Four reasons for Vets to get hip with social media

Social media is no longer the preserve of the youth, in fact the over 65’s are providing the growth now that the other demographics are plateauing.

Businesses, including Vet’s Practices, and consumers alike depend on social media for useful information and sharing great imagery. Facebook now has over a billion active users every month, while 255 million use Twitter. And while not all the pet owners in your geographical region will be using Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – a good deal of them will be; and therefore it is too good an opportunity to get your surgery involved with the local on-line community.

Like any other medium, investment tends to produce the most productive results. Most social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, etc. – have a range of advertising options for all sizes of budget; and they’re flexible to allow for testing different tactics.

Here’s our five reasons to get going in social now:

1. Create a buzz around your Vet services

   If you’re clever about the imagery you use and other media, your social audience will do your advertising for you, by sharing innovative, appealing or amusing content among their peers (both business and personal) – and learning about your products and services in the process.

2. Tailor campaigns for pet owners

   Social media users are a diverse bunch, representing all age groups, genders and tastes. You can focus your attention on the people you most want to target i.e. pet owners; by selecting preferences based on users’ profile information and online interests.

   Although it is tempting to go gung-ho and set up all the social channels, be selective and remember video is now not just for YouTube; Facebook are encouraging video usage and sharing.

3. Monitor your return on investment and control costs

   As well as generally observing the number of followers and interactions your posts and profile generate, you can also obtain genuinely useful marketing statistics to monitor how well your practice is performing across different channels – and how much progress you’re making. This includes your social performance index (SPI), which comprises your awareness quotient (AQ), engagement quotient (EQ) and attribute scores.

4. Connect social with other marketing channels

   Your social media profiles and posts are also a gateway to your other marketing mediums, directing users to your website or your Vet Practice; or most importantly to sign up for a regular email newsletter. They’re also an extension of your offline marketing, acting as a forum for discussion with your advocates. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are also an ideal place to offer incentives that can be shared more widely, thus increasing traffic and general engagement with your customers (both existing and potential).

If you would like to talk through developing a social media plan with Connected Vet contact us now and we can take the grind out of your Vet Practice’s social media.