5 Social Media Marketing Ideas for Veterinary Practices

As the number of veterinary practices competing for market share rises, you’ll need to find new and creative ways to differentiate your practice online. One of the ways to do so is to increase the quality of the content you post on your practice’s social media account. Almost all veterinary practices have a social media presence but very few are using it to have real, meaningful conversations with their clientele.

Facebook changes their algorithms constantly and one change that has impacted small businesses the most is the change to a post’s visibility. It used to be you would write and share a post and ALL of your clients would see it. In 2018, you write and share a post and only a small number of your followers are served the post. There are only two ways to get your posts seen by more users:

• pay Facebook to promote your post
• increase engagement on your posts. The most people like, comment and share your post, the more visible it will become

In this post, we’ll cover a few new and unique ways to increase your visibility on social media as well as the quality of the interactions you are having with your clients on Facebook.

Giving Back

How many times have you logged onto Facebook and seen a conversation or even a news story about a GoFundMe for a pet or person in need? These types of posts gain hundreds of likes in a short amount of time.

As a team, come up with a cause that you are passionate about. A pet-related charity is always a good choice, but giving back to the community you work in is also an option. Raise awareness of your chosen charity on social media and ask your followers to help you give back.

A social media post that promotes a charitable cause will be shared. Running contests or asking your followers to participate in helping you raise funds for an animal charity will generate likes and conversations.

Discounts & Offers

If you sell pet food or products in your office, consider discounting some of your inventory at the end of each season. A social media promotion will attract your current clients and deal seekers. Your clients will begin to anticipate your end of season sale & hopefully share it to their friends as well!

Videos

Videos, by far, are the most shared content on Facebook. Using your cell phone, you can quickly shoot a video of a dog getting groomed or a staff member being silly in under 90 seconds. The pet parent will undoubtedly share your video with their friends and your clients will “like” the video too!

Alerts

While social media is a great source of promotion, it can also be used to alert your community to potential hazards to their pets. If you see that a pet food has been recalled, you can alert your followers. Not only is this a great public service, it will be talked about and shared on social media as well. Using your social media platforms to communicate with your community is, at the heart of it, what it is all about!

Life Hacks

Everyone loves a good “lifehack” and after years of being a veterinarian, we are sure you’ve picked up a few! From freezing chicken broth to use as a treat to creating DIY pill pockets, your pet parents trust your sage wisdom – so share it!

Looking for inspiration? We’ve created content here for you to share with your pet owners today!