How to Create a Successful Veterinary Newsletter

Are you creating content for your veterinary website that can help your clients get to know you better, while also keeping your practice at the forefront of their minds when their pet requires care? A veterinary newsletter is the perfect way to do so. 

Creating a newsletter can improve the engagement that you have with existing clients that are on your email subscription list. Getting started doesn’t have to be difficult and if you are still deciding on whether to begin drafting your very first veterinary newsletter, we’re here to show you how and why you should. 

Why Your Practice Should Have a Veterinary Newsletter 

There is a constant flow of informational content available on the internet for users to consume. The content captures readers’ attention and that attention can become engagement for your practice. The more engagement, the better for you! 

You want to maintain a strong line of communication and nurture the connections you have with your clients by being consistent with how often you email them. 

If they only receive an email from you once every six months or even less than that, you become an afterthought and that is the opposite of what you want to occur in order to continue patient relationship management. Now that you understand why newsletters are important, let’s dive into how you can create a newsletter that your clients look forward to opening. 

5 Ways to Craft an Engaging Veterinary Newsletter

• Have a trustworthy sender name
• Make it easy to read
• Include appealing graphics 
• Share animal health and veterinary medicine information that will interest your clients
• Include a call-to-action
• Stay consistent

1. Have a Trustworthy Sender Name

When you receive an email in your inbox from a sender that you’re not familiar with or has a suspicious sender name, are you more likely to open it or send it straight to spam? One of the most important aspects of email marketing that can help to increase your open rate is to have a sender name that your subscribers trust.

Choosing a professional email address that is as close to the name of your practice as possible can help avoid getting your email sent to the spam or trash folder. 

For instance, if the name of your practice is San Diego Pet Care Clinic, your email name could be something along the lines of [email protected] if you choose to use your Google email to communicate with clients.

You also have the option to use a domain-based email address. Whatever the name of your website domain is, you should have the option to create an email address related to your site name through your hosting provider. This means that instead of using [email protected], you can have something similar to [email protected]. 

2. Make It Easy To Read

If subscribers are having a hard time understanding the content that you include in your newsletter, they will most likely stop opening your emails. This is where knowing your audience comes into play. 

You know who your clients are, and therefore know who you are creating this content for. You are not writing for other veterinary professionals, but the people you provide services for. 

For instance, if your newsletter for this month includes information about common diseases among cats, dogs and other common household animals, explain the condition as if you are speaking with someone who has no prior knowledge about the topic. 

You either want to teach, entertain, or inform your audience with your content and news stories. The more you understand your audience, the better you can construct your newsletters so that it is easy for clients to digest.

3. Include Appealing Graphics

Adding imagery to your newsletters is what you need to add a touch of brand personality to your content. Beautiful images draw readers in and encourage them to continue reading through your content to the very end. 

When you just have long blocks of text, it can be off-putting and readers may even find it unappealing or boring. Graphics make your content visually appealing and add character. 

Your graphics can be:

• Photos
• Infographics
• Gifs
• Stock images
• Memes
• Screenshots

When designing your newsletter, be sure that you also keep your brand in mind. What are your brand colors? Of course, you can add a pop of other non-brand colors to your designs, but use your brand colors consistently throughout the newsletter and other content pieces.

4. Share Information That Will Interest Your Clients

What is the latest update about your practice? Let your clients know! Before you start crafting your newsletter, think about what your objective is. Maybe you’ve received an award or accomplished something noteworthy recently and want them to know. Don’t be afraid to share good news along with the informational content you provide. 

5. Include a Call-To-Action 

Having a call-to-action, or CTA, is one of the most essential features to include in not only newsletters but any email that you send to your subscribers. After you pack your newsletter full of useful content for your readers, what is the next step that you want them to take? Whether it is to lead them to the appointment page on your website, resources, or any other web page, there needs to be a CTA. 

Your readers need to have an actionable item, so provide them with a sense of urgency with a CTA. Draw attention to your CTA by making it a button, bolded type, or a different color than the rest of your text. 

Some call-to-action examples are: 

• Sign Up
• Learn More
• Contact Us
• Book an Appointment

6. Stay Consistent

As you decide on other elements of your newsletter, consistency is one of the factors you must determine. If you choose to do a weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletter, stick with it. Setting up deadlines can help to keep you accountable so that you don’t push your newsletter creation to the side and forget about it until it is convenient for you. 

If you don’t stay consistent with creating, how can you expect subscribers to remain consistent and read it? Deciding on publishing frequency can also help to set expectations for your email subscribers. When you do a monthly newsletter, they’ll be expecting to receive one from you once a month and you should aim to meet their expectations. 

We know that committing to a schedule for content creation can be daunting because you are occupied with running your veterinary practice. Just remember that holding your readers’ attention will not be accomplished by sporadically publishing content, but by sticking to a schedule that works for everyone. Creating your next newsletter will become a habit, just as reading it will be for subscribers. 

Veterinary Newsletter Ideas

You can get started on drafting your newsletter with some of these topic ideas: 

1. Information about the services your office provides
2. Tips on caring for pets
3. The story of how your practice started
4. Videos
5. Recent awards or accomplishments
6. Important updates about your office (changes in hours, phone number, location, etc.)
7. Client testimonials
8. Events your practice is hosting
9. Webinars by local veterinarians
10. Limited time offers
11. Resources (blog posts, infographics, ebooks)
12. Any relevant information for pet owners

Leveraging Newsletters at Your Practice 

Newsletters are a cost-effective method to nurture the relationships between you and your clients. You can build trust and confidence with clients by providing them with information about your veterinary office. 

Start creating your content and spread the word as soon as possible about your newsletter. To learn more about how we can help you grow your practice, click here or call us at 800.792.8384 today.