5 Most Important Veterinary Digital Marketing Strategies

5 Most Important Veterinary Digital Marketing Strategies

Not all marketing is created equal. If you want to use digital marketing to make your veterinary practice stand out from the pack, you need to be strategic and focus your efforts on the channels and strategies that deliver the highest returns. We’re here to help.

Read on to learn how to take your digital marketing from “woof” to “Meow!”

Top veterinary digital marketing strategies

1. SEO and content marketing

SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the process of creating content and tailoring your website so that it’s most likely to show up when people enter relevant search terms into their search engine of choice. A well-optimized website can provide meaningful value for pet owners seeking information, and it can help a veterinary practice expand its audience. 

The pro of SEO is that it can be cheaper than pay-per-click advertising. The con is that hiring SEO services can be expensive for small businesses. Because we’re not into gatekeeping, we’re going to tell you what you need to know to make your veterinary website a top-notch digital marketing asset. 

Not sure where to start? Here are our top strategies for using content to improve your SEO and grow your vet practice:

• Put detailed descriptions of your services on your website: Don’t just list your pet health services. Explain what each one entails. These descriptions will increase the chances that when someone searches “dog dental cleaning,” for example, your veterinary practice shows up. It also provides a better customer experience, helping pet owners feel more confident and informed about what to expect from each appointment. 

• Add handouts to your website: Do you have printable information sheets that you tend to give to pet parents for specific veterinary services? Whether it’s an overview of what to expect from anesthesia, care directions for post-spay/neuter, or what to do in case of an emergency, these resources provide valuable insight and can work as content marketing building blocks. Consider adding them to your website (if you do, we recommend cutting and pasting the content into your website’s CMS rather than attaching the handout as a PDF). 

• Put your team on the site: The smiling faces of your care team do more than just help pet owners get to know you. Your bio sections, filled with vet degrees and credentials, are filled with keywords that will help your website move to the top of search results. 

2. Pay-per-click ads

Pay-per-click, also known as PPC, is a popular and effective marketing tool that your veterinary business should definitely have in its strategy toolbelt. PPC ads come in two primary forms: paid search results and display ads on other websites. As an internet user, you likely see dozens—maybe even hundreds—of PPC ads each day. 

Paid search ads are listings that appear in search results with the word “ad” next to them. You might have even seen a couple on the search results page that likely led you to this post. Display ads, on the other hand, are small digital ads that are displayed on another website—either in line with the website's content or in a sidebar, header, or footer. 

Paid search ads like Google Ads can help ensure your veterinary clinic has visibility in search. That way, when people search for relevant queries, your vet clinic will be at the top. The pro of this digital marketing channel is that there’s guaranteed placement. The con is that it’s more expensive, and it doesn’t hold quite as much credibility with the audience as local SEO and reviews. 

3. Social media marketing

Social media marketing can help you stay connected to current pet families and reach potential patients/pet owners. There are several different ways you can approach social media strategy.  Informational videos and carousels about pet health, cute pics of the animals who visit your office, and graphics highlighting some of your most glowing reviews can all effectively boost your online marketing efforts. You can start with some trial and error to see what kinds of posts get the most engagement before setting your strategy. 

Test different days of the week and times to see when your audience is most active and likely to engage with your content. Social media management tools allow you to schedule future posts. This can be a lifesaver for small vet teams because you can set aside an afternoon and make/schedule all your social content in a batch. 

4. Email marketing

Email marketing should be a core pillar of your veterinary marketing strategy because it’s the best tool you have for patient retention. Well-timed emails can help pet owners remember to schedule follow-up appointments. It’s also highly customizable so you can send different emails to different audiences. 

For example, you might want to create a nurture email campaign for pet owners who have just come in for a puppy visit. This email campaign might include regularly scheduled emails that explain what to expect at different stages of puppy development. You might segment your lists based on pet type or on audience behavior—pet owners who actively engage with your emails vs. those you haven’t heard from in a while—to create a retention strategy that helps your business thrive. 

Want to start email marketing but not sure where to start? This guide will show you how in seven simples steps. 

5. Local SEO and reviews

If you’re going to focus on one digital marketing strategy, it should be this. Local SEO affects what appears in the “local pack” when people search for veterinarians in their area. Ensure that your Google Business Profile is complete with your name, address, phone number, and business hours. You can optimize your profile further by adding a description of your vet clinic and services, selecting your category, and adding photos of your business. 

Google reviews are also attached to your business profile. Reviews carry a lot of weight. A glowing review might be the thing that makes a prospective pet owner choose your practice over the vet clinic a mile away. You can use in-office signage to encourage reviews. Email does a lot of heavy lifting here, too, as you can easily add a footer to the end of your email template that encourages reviews. Or you can send automated emails post-appointment that ask for reviews. The options are plentiful. 

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Easy-to-use templates, an industry-leading deliverability rate, and a suite of tools to help you grow your business with email. Twilio SendGrid Email Marketing Campaigns has the solutions you need to create world-class veterinary email marketing.