5 digital marketing ideas for vets

One of the most important digital marketing strategies for vets is to develop a website which is optimised for mobile. With over half of worldwide internet traffic happening on mobile devices and 61% of people stating that they’re more likely to contact a business if they have a mobile-friendly website, mobile optimisation is a must for any veterinary practice.

Add Click-to-Text buttons on your website. This allows customers to tap and connect directly to your practice’s phone number.

Rescale images and text for mobile users. Ensure proportions are correct and copy is clear and concise.

Since many veterinary practices offer similar services, first impressions matter. The mobile experience should reflect your in-person service.

Interestingly, “near me” and “close by” type searches grew by more than 900% over two years. It seems location is becoming a major factor for businesses.

Another local-marketing SEO strategy is to ensure you list your vet’s site on Google My Business and Yelp. This will instantly give your veterinary practice an online presence and help local customers find you more easily.

As an ongoing part of this process, you should encourage your existing customers to leave good reviews on Google. This will not only make your business look more trustworthy to new customers, but it could help you boost your ranking on Google too.

To get the most out of PPC ads, you need to:

• Create dedicated landing pages that are designed to suit the PPC ad campaign
• Increase your ad visibility by improving its quality score – i.e. Google’s rating of the quality and relevancy of your PPC ad
• Boost click-through rates by using ad extensions to include extra information in your ads

Email marketing for vets is a quick and simple way of building relationships with your local community and getting people to keep bringing their pets into your practice.

If you haven’t got an email list, your first action is to get permission from all existing customers when they pay you a visit. You can then start running a refer a friend scheme via email, encouraging your loyal customers to get their friends to sign their pet up to your vets and email list. To make this a success, add an incentive, such as a free pet goodie bag or discount off their next visit.

Email marketing can be used to upsell to existing customers as well. For instance, you could push your pet insurance packages, treatment subscriptions and range of foods.

The final digital marketing idea for vets is social media. Using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will help you stay connected with your clients and increase awareness of your practice.

You can use it to:

• Send out general updates – such as opening times and booking info
• Share adorable pet pics – pet owners take pride in their loveable pets, so share their lovely pics all over your social feeds
• Highlight success stories – going to the vets shouldn’t be seen as a negative. Share positive news stories from your practice and flip the perception
• Run competitions – launch a refer a friend incentive and pet pic competition to boost your social audience and email list
• Invest in paid ads – social media advertising can generate some quick results online and significantly boost your local audience