5 Simple Veterinary Social Media Tips For Your Practice

Are you really harnessing the power of your social media platforms?

Social media has become the most-used channel by Millennials, who are also the largest segment of pet parents, with 76% of them owning pets, accounting for 31% of total ownership. And let’s not forget the emerging Gen-Z’s, the 18-24-year-olds, who account for 11% of total ownership – they live on social!

Despite this, a number of veterinary teams neglect their social channels, seeing them as a burden, or merely a marketing tool that is only required when in need of new business. However, If used in the correct way, social media can also save you and your team hours of valuable time every week and help you develop stronger relationships with your customers.

To help you get more from social, we’ve shared 5 easy-to-implement tips that will make your customers (and team) happier.

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1. Show ‘behind the scenes’

Sharing images of your team or patients within the practice environment is a great way to show the personality and caring nature of your team. Pets are precious and any parent would appreciate getting a glimpse of the care their loved one would receive should they visit your practice.

The same goes for existing customers. A familiar face popping up on their social media feed helps them feel part of your practice family, and keeps your practice top of mind when it comes to booking their next preventative treatment.

These posts don’t need to be complex – a simple shot of a happy ‘tail-waggin’ patient after treatment or a selfie of your friendly receptionist goes a long way!

2. Ensure you’re easy to find

Since social media is the preferred channel for many pet owners to interact with veterinary practices, helping them find your page and interact with you quickly and easily is essential.

Start with your profile name and keeping it simple. The exact name of your practice is usually the best way to go. Use your logo as the profile photo and add a cover photo that helps pet owners easily identify your brand.

It’s important to include as much detail as possible in the about section – you can use this to display opening times and appointment types that you currently offer, as well as your contact details and website URL.

Remember, this is one of the first places pet owners will check if they want to contact you, and if populated with the right information, can reduce the number of phone calls you receive asking “what time do you open” or “which species do you treat”, saving precious time for your team.  

3. Share user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is any content – text, videos, images, reviews, etc. -created by people, rather than brands.

Sharing UGC is a powerful tactic for veterinary practices because consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by a business. This offers practices an important credibility boost that builds trust with potential customers and promotes loyalty with existing ones.

Here are a couple ideas to get you started:

• Scroll through your reviews on platforms like Google or Yelp. Select the best ones and add them to a pre-designed social media image template (using a free tool such as Canva). Post the image of the quote with a caption thanking the customer.

• Encourage customers to use brand-specific hashtags, and use search streams to find user-generated content you might have missed. By using a social listening tool, you can keep an eye out for all mentions of your practice on social media. If you find a post you’d like to share with your audience, get in touch with the content creator and ask permission.

4. Use social media as a communication channel

Most social media platforms have their own direct messaging or live chat feature, which is excellent. Although it may seem like an extra duty for your front desk to manage within an already hectic schedule, monitoring communication via social media may actually save more time for your team.

By being responsive on such platforms, you can quickly reduce phone calls for unnecessary inquiries and questions. In cases where you need more time to respond to messages, some platforms give you the option to add automated responses, which will keep the customer engaged.

You can further automate the potential questions based on what’s asked most and serve automated responses to each, as shown in the screenshot below:

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide excellent opportunities for veterinary clinics to reach and engage with their target audience. By creating a business page on these platforms, clinics can share informative and engaging content that showcases their expertise and services, while also building relationships with pet owners in the community. These platforms allow clinics to post photos and videos of their facilities, staff, and patients, as well as share pet health tips, news, and promotions. Additionally, paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram can help clinics reach even more potential clients and drive traffic to their website. Overall, incorporating Facebook and Instagram into a veterinary marketing strategy can be an effective way to connect with pet owners, increase brand awareness, and attract new business.

To learn more about how you can you use Facebook and Instagram to promote your veterinary clinic here for Instagram and click here for Facebook.

5. Conduct giveaway campaigns

Pet owners love to share, comment on, and like social media posts, even if they don’t involve them. Most of all, they enjoy receiving free giveaways for themselves or their fur babies.

Giveaway campaigns usually work very well on social media. You will be asking pet owners to follow some steps to be in with winning themselves a prize. This can also be done by partnering with another vendor such as a pet toy or food supplier, making it more exciting and increasing the reach of the campaign.

By doing this, you can grow your followership and generate brand awareness, as well as promoting more advocacy among your existing customer base. Below is an excellent example of such a campaign carried out on Instagram:

Check out 5 Easy Ways To Start Promoting Your Practice.

Final thoughts

There are plenty of creative ways to use social media to save precious time for your team and making customers happier, whilst also driving practice growth.

If you haven’t already, give some of the above methods a try! Your team and pet owners will appreciate it 😊