3 Forms Of Content To Help Veterinarians Excel In Their Practice
If you are not using content marketing to engage with your audience and attract a wider one, you could be missing out on some key opportunities for your veterinary practice. Whether you use relevant articles, videos, blogs, podcasts, or a mix of all of the above, it is important to understand the benefits these platforms can have. An estimated 68% of households in the U.S. have a pet, and content marketing will help you appeal to the demographic looking to provide top-notch care for their pets.
Content marketing is a smart, strategic way for veterinarians to connect with current pet owners who come to their practice and to attract new pet owners. If you have decided to pursue content marketing as part of your marketing strategy, you might not be sure where to begin.
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Fortunately, there is an abundance of resources available to you online. Here are some of the best ways that veterinarians can use content marketing to increase their digital presence:
Blogs and Articles
If you are just beginning your content marketing journey as a veterinarian, blogs and articles are a great place to start. You can publish blogs and articles straight to your website and promote them across your social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The world of search engine optimization (SEO) comes with lots of technical terms, but you don’t need to be fully familiar with all of them in order to create blogs that will rank on search engines. However, it will help you to have a basic understanding of keyword research.
In order to write blogs that will speak to your audience, consider what questions your pet owners have about their furry (or scaly) little friends. As the expert on this topic, you are in a great position to provide valuable information about these topics to your clients. But, understandably, you may not have time to craft blogs and articles. A team of professional writers can help your practice succeed in this area. Not only will this give you one less task to worry about, but a team who understands SEO can have a massive impact on the visibility of your content.
You can also make a list of the specialty services that your clinic offers in your target market and emphasize those points throughout your content. For example, if your goal is to appear on the first page of Google to potential patients who are looking for pet fixing services in your community, you will want to include those words in your content and make sure your article provides value to your clients. It might also be wise to add a list of FAQs from your clients and employee spotlights that highlight the abilities of your team.
Newsletters
If you have never distributed a newsletter, you might not even think you have enough content to create one, but for most veterinarians, the opposite is true. This is because newsletters are essentially a compilation of the best pieces of your accumulated content. Once you have a good amount of blogs and articles compiled, it will be easier to distribute a newsletter that feels informative, valuable, and engaging.
You can send out your newsletter with a frequency that is right for your business. As a general rule of thumb and to keep your readers engaged, it is advisable to distribute your newsletter on a monthly basis.
In your newsletter, you can include announcements about your clinic or growing team and other information you want your clients to know. There is no right or wrong way to create a newsletter. The top priority should be an engaging subject line and content that provides value to your audience and keeps them interested in what your business has to offer.
When you are gathering emails for your newsletters, there are a few things you should keep in mind. You must get permission from patients to email them before it is legal to do so.
The simplest way to do this is to get their permission when they are at the front desk of your practice. Here, you can ask them if they would like to be added to your email list to receive news about your practice. You can also use the service pages and blog posts on your website as a portal for users to provide their email addresses.
To keep you up to date on the latest rules and regulations around emailing clients, the FTC has some guidelines that help you navigate this territory.
Videos
Video content is all the rage in digital marketing. If brand awareness and lead generation are your primary goals, video content might be one of your most valuable assets. In fact, 87% of video marketers have reported that video content results in a positive ROI, according to a recent Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing Survey.
It can be easy to dismiss video content as irrelevant for your business and your goals. What too many businesses are neglecting to realize is that video content is so flexible, and there are many ways it can help your business in the digital media landscape. If you want to be a bit more adventurous, you can use TikTok or YouTube for creative video content. Otherwise, you can simply post through Facebook or Instagram. No matter which platform you decide to utilize, there are a few key things you should keep in mind.
Providing value to your audience is the biggest concern when it comes to any kind of content marketing, and this includes video marketing. Quality content will prove your knowledge and skill sets in the field. Many pet owners are choosy when it comes to the care of their little ones, and demonstrating your knowledge will help establish trust.
Pet care should be fun, and your videos should not be devoid of fun either. Personality and entertainment are key components of video content. Your videos give your audience a chance to form a connection with your clinic, and they give your clinic a chance to stand out from the crowd.
Lastly, it is wise to include a call-to-action at the end of your video. Otherwise, no matter how polished or professional your video might be, your audience will not know how to contact you. After all, establishing client contact and growing your audience base is the overarching goal of content marketing.
At Scorpion, we specialize in content marketing for veterinarians. We provide clinics with the content they need to make a footprint in the evolving digital marketing landscape and grow their audience. To learn more about what we can do for your veterinary clinics, please feel free to contact our team.
