How to Create a Successful Veterinary Newsletter
Are you creating content for your veterinary website? A veterinary newsletter is the perfect way to keep your practice top of mind for pet parents who could benefit from important updates.
Creating a newsletter can improve your engagement with existing clients on your email subscription list. Getting started doesn’t have to be difficult, and if you are still deciding whether to begin drafting your very first veterinary newsletter, we’re here to show you how and why you should do so.
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 your connections with your clients by being consistent with how often you email them.
Suppose they only receive an email from you once every six months or even less. In that case, you become an afterthought, the opposite of what you want to occur to continue patient relationship management.
How To Plan Your Veterinary Newsletter?
Before you write news about the veterinary industry or provide the latest health updates in veterinary medicine, it’s important to plan your online newsletter accordingly.
Step 1: Define Your Target Audience
First, brainstorm content ideas for your target audience. Who are you talking to through your newsletter? To gauge your approach, determine the email’s target audience. Are you talking to current clients or potential ones? Are you talking to other veterinarians in the industry? Each email should be tailored to the people who will be reading it.
Step 2: Determine the Purpose of Your Newsletter
Why are you writing a newsletter? Do you want to share highlights on recent pet-related events? Each newsletter you disseminate should have a sense of purpose related to animals. For example, you can educate and inform readers on proper pet care, promote products and services by leading them to your website, or build client loyalty and engagement. Each email sent should have a distinct purpose that would benefit your practice in the long run.
Step 3: Establish a Publishing Schedule
Another critical aspect of the newsletter you should prepare for is its frequency. While you may have plenty of excellent ideas, you’d run out of ideas if you sent people emails daily. If you’re a beginner in creating newsletters, it might be more practical to space it out.
You can opt for a monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly newsletter. This will give you enough time to craft compelling yet valuable newsletters. What matters is that you remain consistent when sending out the newsletter.
Read More: Simple Strategies to Improve Your Newsletter Open Rates
10 Ways to Craft an Engaging Veterinary Newsletter
Now that you understand why newsletters are essential and how to plan for them, let’s understand what goes into creating a newsletter that your clients look forward to opening. These ten ways can help you write stellar messages your readers would appreciate.
1. Have a Trustworthy Sender Name
When you receive an email in your inbox from a sender you’re unfamiliar with or have 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 prevent your email from being sent to the spam or trash folder.
For instance, if your practice is San Diego Pet Care Clinic, your email name could be something like [email protected] if you 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 have difficulty understanding the content 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 want to teach, entertain, or inform your audience with content and news stories. The more you understand your audience, the better you can construct your newsletters to make them easy for clients to digest.
3. Start with an Attention-Grabbing Headline
A stellar way to get people to read your newsletter is to start with a headline that grabs their attention. You need to start strong with a short yet catchy line that summarizes or gives a preview of what they can expect from your email.
Your headline should focus on what makes your email different. That’s why you should be careful about the words in the headline. It should pack a punch without being misleading.
4. Keep it Personal
Based on the information you have on your email recipients, you should tailor each newsletter you send. For example, if you’re aware that certain subscribers have dogs, you should send interesting messages to help them take better care of their dogs instead of a generic pet based email.
Another simple yet effective way to personalize your newsletter is to address each recipient by name. This will make them feel seen.
5. Include Appealing Graphics or Videos
Adding imagery or videos to your newsletters is the key to adding a touch of brand personality to your content. Beautiful images and high-quality videos draw readers in and encourage them to read through your content to the very end.
Long blocks of text can be off-putting, and readers may even find them unappealing or dull. Graphics make your content visually appealing and add character.
Your graphics can be:
- Photos
- Infographics
- Gifs
- Stock images
- Memes
- Screenshots
When designing your newsletter, remember your brand. What are your brand colors? Of course, you can add other non-brand colors to your designs, but use your brand colors consistently throughout the newsletter and other content pieces.
6. 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 and the informational content you provide.
7. Highlight the Value to Readers
When writing newsletters, you should put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. Each time they read your email, they should get something from it. This can be in the form of interesting information, a discount code, or even an invitation to an event. Basically, you need to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”
8. Include a Call-To-Action
Having a call-to-action, or CTA, is one of the most essential features to include in newsletters and any email you send to your subscribers. After you pack your newsletter full of helpful content for your readers, what next step do 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 must be a CTA.
Your readers need an actionable item, so give them a sense of urgency with a CTA. Make your CTA a button, bolded type, or a different color than the rest of your text to draw attention to it.
Some call-to-action examples are:
- Sign Up
- Learn More
- Contact Us
- Book an Appointment
9. Stay Consistent
Consistency is one factor you must consider as you decide on other newsletter elements. If you choose to do a weekly, monthly, or quarterly newsletter, stick with it. Setting up deadlines can help keep you accountable so that you don’t push your newsletter creation aside 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 expect to receive one from you once a month, and you should aim to meet their expectations.
We know that committing to a content creation schedule can be daunting because you are busy running your veterinary practice. 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 following newsletter will become a habit, just as reading it will be for subscribers.
10. Don’t Overdo It
While you want to provide value and invite recipients to book an appointment with your practice, you shouldn’t overwhelm them with information or too many elements. This may cause them to fall off. What does this mean? Don’t send them messages that would take too long to read. You might bore them, and they won’t get to appreciate the hard work you’ve exerted into crafting the message.
If you have more to say or show, it would be better to lead the reader to your business website or invite them to visit your clinic. You should also take it easy with the visuals. Don’t include hour-long videos or dozens of photos to overwhelm your audience.
Veterinary Newsletter Ideas
You can get started on drafting your newsletter with some of these topic ideas:
- Information about the services your office provides
- Tips on caring for pets
- The story of how your practice started
- Videos
- Recent awards or accomplishments
- Important updates about your office (changes in hours, phone number, location, etc.)
- Client testimonials
- Events your practice is hosting
- Webinars by local veterinarians
- Limited time offers
- Resources (blog posts, infographics, ebooks)
- Any relevant information for pet owners
Leveraging Newsletters at Your Practice
Newsletters are a cost-effective method of nurturing relationships between you and your clients. By providing them with information about your veterinary office, you can build trust and confidence with them.
Start creating your content and spread the word about your newsletter as soon as possible. To learn more about how we can help you grow your practice, click here or call us at 800.792.8384 today.
FAQs
What is the best layout for a newsletter?
The most important information should be first, followed by supporting information. To break up the text, use graphics or videos. Last, there should be at least one CTA to entince someone to subscribe or take a desired action.
What is the best email marketing tool for newsletters?
You can use MailerLite, MailChimp or entrust your newsletter to trusted professionals at iMatrix.
How long should a newsletter be?
A newsletter should be about 20 lines of text with graphics or videos to break them up.
