Developing Your Clinic's Social Media Presence in Four Steps

We all know building your clinic's brand can help make your practice stand out from the crowd. An active, social media presence is one of the easiest, most affordable, and most effective ways to build that brand. That said, sometimes creating, maintaining and growing an active social media presence for your veterinary clinic can seem like a daunting task. We all know it's important, but when appointments, inventory and payroll are all on your plate, it can be hard to make the time to post that last picture. Consistently posting, using these four steps, can help build your clinic's presence and enhance your brand.  Before you know it, you'll have an active following and become a trusted resource for your clients. 

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1. Create your own original content. 
The easiest way to do this is to share photos of what's happening in your clinic. Taking photos of every new puppy, kitten and patient regardless of age is an easy way to gain new followers plus the interest of your current clients. Who doesn't love animal pictures in their news feed? Sharing pictures of your day-to-day operations, from the clinic cat's antics to the groomers in action, can give your followers a glimpse of your practice's personality. Showing off these "behind-the-scenes" photos gives your followers info they wouldn't otherwise see, which maintains their interest. You can also consider creating your own educational content, preventative care reminders, and fun graphics using several online programs. 

2. Find trusted and valuable information to share. 
Sharing information from groups like the AVMA, AAHA, CAPC and other nationally-recognized industry leaders can provide your clients great education. In addition to providing them with quick, interesting facts, you'll be reinforcing the recommendations of your veterinarians, providing a reliable alternative to "Dr. Google," and demonstrating your commitment to patient care and education. Soon your followers will know to look to your clinic's page instead of a search engine, and you'll once again have an opportunity to improve patient care. 

3. Talk to your clients. 
Engage them. Ask questions, and respond to their comments. Encouraging and promoting conversation on your pages is important not only to build the relationship between your practice and clients, but also to increase your exposure on social media. The more active your page, the more Facebook will include it in the news feed of others. If no one is liking, commenting on or sharing your content, Facebook will bury that post and few, if any, will continue to see it. 

4. Schedule ahead. 
You work at a veterinary clinic. I know you have about 4 million things on your to-do list, the most important being that patient care! Save yourself time and energy, and schedule your content ahead of time. Utilize one of the many free scheduling services, or even within Facebook itself, to schedule standard content several days at a time. This can also help you post at the most opportune times, either by basing your posts on your insights or by utilizing the "autoschedule" feature of scheduling services like Hootsuite. A daily glance to respond to comments or notifications is much quicker when you're not also posting content. Caring for pets is still your priority, and scheduling makes that easier!

Need help creating content, finding resources, or scheduling? Email us at info@thesocialdvm.com!
-CD