Internet Marketing Boosts Your Veterinary Practice (and Drives the National Economy)

Your veterinary hospital’s internet marketing plan isn’t just bringing new clients into your hospital—it’s also helping drive economic activity in the U.S. That’s according to a new study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a group of more than 375 media and technology companies. According to IAB’s study, interactive online advertising (which includes websites, blogs and email newsletters), is responsible for more than $300 billion worth of economic activity in the United States. You can read the full study here, or check out the highlights below.

Most Americans are connected to the internet. According to an April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 63% of adults in the U.S. have a broadband internet connection at home. More and more Americans are also upgrading their service from dial-up to broadband; the number of Americans with broadband internet connections increased by 15% between 2008 and 2009.

Of those users on the internet, more than half are using search engines, according to Pew Research Center. Another study, compiled by Nielsen Online, found that Americans performed an estimated 6 billion Google searches in May 2009. During that same month, the average internet user viewed 1,591 web pages, Nielsen found. More high-speed internet connections mean more web searches and web page visits—all of which translate to more advertising dollars spent online.

Veterinary Internet Marketing is a Must

Whether you’re creating a website for your veterinary hospital, setting up a veterinary practice or developing a veterinary email newsletter for your clients, you and your veterinary hospital are joining a web of economic connections that have formed around the internet. The advertising-supported internet employs more than 1.2 million Americans, according to the study, while another 1.9 million people are employed to help support workers with internet-related jobs. The economic activity generated by online advertising is responsible for 2.1 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product, the study found. Not only is a veterinary website excellent advertising and publicity for your veterinary hospital, it is also an good stimulus and boost for the overall economy.

As more small businesses turn to the internet for their advertising and marketing needs, greater economic benefits result. According to the IAB study, the U.S. is home to more than 20,000 internet-related small businesses, providing everything from web design and marketing to web hosting and software consulting. These jobs aren’t limited to urban areas or the East and West Coasts – the study found that internet-related jobs exist in each of the country’s 435 Congressional Districts. Your veterinary hospital’s email newsletter brings new clients into your practice, but it also creates new jobs in your town, county and state and keeps the wheels of the economy turning.

”This study underscores that the Internet ecosystem is generating an increasing level of economic activity in every corner of the nation,” said John Quelch, a Harvard Business School professor and co-author of the study.

Your veterinary hospital’s website may seem like it only affects you and your clients, but revenue generated by the website—or even revenue generated by clients clicking on links to advertisers on your veterinary hospital blog—has a tremendous impact on the national economy. Those economic benefits extend back to other internet users, too. IAB found that online advertising and marketing has substantially reduced what consumers pay for access to the internet. And that’s all in addition to the far-reaching social benefits the internet has yielded.

Your veterinary hospital can take advantage of the economic benefits that come with a new veterinary hospital website, veterinarian blog or email newsletter. VetNetwork can help. Call us today at 800-564-4215 to get started with a veterinary internet marketing campaign that is right for you.

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