Make Veterinary Hospital Employees Part Of Your Social Networking Strategy

You’ve got a great website for your veterinary hospital and you’ve set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account to go along with it – that’s excellent news! But as your veterinary practice starts using social networking to connect with clients and market your hospital, you need to start thinking about how your veterinary hospital’s staff fits in with that strategy.

The fact is that many of your staff members are already on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and countless other social networking sites. The level of personal information each person shares on these sites varies, but there’s a chance that at least a few of your staff members mention their employment at the veterinary hospital in their respective profiles.

First, don’t be alarmed! Fundamentally, this is a good thing – after all, social networking is all about connecting with other people (current or potential clients, in the case of your veterinary hospital), and staff members can be an integral part of spreading the word about your veterinary hospital. According to statistics compiled by Facebook, the average Facebook user has 120 “friends” on the site. Let’s say you have six team members at the hospital with Facebook accounts – this means you have 720 potential connections to other people in your area.

The key is to work with your staff members and be as flexible as possible when it comes to social networking. As more people and companies start using social media, the lines between a person’s public online presence and private life grow increasingly blurry. Talk to your staff members and let them know that what they do online could have an affect on your veterinary hospital.

If an employee identifies him- or herself as a part of your hospital team on his or her Facebook profile or personal blog, remind him or her that negative comments, unflattering personal photos and potentially offensive content can all reflect poorly on the hospital. It might be worthwhile to develop a policy regarding employees and social networking; as an example, check out the guidelines IBM has in place.

Most of all, be flexible. Most team members will be eager to help out and spread the (positive) word about your veterinary hospital. Your employees have many connections and ties to the community that can aid social networking and marketing efforts for your veterinary hospital.

VetNetwork can help your veterinary hospital develop a social media strategy. Call us today at 800-564-4215 to get started.

Written and Copyright ©
Mark Feltz, DVM
VetNetwork, LLC 2010
www.vetnetwork.com