Social Media for Vets
Social Media
Written by John Ranby
8th February 2016
Using social media to promote your veterinary surgery is an effective way to promote your business but also helps to inform customers in your local area and to stand out from your competitors. Customers and potential customers can be informed easily and quickly through social media platforms for a range of reason such as;
- Keeping connections with existing customers to drive repeat business
- Build loyalty with customers by promoting your services and care for animals
- Boost your market position – Vets are often well demanded but also a saturated market in most areas and therefore gaining advantage over competitors is vital
- Awareness of a disease – There may be an outbreak of a particular disease which may be a threat to local animal owners
Posts must be frequent but also of high quality and relevant to the business to attract your customer’s attention on any platform otherwise they will very quickly get bored.
Providing advice on animal care is almost more important than promoting your business as good advice will prove to your customers that you know and understand your job and therefore in the unfortunate event that they do require a vet, they will remember you for the excellent knowledge you have and will therefore be more likely to come to you rather than your competitors.
At Bee Social Marketing, we find Facebook is the most effective platform to use for Veterinary Surgeries as most pet owners are families. Facebook also allows the best business advertising than other platforms and therefore often provides the best results. However, Facebook is a very visual platform and therefore the content must be appealing otherwise the customer will not be interested in the page.
Facebook also requires a high level of engagement – This is important because not only does it entice customers to your business; it also boosts your customer service and therefore your business will get a better brand reputation in your local area. A successful social media strategy for vets not only engages with your customers but also develops a bond with your customers away from the business – It is important not to be too forceful with your business on social media as your customer may feel pressured if all you post about is your business constantly.
Even though Facebook can be very effective for your veterinary business, unfortunately with over 1.55 billion monthly active users, Facebook only allow 6% of your followers to see your daily posts. There is ways to increase the 6%, which is why it’s crucial you have a great strategy and are very creative with your posts driving likes, shares and comments.
It has been found recently that as well as Facebook; LinkedIn, Google +, Twitter and even Pinterest are becoming more dominant for veterinary businesses and therefore may be platforms that could be worth considering to gain a competitive advantage. All of these social media platforms are fantastic platforms for your business to post photos of the animals that you have recently treated as a way to visually promote your services.
Using social media is now vital for most veterinaries as the competition is so rich. We love pets and all animals at Bee Social Marketing, if you would like to discuss a strategy and how to stand out from the crowd, please get in touch.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity and becoming your market leader now!
