When it comes to starting and growing your Veterinarian social media following, it’s important that it incorporates the elements of your practice that has to follow an intricate balance of branding your practice and staff along with educational content that will give them a reason to follow you with interest.
From the Ground Up
In the beginning, go for broke. You want as much content in as many places as possible for the people who come to your social pages. This is the digital face of your practice. Just like you want to make your practice as welcoming to new patients as possible, you want to treat your initial social posts this way as well.
Make sure there’s diversity in the posts. These are the categories that we see the most success with:
-
Educational information that will help people live a better life.
This will help to show people the immediate why. If they’re on your page, they are most likely curious and interested, but they might not know about how a Veterinarians or physical therapist can help manage their situation.
-
Piercing the Veil — Showing Behind the Scenes
Many people really appreciate seeing behind the scenes at your practice. Celebrating birthdays and holidays, family involvement, and testimonials are great for this and are really the most important piece of the puzzle.
-
Entertainment
Just like a great meal often has several components, from appetizers to dessert, social media is similar. You can’t be too serious, and things like memes, sharing entertaining viral content, and the other elements that make social amusing are essential. Remember that your audience doesn’t need to be there, so ask yourself, how do you strike the best balance of tone. This will come with time and observation of how your content performs.
Content That Succeeds
In order to generate the best content, testing is essential. First, put together several types of content, from infographics and short videos for the practice to the blogs that are posted every month.
As you watch the basics come together, take some time each week to review previous posts. Start noting which ones are receiving more engagement.
Likely, the entertaining content will be the most engaged. This doesn’t mean to only post this material. Think of that like dessert — it tastes great, but you can’t have a balanced diet of just dessert. As such, use entertainment like the hook that keeps people and mix in the educational content which piques their curiosity.
Engaging with Your Audience
One of the more important aspects of social media is how you engage with others online. People want to see a two-way street in terms of communication. Make sure from day one that all staff is clear on the tone that your social media will follow. Ideally, you want to strike the balance in tone like you do with the balance of your content. Always be positive, and treat people online the same way they would be treated at your practice. No one likes being forgotten or ignored, and it’s imperative that comments get addressed and appreciated.
Dealing with Negativity on social media
This is going to be an essential component of any public-facing entity. There will always be someone who is dissatisfied, no matter how hard you try. This could be a matter in the comments section, or worse, in your practice’s reviews.
For Veterinarians, this can be the kiss of death. But when these people come to your page and negatively comment or post a negative review, remember this: it isn’t about them, it’s about the people who will read it.
Imagine you’re at a restaurant and you see someone who has a problem with their food or service. When they speak to the manager, a good manager understands that half of what’s going on is spectacle, as well. Every table around is watching, looking at how the staff is going to treat the guest. In this same way, when someone has an issue with your practice, remember that the world is watching. This includes direct messages that can easily become a screenshot and used against you in some way.
Here’s the secret to dealing with them successfully:
- If there is anything offensive, delete the comment and report the user.
- Make sure that your response addresses that they’re upset and that you have heard them.
- Apologize for their dissatisfaction.
- Offer a means of remedy to contact your practice directly to solve the problem.
This is one of the more essential pieces to whatever you end up doing online, as it will set the tone for everyone else as to how you treat people. And if you’re being patient with the occasional dissatisfied person, they will see you in that much better light.
Inside the Veterinarian Practice
Get ready for the world to see your practice. If things go well, you should see patients posting themselves, tagging your practice, and even getting staff in their selfies as well.
This really comes down to having your staff understand the importance of what you’re doing and how they can help. When people are happy, encouraging them to follow your practice is step one. Have them tell their patients what sorts of things they’ll find, and also they can ask important questions like “what would help you day to day to see on social media?”
It’s a great opportunity to help point you in the right direction. But it goes further as well. Every staff person with a company email account should have an invitation to follow on social media down in the signature of your emails. Furthermore, any newsletter or regular email needs to have those as well. In terms of the practice, having the appropriate signage will help this as well. In addition to having a logo of your practice that they can take selfies with, having signs in the waiting room and in your medical areas that patients frequent is helpful as well.
The Front Line of Veterinarian Social Media management
Finally, your front desk staff are the most critical part of this, especially in the beginning of your social presence. If a patient is wrapping up and they are obviously happy, this is the time to invite them to follow you, or, if they already do, invite them to post about their treatment.
Most people are more than happy to do this, they simply need to be asked or reminded. Have them let the patient know about what they can expect to find on social media, and that they’ll be getting useful information that will help their daily lives.
Encourage staff to take their own photos, too. These will be important for the social media manager to have in order to populate such content and tag the people in the photos. If you ever have an event that a staff member speaks at or that the practice conducts, make sure you get plenty of pictures and videos. You want to give the audience the impression that they’re an active participant, even when they can’t be there.
At the end of the day, remember that your patients, like you or me, want to feel a part of something they care about. The care you show for your patients, as well as the tone you set, will speak volumes for you and will ensure that you have a positive and productive channel that people will return to every day.
Ensure Your Brand’s Future
To make sure you’re getting the most out of your brand’s marketing strategy, it’s best to implement SEO and PPC together. Fortunately, Brand Vets is happy to take care of everything for you. We have extensive experience in engaging communities on the performance of Veterinarian care, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of our quality service. Contact us today to get started!
