAHA's website healthypet.com.

What This Means For You: Especially if you're not accredited by AHAA, make sure you're listed on the myveterinarian.com site. A quick search of my own didn't show the veterinary hospital I use – and it's right around the corner from my house!

2. Visit the office – Do a preliminary evaluation based on what you see, hear, and smell. Bruning advises: "An office that reeks of disinfectant is a sign that the staff is trying to mask strong odors." "Equipment should be modern and employees should be welcoming, knowledgeable, and organized." "If you can't establish an open dialogue with the vet and his or her team, your pet might not get the attention and help he requires."

What This Means For You: Take a look around your veterinary hospital with these comments in mind. Would a pet owner be impressed or turned off?

3. Introductory Appointments: The article states that "offices usually don't charge for this" and reminds pet owners to keep it brief and not expect an evaluation or exam.

What This Means For You: Advertise free introductory meet-and- greets, for pet owners who are interested in your veterinary hospital, on your website and social media pages. They will build good will and pay dividends by bringing more pet owners to your practice.

According to Good Housekeeping's published demographic information, one in five American women read the magazine every month, with a total monthly readership of nearly 21,100,000 people. Paying attention to what they are saying about veterinarians and veterinary care is a good idea. For more ideas on how to leverage this information to increase the effectiveness of your veterinary hospital's marketing strategy, please contact VetNetwork today!

75% of people never scroll past the first page of search results

Why Your Website Needs Veterinary SEO

Many of you are probably already familiar with the term "SEO" or search engine optimization, which due largely to the algorithm Google uses to rank websites and produce its search engine results, has become the most important—and complex—online veterinary marketing tool for your veterinary hospital's website. Without it, quite simply, your website will not be seen.

As a part of your veterinary website development process with VetNetwork, our veterinary SEO and content development teams have already built basic SEO features, including keywords and optimized images, into your veterinary hospital's website. While this is an important foundation, it is no longer enough to assure page one ranking.

The bottom line? Without a comprehensive veterinary hospital SEO strategy, you are missing out on clients, failing to realize the full potential of your website investment, and perhaps sending pet owners to your competition whose website is ranked higher.

At VetNetwork, our SEO team is focused exclusively on achieving top rankings for veterinary hospital websites, which means we have more veterinary-specific SEO knowledge and experience than any other SEO provider. By selecting one of our three affordable, results-driven veterinary hospital SEO plans, all of which include continuous analysis and updates of your site data, you can be confident that every time pet owners search for a veterinary hospital in your area, they see your veterinary hospital first.

In today's highly competitive online marketplace, VetNetwork's leading-edge veterinary SEO plans are the only way to make the most of your website and achieve the financial results you want. To discuss an SEO strategy for your veterinary hospital website, please contact VetNetwork's SEO Specialist and Team Leader Lauren Frazer at lauren@vetnetwork.com or give us a call at 603-743-4321 today!

VetNetwork Services

VetNetwork is a veterinary marketing and design company exclusively for the veterinary industry. Our services and products are guaranteed to increase your profits and attract new clients.