According to the American Pet Products Association, almost 70% of households in the United States have a dog or cat, and these tamed animals are living high-style. According to an American Pet Products Association poll, pet owners in the United States spend over $75 billion each year on pet products. Food, toys, clothes, bedding, and accessories are among them. However, they also spend more than $18 billion every year on veterinary care. It’s clear that people like taking excellent care of their pets. As a result, the veterinary sector is a lucrative industry.

According to an AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinary Services, there are roughly 30,000 veterinary clinics in the United States. Independent veterinarians run about 85% of them. They also provide marketing assistance for veterinary services. Which leads us to our topic: franchise veterinary companies help with marketing efforts. As a result, we’ll get into that now.

Here are ten fantastic marketing tips for veterinary hospitals. Put these ideas to use in your veterinary clinic and see how many clients you can attract and how much money you make!

1. Define Your Unique Selling Proposition

With so many firms vying for the lucrative business of proud pet owners, take some steps to set your practice apart. Look at what unique advantages you can provide to your clients—better known as your USP (unique selling proposition) —while assessing marketing ideas for veterinary clinics. This is a marketing concept that dates back to the ’60s when Madison Avenue created campaigns with distinct selling points to persuade consumers to switch companies.

Pet Depot is one of the leading independent retail and veterinary pet franchises. With over 30 locations in the United States and Canada, their distinctive hybrid retail/hospital brand serves eight states across the United States and Canada. Pet Depot’s USP sets them apart from competition. Veterinarians may open a joint commercial store and hospital location, resulting in client retention and a higher ROI. When walk-up customers come to their storefront, doctors suggest that they become hospital clients instead of encouraging them to visit their adjacent business.

Whatever your “angle,” make sure to emphasize the benefits of your brand in your communications. This will help you stay top of mind and build a good impression in the eyes of your consumers.

If you can create a distinct USP for your practice, the possibilities are limitless. The percentage of consumers that would recommend your business to someone else is important. If you may set yourself apart in some way that removes typical issues with your clinic, you’ll have a better chance at retaining new clients.

2. Get New Patients in the Door with a Special Offer

What is the most effective approach to get consumers through your doors? Give them something for nothing. Banfield Pet Hospital, a multinational corporation with over 1,000 locations, offers new clients a free pet examination on their first visit. This gets people into their local office to discover what the clinic is like. It also allows doctors and staff members an opportunity to establish rapport with pet owners.

Free is a strong incentive, but inform each customer what to expect. Banfield uses tiny writing in their offer to clarify that it’s only for brand-new pets and that they only accept dogs and cats (your 20-foot boa constrictor will be disappointed). They also add the line “restrictions apply” to cover all possibilities.

When your new clients depart, make an effort to arrange a follow-up visit. If they agree, you may utilize variable data printing to create a personalized appointment reminder for them. This allows you to not only include the pet’s name (“It’s time for Clia’s checkup!”) in a reminder postcard mailing, but also to use a photo of a dog or cat.

BingleVet Clinics, which is owned by the same company that runs BingleVet Hospitals, has a network of franchised locations with limited-time free baths as part of their veterinarian services. When you bring your pet in for a regular checkup or any other service, they’ll get a free spa treatment as well.

Consider giving them a parting gift and information, as well as an email or direct mail piece that thanks them for visiting, no matter which veterinary marketing technique you employ to attract new patients into your clinic. Try sending a handwritten note as a word of best practice customer service advice. This will demonstrate how much you care.

3. Try Direct Mail to Attract New Local Residents

Use variable data printing to customize each mailing with information like the recipient’s pet’s name, breed, and next appointment date.

Let’s see how long direct mail has been effective as a marketing tool by looking at the history of direct mail marketing. It worked in the 1400s, it works today, and there’s no indication that it will stop anytime soon.

In fact, for U.S. households, the response rate of direct mail is over 5%, and the ROI is almost 30%. It’s a $44-billion market that’s gaining ground rapidly. That should be enough to motivate you to give this thriving marketing channel a go.

Here’s one great example of a direct mail appeal. When pet owners relocate, they’re on the lookout for a new veterinarian for their four-legged companion. This allows you to introduce yourself to them with an eye-catching and incentive-based direct mailing piece. You may invite prospective residents who have pets in a specific zip code to choose you because of your expertise and endorsements.

If you’re not getting the results you want in your direct mail campaign, there are tried-and-true strategies for obtaining high return on investment. Here are a few examples of more popular ways to speed up campaign results:

• To make your campaign arrive on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, use direct mail timing.
• Variable data printing allows you to personalize your direct mail.
• Save money and minimize waste by optimizing your postal service.
• Organize your marketing channels with omnichannel marketing.
• To hold the recipient’s attention, make creative use of the design of your direct mail piece.
• Keep track of how many people responded to your campaigns so you can figure out which ones were a success—or not.

When you devote time to developing a strategy for your direct mail marketing efforts, you have a much better chance of success.

4. Use Marketing Automation Tools to Save Time and Money

Let’s begin by defining marketing automation. Marketing automation minimizes time-consuming marketing activities like sending email responses, creating social media posts, and performing website actions. It’s automated marketing software that reduces campaign management time by up to 80 percent. For the purpose of this essay, let’s concentrate on how you may utilize marketing automation in your email campaigns.

Consider an auto-responder marketing campaign that converts leads into paying customers. Market automation lets you to deliver targeted messages to your consumers as they move through the marketing funnel. You’re providing pet owners with information so they can make an informed pick regarding their dog’s healthcare in the case of veterinary service marketing. You’re also offering them a motivator along the road to help them get over any shyness about making such a big decision for their pets’ lives.

Let’s assume you’ve compiled a list of potential customers and sent them an email asking them to download your most recent e-book on vaccinations for their pets. When they download the e-book, you send them another automated thank you message. You may send a second automated message that expands on a certain type of vaccination or other health-related themes after a few days. It might be a case study or another piece of material from your website.

If they continue to use the internet and demonstrate an interest, it’s likely that they’re ready for a more personal encounter, such as making an appointment. This is when you may reach out to see if they’re interested in bringing their pet into your clinic.

5. Turn to Social Media Marketing to Keep Consumers Informed and Interested

Social media should be a crucial component of your marketing strategy. After all, according to almost 75% of marketers, it is effective for their business. Veterinary clinics are included in this figure. You may use social media marketing campaigns to publish helpful information and suggestions for dog owners on a regular basis in order to keep current and potential customers engaged with your franchise company. Try posting useful information and suggestions for pet owners so they may better care of their pets as an example. Content marketing is an excellent way to achieve this.

You may also express your company’s personality with photos of some of your present four-legged patients in articles about your staff. Did you know that there’s a “World Veterinary Day” each year? There are numerous other days dedicated to dogs, including “National Bring Your Cat to the Veterinarian Day.” Take advantage of these unique occasions by producing engaging and amusing content since they provide incentives for creating fascinating and entertaining media.

Offer products for sale if you do (such as pet food and snacks, bowls, accouterments, etc.). Run a contest on social media where your followers can enter to win. Your postings are likely to be shared, which will only expand the number of people who see them.

6. Keep in Touch With Customers Using Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most direct digital marketing channels to connect with your customers. It allows you to send information about your business directly to their inboxes on a regular basis. You may use email marketing to promote new products or services, announce sales or discounts, invite customers to events, or simply share helpful information.

7. Make It Easy for Customers to Connect With You by Adding a Live Chat Feature to Your Website

Adding a live chat feature to your website is an excellent way to make it easy for customers to connect with you. It allows them to get their questions answered in real-time by a member of your team. This is an excellent way to provide great customer service and increase sales.

8. Answer Pet Owner’s Questions on Your Website’s Blog

Providing useful material on your website is one approach to enhance your brand’s reputation. In fact, as an authority on pet-related health issues, you may fulfill your clients’ demands in more ways than one. That means aside from providing the finest health care, you can also keep them up to date with information that teaches and amuses them. Take advantage of the chance to compile popular concerns and answer them fully. As a result, you become the expert on the topic.

The owners of PetWellClinic have three locations in Knoxville, Tennessee, and they provide website blog material covering topics such as pet behavior and health to heart-wrenching stories about dogs and cats to their local consumers. You may follow suit. It’s a fantastic approach to demonstrate your understanding of a number of relatable themes while also expressing your company’s personality and vision. You may not only display your knowledge about the veterinary sector, but you can also show that you care for the pets you serve by demonstrating empathy and compassion.

Don’t Forget to Use SEO Best Practices When Marketing Veterinary Services

Naturally, you want as many people as possible to read your articles, so use the best search engine optimization (SEO) practices and avoid common copywriting blunders, especially when it comes to veterinary care. Here are a few pointers to keep an eye on while writing each article:

• Always begin content projects with keyword research. You want to make your content SEO-friendly by optimizing it for terms that real people use.
• Consider the goal of your typical client. What phrases and topics are they looking for most frequently?
• Include synonyms and related keywords while writing. These terms can also be optimized for SEO!
• Consider your users’ points of view and use your content to solve their issues. This is not the time or place to extol your successes. Save that for your bio page.
• Make sure you’re communicating clearly so that others may understand what you’re saying. Don’t use high-tech or complicated medical phrases to explain a simple thing that can crack search engines with simple keyword research.

9. Offer Rewards for Referrals

According to a Nielsen survey, over 90 percent of customers trust recommendations from their friends and family more than an advertisement. This allows for a rewards program in which your current satisfied clients can inform others about your veterinary services.

According to research, consumers who are referred by others have a 39 percent higher retention rate than those that aren’t. Furthermore, about 80% of customers are more likely to interact with a business that has a loyalty program.

How do you go about getting your existing clients to recommend you to their friends and relatives? You can just come out and ask. When patients are in your office, ask if they would be so kind as to notify their pet-owner buddies about your business. As a thank you, give them something in return, such as a discount on a future visit or free stuff.

Aside from the simple approach, there are additional retention marketing best practices to follow. Include a line about incentives for referrals in your communication with a long-standing client via email or direct mail. Make it clear what they’ll get in return and why it’s worth their time to suggest one of their friends, coworkers, or family members to your company. You may also create an attractive handout and hang it at your front desk or in a display rack to increase the likelihood of receiving a recommendation. The more succinct and beneficial the message is, the higher your chances of getting a referral will be.

10. Achieve Brand Consistency with a Brand Management System

It’s all about brand consistency. According to research, you may increase your income by around 25% if you consistently represent your brand across all of your marketing channels. A branding management solution gives you the greatest chance of success. You must first establish corporate standards before relying on them to work. It helps if they’re available from a cloud-based platform where each of your authorized franchisees has access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Conclusion

As a veterinarian, you have the opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives. You also have the chance to run a successful business. The key is to use modern marketing methods to reach as many potential clients as possible. And, of course, don’t forget the importance of SEO in everything that you do. If you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to increasing both your clientele and your bottom line. A veterinary marketing company can help you to take your business to the next level.