Top Five Google Chrome Extensions for Veterinary Social Media

I’m a big fan of tools that help me do my job better and/or more efficiently. While my list of these tools is long, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Google chrome extensions. These extensions, automatically integrated into my browser windows, are tools that I use every day, and may help other veterinary social media managers. For info on installing and managing these extensions, click here! 

1. Grammarly: By far my favorite and most-used on this list, Grammarly is a must-have extension to ensure that your spelling and grammar are correct. Particularly useful in programs that don’t have a spellchecker built-in (basically all of the social media sites), Grammarly comes to the rescue. Grammarly works with the text fields on most websites, including Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.  

1. ColorZilla: This extension has multiple features, but the one I use daily is the eyedropper color picker tool. Hover the eyedropper over any color visible on your screen and get the hex code of the exact color. It’s copied to your clipboard automatically, so you can hop over to Canva and copy and paste it quickly and easily! I use this tool to match brand colors when I don’t have the exact details. For instance, if I want the text of the social media or print design I’m creating to match a practice’s color scheme, I’ll hover the eyedropper over their logo on their website to get the exact shade. 

1. Full Page Screen Capture: This is my latest fave, and in the simplest terms, will create an image file or PDF out of any website. Since I frequently switch between my Mac at home and PCs at the clinic, I’m forever messing up the short key commands when trying to get a good screen capture of an image or part of the clinic website. I frequently capture parts of a website to create graphics to share with our clients, such as the online portal on our website, or to demonstrate how to find a particular piece of information. This tool not only helps with not having to know the exact key commands, it also will capture a perfectly clean image every time- no more cropping problems! Save the file as an image or PDF. 

1. Buffer: Because my team uses Buffer for scheduling the majority of our social content, adding the buffer extension was a no-brainer. This extension will allow me to share an article-- or schedule one-- right from my browser and without having to go log into my Buffer account. This is helpful when I find an article in the news, or even follow a link from another social feed, that I’d like to share. Another helpful aspect is the “share image” button which gives me more control over the exact image shared along with the link. 

1. Facebook Pixel Helper: this one might be a little geeky, but I love it. For those of you who are familiar with Facebook pixels-- whether you use them in your own marketing or just like to know what companies are using them to target you-- this pixel is a great “green light” that simply turns blue when a pixel is embedded in a webpage you visit. While I mostly use it to check on some of our advertising campaigns, I also like knowing when I visit websites personally that are then going to try to target me with their ads (I know, I don’t need any more cat shoes). For those of you using them in your advertising, they will not only confirm proper installation but also show errors and warnings that may apply. 

Hoping these tools help you in your work, too! I’d love your feedback and to know your favorite Chrome extensions! 

Caitlin DeWilde, DVM

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