The Veterinary Marketing Podcast

One thing that I keep seeing over and over with the veterinary industry is that everyone has TONS on their plate. It shouldn't really be a suprise with as much work as a veterinary hospital sees that there simply isn't time for marketing activities like content creation. On this week's episode I go over how to use virtual assistants or freelancers to do marketing activities for your veterinary practice. In case you don't know, virtual assistants or freelancers are people who are skilled at specific task that you are looking to achieve and will work for you on an as needed basis. Often times, virtual assistants are found in different parts of the world where the currency echange rates and costs of living help to create situations where you can find highly qualified workers for aa really reasonable rate. I've had lots of luck finding virtual assistants in India and the Philipines who do amazing work at really affordable rates. When thinking about what kind of tasks you want to outsource think about these three questions: what Do I don't have time to do, what do I dislike doing and what am I bad at? These are things you can outsource. One thing you need to do for sure is define what the task description is, what is involved in the process and what the desired outcome is. This should be easily definable and measurable. Being able to measure the outcome is crucial because if you can't measure the outcome you won't be able to tell if it is worth outsourcing. Once you've definied what you want to outsource, create a job description and go to a site like upwork.com or guru.com and post an ad. There you'll get dozens of applicants. You can see how many people have used the applicant, view reviews and see resumes. Often times you'll get people applying who are asking between $3-$20 per hour depending on skills and location. After having the job posting up for a few days I then select two or three applicants to test. The test that you have applicants do is really important because you want virtual assistants or freelancers who will read the emails that you send, follow instructions and make your life easier. If they don't read the instructions or follow the instructions you give them explicitly you will have a difficult time getting work done the way you want it. For example if I have a person who I want to create graphics for my content, I'll create a test where they have to read the article I've written, get an idea of what it is about create 3 graphics that convey the same idea but are in 3 specific sizes and then email the result to a specific email address. I'll make the graphic sizes a really specific size to make sure they read the email and follow all the instructions. Creating a template along the way is very important as well because you'll likely have to re-use the process you create every once in a while. You don't want to have to reinvent the wheel every time you need someone to do some freelance work for your veterinary practice.

If you've been watching any financial news at all you've probably been feeling pretty nervous. Financial Pundits are saying that we're in a buble or that we're heading for a correction. Well if you remember the last time this happened in 2008 you probably recall that things slowed down a lot. From what I've been able to tell from practices is that the last recession really hurt their practices. I'm not saying we're going into a recession, but I do think that there are things you can do to be prepared should any downturn happen. Whether you are a veterinary practice owner, or an employee at a veterinary practice, there are lots of things that you can do to help secure your veterinary practices' marketing. Creating stability and making sure that you have the skills and resources in place is what is really important. So in this episode I go over the things you should focus on when the economy is good and then what to do when the economy is not so good. The main concepts that I think can really help your practice are growing and building when times are good like they have been for most practices. Many of the practices that I've spoken to have been enjoying 6-8% growth and while this is awesome it is important to take as much advantage of this market driven growth as possible. Make sure that you are building your email lists, that you are growing your social media audience and that you are connecting and establishing a relationship with your clients. If the economy gets bad it is important to already have the marketing skills you would need to drive clients in to your practice. It is far better to have ads and marketing figured out now when times are good and you can afford to test than in the future when you don't have funds coming in to supplement your marketing tests. I go into depth about things you can do when the economy isn't so good as well. I'm definitely not an economist, but I think it is important to take notice of where the economy is heading so that you can create growth no matter what the economy does.

I've had Danielle on the podcast now 4 times, and I always enjoy our interviews because Danielle is a great practitioner of what she preaches. She has the unique perspective of being a practice manager as well as an amazing marketer so she is able to share some great insight. In this week's episode we go into what she is doing with social media marketing in her veterinary practice as well as what she is doing to help her clients with their social media efforts. Danielle K. Lambert is a social media coach and veterinary practice manager. She's the founder of SnoutSchool.com, the only social media tutorial site created by a veterinary professional, for veterinary professionals. Danielle bases her coaching on experience gathered as a veterinary practice manager at Quinebaug Valley Veterinary Hospital in Danielson, CT. In her spare time, she enjoys taking too many iPhone photos of her Brussels Griffon, Archer, and screaming at Tom Brady every Sunday during football season. In this episode I catch up with Danielle to see what she thinks about Facebook, and if it is still where she thinks there is a huge opportunity. We cover also cover what kind of ads she is running these days on Facebook as well as some of the major changes Facebook has made to profiles. Along with a few other topics on Facebook, we cover Instagram as well as Snapchat too. Be sure to check out this full episode and be sure to subscribe get Danielle's FREE guide, the 5 MUST-HAVE social media tools for your veterinary hospital. Click Here For The Guide. Also Be Sure to Check Out Danielle's Facebook Marketing Group, it is epic! Click Here for the Snout School Facebook Group

In this week's episode, I talk with Dr. Mark Olcott, co founder and CEO of Vitus Vet. Dr. Olcott has a really unique background in veterinary medicine and has worked in all kinds of practices. We discuss content marketing, using segmentation in content marketing to how to use mobile apps in your veterinary practice. Dr. Olcott definitely has a great background in marketing and he shares a bunch of great info with us this week. One thing that Vitus Vet does that I think is really cool is it allows for your clients to get really useful and potentially life saving info be made available to them. Having your pet's medical records available after hours can really help, and I think this will help you and your practice if you choose to use Vitus Vet. Giving your clients this info via the app that they offer also creates a great incentive for pet owners to actually download your app. Having an app for your practice is great except you have to compel your clients to download it, and I think that Vitus Vet has a great way to offer value so your clients will download it. Another way to be sure to add value is through segmentation. Segmentation is where you divide your client list up into different parts so that you can deliver really relevant content. The more relevant the content the better, that way your clients will want to consume your content. Vitus Vet lets you get info and distribute highly relevant info, which allows you to educate and stay in front of your clients. When you're able to stay in front of your clients more you won't have to deal with Dr. Google as much and you'll have better client retention as well. Be sure to listen to this whole interview because it is full of great info that I'm sure will help you and your practice. Also head on over to VitusVet.com to check out their app, they have a free version to try out.

Disney is one of my favorite brands because they have some of the most amazing marketing out there. Not only is their marketing amazing but they consistently put out the amazing content. In today's episode, I break down how you can apply some of the same principles that they use in their content and their theme parks to help market your veterinary practice. I am a huge advocate for content marketing at your veterinary practice and I really think that it should be the center of your marketing efforts because it helps your practice's brand in so many ways. Content marketing allows you to educate, entertain and stay in front of current and potential clients. Content marketing is what solves the problem of Dr. Google and it helps to provide more transparency on the value that you provide. Without the content, which was Mickey Mouse cartoons, there never would have been a Disneyland. Walt Disney Built his brand by being a content creator. One factor that makes their content so great is that they are amazing story tellers. If you struggle with creating interesting stories, I found a great list called The 22 Rules for Storytelling According To Pixar, check that out because they've really figured out a way to tell stories. Disney is a master of telling stories but they are also a mastere at repurposing their content and this is something that I think every veterinary practice can really learn from. Repurposing is where you take a piece of content, let's say a blog post or something and you turn it into something else. Maybe you write an amazing blog post that shows step by step how to potty train a puppy, you could repurpose that into graphics, videos and other native social media posts. Rupurpose your content and you'll be able to re-use your best stuff and not have to constantly come up with new ideas. The last piece that I cover in today's episode is segmentation. Disney allows their clients to identify themselves as interested in specific pieces of their content and then sells them stuff. It is pretty amazing and you have probably never realised that this is what they are doing.

Consumers in general are getting to expect more instant gratification. People want access now! From Uber to Amazon's same day delivery service the way that clients are interacting with brands and companies is becoming ever more on demand. Vet24Seven ads a level of on demand interaction that I think clients are going to be looking for. Here is how Vet24Seven describes their app: "Vet24seven provides animal owners with veterinary consultations via their mobile device from veterinary practices in the Vet24seven Network. Vet24seven brings veterinarians directly to clients via the more than 1.5 Billion smart devices worldwide. Today's pet owner is busier than ever and the convenience of Vet24seven virtual consulations fits in perfectly with their active lifestyle. When an animal owner sees a behavior or sympton that concerns them, they can now connect via video and chat with a licensed veterinarian from their mobile device to get fast answers and peace of mind. Vet24seven is an excellent resource for pet care questions, emergency triage, routine assessment, post-surgery follow-up, rehab follow-up, chronic care, or hospice care." In today's episode I interview Dr. Edward Blach DVM, MS, MBA, on their app and cover everything from how it works, to what uses it could have for helping to market your practice. Dr. Edward Blach, co-founder of Vet24seven, is an avid entrepreneur who serves as a business and market specialist in veterinary medicine, often assisting companies in developing a vision for the future of the industry. His unique background combines veterinary medicine, market research, business development, and management. Dr. Blach is the former Chief Executive Officer of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Lexington, KY, one of the oldest and largest equine veterinary practices in the world, which includes more than 50 veterinarians. Some of the really interesting ideas that Ed gave us on this episode for marketing uses include new client acquisition, some hospice care uses, emergency uses and much more. I think that the team at Vet24Seven is really impressive and they've thought of everything you could imagine, they actually gave me a look at how their entire platform works and it is really easy to use. One of the things that I really liked about Vet24Seven is that they don't charge practices to get set up, so I really think that this is a great idea for any practice to try out, especially with some of their best clients.

I have heard so many times from people, "I've tried Facebook ads for my practice, and the don't work, so I'm not going to waste money there". But if I asked them why it didn't work they wouldn't be certain what wasn't working. One thing you can be certain of is that if you're going to be doing advertising you're going to be creating ads that don't perform very well more often than they do, especially if you're starting out. Advertising can take lots of testing and measuring to get the kind of response rates and return on investment that you're looking for. In this episode I talk about what can go wrong and how to fix it. In digital marketing you have huge amount of data that you can process and see what isn't working, if you know where to look. When you create an ad there are really three components that can have problems. The first component is your traffic. Who you're showing the ad to, who you're targeting is important because if you aren't matching the message and the offer with the right group of people you could have the best ad and landing page ever but never convert. Imagine you were showing ads about cat dental month procedures to people who only were alergic to cats. That would be a bad idea, and you would almost certainly get no conversion at all. If you show an ad about puppy plans to people who just bought puppies, you'll have a lot better of a shot. The second item that comes into play is the actual ad itself. Did you really create an ad or did you just boost an informational post? Is there an interesting headline an interesting picture that compels people to click or take the action that you're looking for. Is there a clear call to action? All of these elements are really important factors that help to get people to actually click. The last item that I cover in today's episode is the landing page. This piece is critical because often times advertising companies will send traffic directly to a services page. Expecting or assuming that the person clicking will know what action to take will set you up for failure, which is why having a clear concise landing page is really important. I cover in depth what each of these important elements should have, and specifically what veterinary practices should focus on in their marketing and advertising.

Creating content that moves people to take action might be the most valuable skill anyone could have, and in this week's episode I'll be covering the basics of copywriting so that you can help turn more of your traffic into actual paying clients. Copywriting is the art and science of writing copy (words used on web pages, ads, promotional materials, etc.) that sells your product or service and convinces prospective customers to take action. This is important to understand if you are going to be creating any content online whether it is blog posts, social media posts, as well as advertisements. When thinking about how to convince someone to take action, it is important to think about what actually motivates people, how to grab attention and then how to inform clients of what is important so that they move forward in the direction that you're hoping they go. In this episode I go over the main elements you need to consider when creating content or an advertisement so that you can convert at the highest rate possible. Ultimately, the better that you can write copy for your content and ads, the more successful you're going to be at helping pets. Good copywriting doesn't only help you sell things, it actually helps you improve compliance and provide better care for your clients. If you can help educate in a way that creates a desire to take action then you'll be able to provide better care. If you're tired of hearing what misinformed clients thing about certain procedures or care then you'll want to be sure to listen so that you can more easily win over your clients with your copy.

Have you ever wanted to hire an advertising company, or maybe you've gotten phone calls from someone claiming to be a local advertising specialist and wondered if you should hire them? Deciding who to hire to do your digital marketing can be very difficult, especially if you not even sure what they'll be doing. In this week's episode I walk you through what you need to consider before hiring a company to do your advertising. The first step to getting your ad company is deciding what goals you want to achieve. Do you want more clients for a basic exam, are you wanting to run a dental promotion? What is going to be your goal for the ad campaign? One thing that I really think you need to do though before you begin is set a goal that will actually generate revenue by driving clients into your practice. Likes, clicks and impressions are great, but unless they turn into actual clients then they aren't worth very much. Going one step further, having a way to actually measure the marketing you are doing is also really important. How will you know if your marketing is actually working unless you can measure it. In addition to talking about the qualities that advertising companies should have I discuss a list of red flag items that should immediately raise concerns about whether or not you should hire a company. Hopefully with this list you should have enough info to go out and test a marketing company. I do really think though that anyone who wants to hire a company should at least test out and try some ads on their own, even if it is just 5-10 dollars because the act of running the ads will give you some insight into what goes into this

Helping clients feel like they know your brand or veterinary practice can be a difficult task and what can help create a brand that is personal and interactive is good storytelling. On today's episode I talk with Jane Dawkins on the show today who is Marketing Communications Officer, Ontario Veterinary College University of Guelph and one of the reasons that I wanted her on the show is that I'm a huge fan of her work. She is constantly producing awesome content on the OVC's social media platforms and so I wanted to get her take on marketing. What I think she is doing a great job at is that she is consistently producing great content and creating a brand around her storytelling. I think there are some great applications in that for veterinary practices, first she is taking something tends to be kind of impersonal and making it personal. This is a problem that every veterinary hospital faces and is something that good storytelling can solve. She also is working with students who are doing a great job at creating personal brands as well. So we get in to a bunch of really interesting topics and it was really fun to have her on. There is something for everyone on today's podcast, whether you are a practice owner, an employee or even are still in Vet School. Items Mentioned in Today's Episode: Jane Dawkins on Linkedin OVC on Twitter OVC on Instagram OVC Snapchat: @ontvetcollege Shannon Finn's Blog on How To Use Social Media While In Vet School