Veterinary Social Media: Top 3 Platforms Your Practice Should Be Using
Keeping up with every social media platform can be quite a challenge when you’re busy running your veterinary practice. You’ll want to limit the platforms you choose so that each one gives you the most return on investment and maximizes engagement with followers.
Besides engagement, social media for veterinary professionals offers many advantages like attracting new clients, developing your brand, and driving traffic to your veterinary website.
So how do you choose the best social media platform for your veterinary practice? The best platforms your practice should be using for veterinary social media posts are Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business.
In this blog, we’ll review each platform and discuss the reasons why your practice should have a presence on each. Let’s get started.
1. Facebook: Create a Business Page for Your Veterinary Practice
Facebook is by far the largest social network worldwide. There are about 2.8 billion monthly active users. You’ll want to be active on Facebook to connect with existing and potential new clients, raise brand awareness, promote word-of-mouth, drive traffic to your website, share pictures and videos from your business, and keep all your business information updated.
Why Have a Facebook Business Page?
- It’s the digital storefront of your veterinary practice.
- You’ll establish a presence in your community where your existing and prospective clients spend most of their time engaging with you.
- Pet owners can learn more about your services and specialties.
- Facebook ads are a great way to target pet owners nearby who need veterinary services.
Learn More: The Beginner’s Guide to Running Facebook Ads
When to Post & What Type of Veterinary Content You Should Share On Facebook
According to reports, the best days and times to post are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 5 p.m., Friday from 8–9 a.m. The absolute best day to post is Wednesday. You’ll want to avoid posting on Sundays. The reason for this is most pet owners on the weekends are out and about with their furry friends and don’t spend as much time on social media as they do during the week.
The type of content you’ll want to share with your followers is:
- Pet Holidays and Veterinary Awareness Days
- Informational, celebratory, and educational content
- Pet adoptions, local community events
- Introduce your staff members, create a practice tour
- Your practice blogs, promotions, and special discounts
- Updates on business hours
- Pet of the week, contests, and polls
Follow and Reshare Content From Top Veterinary Facebook Pages
Sharing content from top authoritative sources in your industry is a great way to build your credibility. You’ll want to reshare content that is helpful to your followers like pet food or animal products that have been recalled, and educational tips for pet owners. When you follow veterinary associations you’ll also be updated with the latest trends and technological advancements in your field.
Here are some veterinary associations you should like on Facebook:
- The American Veterinary Medical Association
- The American Animal Hospital Association
- The American Pet Products Association
- The Animal Medical Center
- The American Association of Mobile Veterinary Practitioners
- APVMA: The American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association
Learn More: Quick & Simple Vet Social Media Marketing Tactics
2. Instagram: Is All About Visual Content to Increase Engagement
Before we move onto Instagram, let’s first highlight some key differences between Facebook and Instagram. Facebook users can look up business hours, addresses, or upcoming events of a company, and Instagram is more about focusing on capturing the moments.
There are more than 1 billion monthly users on Instagram and its success comes from the interaction with visual content. You’ll want to use Instagram to add engaging pet graphics short videos, hashtags, live Stories, reels, IGTV, and conduct polls.
To make things even more engaging, you can add Instagram Stories stickers to encourage your followers to chat with you about their pet experiences. If you are running a limited-time promotion, make sure to use the countdown stick to boost community events and pet sales.
Read On: 5 Ways to Master Veterinary Social Media Marketing
When to Post & What Type of Veterinary Content You Should Share On Instagram
If you want a large following on Instagram, you’ll need to create content that pet owners want to see. But if you share content at the wrong time, users may not see it. According to Hubspot the best days and times you’ll want to post your veterinary content on Instagram is:
- Monday: 11 AM – 2 PM
- Tuesday: 10 AM – 3 PM, *7 PM
- Wednesday: 7 AM – 4 PM (Engagement peaking at 11 AM – 2 PM)
- Thursday: 10 AM – 2 PM and 6 – 7 PM.
- Friday: *9 AM – 2 PM
- Saturday: 9 – 11 AM
- Sunday: 8 AM to 2 PM (engagement is low on Sundays)
The type of content you’ll want to share with your followers on Instagram:
- Patient selfies – Before posting a picture of one of your new pet patients, make sure to ask for consent.
- Promotions – If you’re offering a discount on vaccinations, dental cleaning, pet wellness exam be sure to share it with your followers.
- Features – Highlight your staff members on your account and share any funny moments at your practice.
- Exotic pet patient photos – Show off your unusual patients to engage and build relationships with pet owners who also have these types of pets.
- Pet memes- Make your Instagram posts funny by sharing silly pet photos, or bloopers and get a chuckle from your followers.
Interact With Your Followers Using Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories enables users to tell a more vivid story than just a series of individual photos. Stories are temporary and will only last a day and then disappear. You’ll be able to get specific messages across and encourage interaction with your brand.
Instagram Stories provides endless options for communicating with your followers. You can add questions, ask followers to vote on a certain veterinary topic, host a Q&A, promote discounts and pet competitions. The 24-time frame will create a sense of urgency and will entice users to take action quickly by visiting your veterinary website or directly messaging you.
An interesting story idea would be a tour of your veterinary practice. You could create a poll and ask your followers if they’d like to see your office and meet your staff members.
Another poll idea would be asking if your followers are dog lovers or cat loves or new pet parents. This will help you understand your audience more and possibly lead them to book an appointment at your practice. Share cute pet patient photos, or funny pet memes on your story, pet owners dressing their furry friend for Halloween, or events like birthdays. Start exploring Instagram Stories.
3. Google My Business: Claim Your (GMB) Account to Reach More Clients
People disregard Google My Business completely as another social platform, yet it’s probably the most important one since pet owners search on Google for veterinary clinics near them.
GMB gives you control over what users see when searching for the listings you manage. For free this platform allows you to promote your business profile and your practice’s website on Google Search and Maps. You’ll be able to help pet owners find your business and practice information easily.
Read On: How to Claim Your Google My Business Listing
What to Post & How to Interact With Clients on Google My Business
Ensure you start with a solid Google My Business profile first before posting content. An optimized Google My Business listing will enhance your visibility, allowing your posts to be found by more pet owners looking for a veterinarian. There are 4 types of posts that Google offers. You’ll want to make sure you use high-quality pictures and videos. Ensure to keep each post short. The recommended length is 150-300 characters. Here are the four types of posts you can create on GMB:
- What’s New: Announcements and general business information. When your practice moves into a new location, remodels, adds a new team member, etc.
- Events: List your community events. If you have a pet adoption be sure to include the time and date. This will help broaden your reach.
- Special Offers: Share limited-time coupons, discounts, promotions, or sales that your veterinary practice is running.
- Products: These posts can help you feature pet products that you have available at your veterinary practice.
You’ll be able to interact with pet owners on Google My Business because users can post and share pictures and write reviews, all of which will increase your online visibility and help you gain more clients. Add these reviews to your website to build trust with potential clients.
Read on: How to Generate Reviews That Get Results
Let Us Take Care of All Your Social Media Marketing Needs
Now that you know which platforms your veterinary practice should be active on, it’s time to start creating engaging content that will increase your following and potentially attract more clients.
If you don’t have time to implement all three we can help!
Give us a call at 800.792.8384 or click here to learn more about social media marketing services and how we can create a personalized solution for your practice.
