top 65 veterinary
marketing ideas
BY: MIKE HAMILTON // LEADBUMPS, OWNER
I am constantly talking with Veterinarians from across the US about marketing techniques. Almost every doctor has the same goal, more patients. This list has 65 creative veterinary marketing ideas for you to try.
#65: Directories
Ensure that your veterinary website is visible in the best directories. Whitespark is a program you may use to view your competitors.
#64: Use Great Titles
Ensure that your veterinary website uses strong title tags. Interesting and appealing title tags will make your website pop in every search result.
#63: Guest Blogging
Guest blogging can be effective at gaining links that point to your website but I recommend reading this article by a employee at Google.
#62: Powerful Pictures
Your response rate will sky rocket when your pictures are appealing. Your website and social media page should showcase interesting pictures. Deposit Photos is a company that offers quality pictures for any posts you create.
#61: Mobile Marketing
It is essential for your veterinary website to function properly with a mobile device. There is a growing number of people that use their phones for searching and your website must be “responsive” in order to stay competitive with other companies.
#60: Animoto Office Tour
Animoto is an affordable website that creates professional videos from picture submissions. All you have to do is take high quality office photos and you will have a professional office tour video.
#59: Create Office Video
Videos are one of the most successful ways to showcase who you are. Videos will help pet owners trust you and a high quality office introduction video is worth the investment.
#58: FAQ Page
Include common questions from pet owners that come into your office. A strong frequently asked questions page will build your credibility.
#57: Build a Sitemap
A sitemap for your website will allow Google to easily find all the pages on your site. The easier it is for google to access your pages, the more credit your pages will receive.
#56: Ezine Article Posts
Writing and posting articles about veterinary will help increase the amount of traffic coming towards your site. You may post on your own website or on Ezine articles.
#55: Learn About Yelp
Yelp is a strong review source. Yelp can have a big impact on your credibility. Be careful though, a poor review is very difficult to get fixed.
#54: Write An Awesome Ad
Take time out of your day to learn how to create ads. I have created videos about potential ideas for writing a strong ad.
#53: Sponsor Local Groups
Sponsor groups around the area or offer your office as a space to meet in. It is never a bad idea to help out an organization or group in the area.
#52: Do Blog Comments
Read any veterinary blogs and post a response. You may also create a comment on one of our veterinary blogs.
#51: Yahoo Confirmation
Verify your Yahoo business listing. This link will bring you to Yahoo business listings.
#50: Bing Confirmation
Verify your Bing business listing. This link will bring you to Bing Webmaster Tools.
#49: Google Confirmation
Verify your Yahoo business listing. This link will bring you to Yahoo business listings.
#48: Use Hootsuite
Hootsuite will be able to help you manage all your social media posts. It will save a lot of time as you can post once to Hootsuite and it will post to all your accounts on a schedule you create.
#47: Create Email List
Compile emails to be proactive with. The list should include your current pet owners and also potential pet owners that go to your website.
#46: Specialty Websites
You can consider creating a separate website for a specialty if you have one. Some veterinarians specialize in diet, weight loss, massage, and more.
#45: Off Site SEO
It is important to have high quality links that point to your website. This article will help explain how to do so.
#44: On Site SEO
Every single nook and cranny of your website should be optimized. This article should help you ensure your website has everything it needs to rank well.
#43: Instructional Videos
YouTube is a great source for creating instructional videos. Providing some information for free will help people trust you and is a great tactic for getting new pet owners walking through the door.
#42: Patient Testimonials
Testimonials that are either written or in video form are huge for increasing traffic. Google loves YouTube and potential pet owners are very interested in what others have to say.
#41: Social Websites
Social websites are all over the internet. I recommend you delegate the task of creating profiles for your office to one of your staff members.
#40: Write an eBook
eBooks are easier to write than a book. There is also an option for someone to write it for you. This will make you appear like an expert of veterinary.
#39: Write a Book
Credibility is given to authors. If you were searching for a veterinarian, would you pick one that wrote a book or one that didn't. You don’t have to do it alone! There are many helpful tools in writing a book.
#38: Chamber of Commerce
Join a local group or even the Chamber of Commerce. This involves a lot of talking and screening but is a wonderful way to network and promote your capabilities.
#37: Marketing Calendar
You should put all your marketing campaigns onto a calendar. You should add events until there are two going on every week.
#36: Weekly Newsletters
Newsletters have grown on me as I used to be opposed. They need to be written well and follow a specific style in order to be effective.
#35: Google Webmaster Tools
Google provides these tools for a reason, use them! You can spot any problems in your website along with track how well it is doing analytically. This will help you understand the traffic you are receiving.
#34: Google Analytics
Google Analytics showcases the amount of traffic your website is getting. It also shows statistics on your traffic. High volume and low conversion rates mean there is a problem at hand.
#33: Pay-Per-Click Ads
Pay per click ads is also known as Google Adwords. In the last few years, Google Adwords has become one of the most effective forms of getting more patients. Some offices report 10-15 new patients from this form of marketing.
#32: Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are an effective way to get more likes on your business page. Facebook is equipped with controls that allow you to target very specific demographics.
#31: LinkedIn Marketing
LinkedIn allows you to market with other businesses and other professionals in your field. LinkedIn can be used to set up talks with other professionals.
#30: Pinterest Marketing
Similar to Facebook and Twitter, pinterest is not ideal for growing your practice but there are effective ways to help market your office through the use of pinterest.
#29: Google+ Marketing
Google+ is the single handed most effective social media page for your office. Give us a call and we can help you enhance your Google+ page to increase your online presence.
#28: YouTube Marketing
YouTube helps you display who you are. It can help you build a relationship with your pet owners and also post testimonial videos. Professional videos on YouTube can bring your office to the next level.
#27: Twitter Marketing
Twitter poses a few challenges but it is possible to be successful with it. The hardest part is to get your community to follow you, but it is possible.
#26: Facebook Marketing
Basic use of Facebook provides minimal results. Facebook ads is where the money is at. Learn how to enhance your Facebook presence.
#25: Veterinarian Blogging
Blogs will, without a doubt, help increase the traffic coming to your site. Potential pet owners will love the content and Google rewards offices that regularly add to their website.
#24: Referral Cards
This form of internal marketing, if done correctly, can be extremely successful. Your staff is capable of running this simple and easy program.
#23: Guerrilla Marketing
Going out into the neighborhood can also be a way to positively affect your office. Learn more about how to “hit the streets” and increase the amount of people walking through the door.
#22: Health Screenings
Use local events to showcase your skills. If they allow animals, you will be the talk of the event and should be able to schedule many consultations.
#21: Groupon
This form of a coupon works well but beware. There are many instances in which you receive bad, crazy pet owners. Make sure you receive high quality leads from any marketing strategy you use.
#20: TV Advertising
Pet TV ads have been successful in the past, but make sure to showcase what makes your office better than the rest. Show off any special services you provide.
#19: Billboards
Generally speaking, billboards are a waste of money. If you do have a large office and they fit into the budget, it might be worth considering.
#18: Newspaper Ads
Be careful with newspaper ads. There is a specific approach in order to make them be successful. Focus on the “know, like and trust” factor in order to obtain new leads.
#17: Monthly Profession
Reaching out to other business can be helpful in generating new patients. Many people have pets and exposure to the more people, the better.
#16: Lunch and Learns
If you are strong at speaking in front of people this could work for you. Contact other businesses and organizations and offer to feed and speak to them.
#15: Dinner Lead Boxes
Dinner lead boxes can be an effective way to gain leads Follow our tips and tricks in order to get the most pet owners requesting consultations as possible.
#14: Outside Dinner Talks
Dinner talks can be a lot of work and generating leads during a dinner talk can be very difficult. Read more about how we found success in dinner talks.
#13: Pet Owner Dinner Talks
Invite your best pet owners and their friends to a dinner talk. This is a great way to increase referrals to your office.
#12: Kids Day
Kids days can be hectic, but is a great way to connect with the younger demographic. Consider inviting kids for a tour to showcase your office.
#11: X-Ray Day
Offer discounted x-rays to all your existing patients for a day. This is a great way to bring pets in more often.
#10: Lead Boxes
Place lead boxes throughout your community. Call these leads and explain what you can do to help them and their pets. This program is effective for new offices.
#9: Pet massage
Pets benefit from massages too! Offer pet massages in order to bring more people into the office.
#8: Pet owner Massage
Offer pet owners a massage while their pet is getting checked on. You may have to hire a massage therapist but it will definitely bring a lot of new faces into your office.
#7: Review Replies
Always reply to your reviews with the proper keywords. This will help boost your online presence and is very easy to do.
#6: Client Appreciation
Appreciation days are very simple to coordinate and do not have to be a big fuss. Schedule them every few months to show how much you care.
#5: Daily Ticks
Information, information, information. Always give your pet owners a lot of information to make sure they feel comfortable. Educated pet owners are loyal and there is a better chance they will refer your office.
#4: Office Feel
Make sure your office feels comfortable and inviting. Aim for more of a cafe-like feel rather than a stale, sterile “white wall” environment. This will increase the chances they pet owners bring their pet back.
#3: White Board Topics
Place a white board in the waiting room. Change the topic every week in order to keep your pet owners interested and occupied while they wait.
#2: Office Pamphlets
Pamphlets are very helpful to showcase all the services you provide. Rather than displaying all the pamphlets you have with all the conditions, simply lay one out every week to increase the chance the pet owners read it.
#1: Veterinary Website
An optimized and responsive website is the best possible marketing technique you can apply to your office. This is the number one way to generate new patients. Take a look at our example websites and give us a call!