How to Use Instagram for Your Veterinary Practice

A lot of our clients ask about utilizing Instagram to provide more outreach and engagement with future and potential clients. Instagram is a great way to provide insight to your practice in a fun, visual way. And at a veterinary practice, there are plenty of cute animal patients around to provide fun and informative posts! Here are some tips to get yourself started.

Get an Account

Grab your phone and download the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, Android from Google Play store or Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store.

Once it is installed on your device, tap to open it and hit “Sign Up” then enter your email address and tap Next, or you can tap “Log in with Facebook” to link it to your Facebook account. This may be a good option if you want to post your Instagram posts automatically to your business page.

Be sure to set up your Instagram to a Business profile in the settings section and activate the Switch to Business Account. Once you have a business account, you can add in pertinent business information like store hours, business address or a phone number. Make sure you fill out as much as possible so that users can easily contact your practice.

Fill Out Your Business Information

When you are setting an account for your veterinary practice, make sure that you provide all of the necessary information for people to find your office. Include your practice name, phone number, city and state, and a link to your website. By including this information, you make it easier for locals to connect with your practice. You can put all of this information in your biography section when you initially setup Instagram.

Start Posting!

After setting up your account, make sure you start posting!  The brands with the most exposure post approximately 1.5 times per day, and post around the same time each day. Make sure your posts are varied and unique to further promote engagement.

Try Using Hashtags

At the end of your post description, try to use a few quality hashtags that describe your post to help get your practice some exposure. These can be chosen and utilized to engage people that may be looking for a vet!

When in Doubt, Keep it Clean and Simple

If you’re having a hard time coming up with a caption, are scrolling through dozens of filters, the easiest thing to do is keep everything short, sweet and as is. Make it a team effort and ask other staffers to caption the photos or make the post more interactive by asking Instagram users to caption the photo for you!

Proofread Your Posts

Nothing takes away from a witty caption like a grammatical error. Make sure everything is grammatically correct when you’re posting, or it creates a glaring distraction and users may not be as eager to interact.

Analyze Your Engagements

After about a month of posting, look at the work you have done. Which posts get the most likes? Which gets the most comments? Look at the various elements: types of posts, hashtags used, and time of day posted. Understanding these patterns can help you have a more successful Instagram presence. You can access this information quickly and easily by selecting the “insights” button on your profile page.

Now get started! If you have any questions regarding Instagram, social media or any other digital marketing, please contact VetNetwork today at (800) 227-2513.