By Cheyanne Flerx & Janel Hutton

Is your brain officially fried? We see how hard you are working, and we want to help! We thought it would be helpful to gather some relevant social media and marketing ideas that you can implement quickly and get back to serving clients. Check ‘em out!

Topic Ideas for the Vet Clinic Blog:

Keeping your blog up to date with helpful and educational content is still a useful tool to utilize. Here are some blog topics to get you going: 

• Ways to keep pets cool during hot weather
• Summer safety tips
  
• Tips for camping or hiking with pets
  

Video Ideas:

Video is still one of the most consumed pieces of content across multiple social media platforms. Use that knowledge to your advantage! 

Try these ideas: 

• Video Idea #1: “Hot Hits” – Make fun and engaging video with your entire staff to educate on the dangers of heat. Involve most of the clinic by creating a parody or skit. Let’s go, viral baby! Who knows, maybe this is your chance to hop on the Tik Tok train!
• Video Idea #2: “Heatstroke Safety” – Have one of your veterinarians talk about the dangers of heatstroke in pets, you can go live on Facebook or pre-record it.
  

Facebook Post Ideas:

• Post Idea #1: “World Emoji Day” – This is an easy and FUN one to post for! This is a post idea really is great for either Facebook or Instagram. Followers have always loved this post when we have shared it! If your Facebook or Instagram account doesn’t receive a ton of engagement, this is a great post to get the party started. If that is the case, encourage your team members to comment on the post to break the ice.

If you are looking for more fun and engaging post idea ideas like this one, then you will want to check out our new pdf! It is FILLED with fun post ideas (65 to be exact) and comes with Canva templates. Literally, you can whip out social media posts faster than you can Goldendoodle! Check out this epic pdf over on the Snout School store.

• Post Idea #2: “The Power of Texting” – If your clinic offers two-way texting, show your clients how to use it with either a video or a brief step by step guide. Show clients how to check-in via curbside by texting the number or using the app. PRO TIP: Show what happens inside the building when the team receives a text notifying a patient is ready to be brought it. This will reduce some anxiety pet owners may have.
  
• Post Idea #3: “National Mutt Day” – Get your followers engaging by asking them to share their pictures of their mixed breed companions! PRO TIP: Provide a real-life example on your post!
  

Instagram Post Ideas:

• Post Idea #1: “Show your gratitude” – Celebrate your clients who have shown you gratitude and kindness through gifts or sweet notes. Reward those clients who have taken the time and effort to be positive.
• Post Idea #2: “Behind the Scenes” – Have your phones been ringing off the hook? Share a picture of a quick video to show how hard your team is working to meet each owners’ needs. Take this opportunity to list all the ways your clients can reach out to you. Bonus points for sharing how clients can communicate via your website, email, and 2-way texting. Sometimes clients need that gentle reminder that there are means of communicating your practice. 😉
• Post Idea #3: “Who Wore It Best?” – With cloth face masks becoming a fashion accessory now why not have some fun? Gather your team, take pictures with their masks on, and then make a post that asks your audience which mask is their favorite. BONUS TIP: Give a gift card to the team member the receives the most votes!

Instagram or Facebook Stories Ideas:

• Story Idea #1: “Puppy Snuggles” – WIth clients still not allowed in most practices, be sure to keep your patients appearing on your social media! By showcasing patients as they are being examined, receiving treatments, or purely sneaking in loves and snuggles, your clients will get to see that you are still providing the same trusted care as you always have. Plus your clients will get to join in on the experience which will foster your bond with the pet owner.
• Story Idea #2: “Team Takeover” – Do you have a team member who you think would be fun to follow around for a day? Let them go host the Instagram stories and share a sneak peek of what it is like to be upfront, in treatment, or in kennel.
• Story Idea #3: “Trivia Time!” – Share some trivia facts related to heat safety, parasite prevention, your team, or even fun and random facts! Use the Instagram “Question Sticker” to boost your engagement.

Cheyanne’s Bonus Biscuit of the Month

Fourth of July has historically been a difficult time for pets with the BOOM of fireworks. Provide your clients with the education and tools they need to keep their pets safe and comfortable. My best tips on how to create content in a jiffy that also conveys this positively and memorably are as follows:

• Remind your clients a week before the holiday. If you experience a high number of requests for sedation or calming supplements, send out a reminder via email to all clients and post on social media with instructions on how to request prescriptions. This will help space out the requests and reduce your clients’ waits times. Trust me. Your team will REALLY appreciate it!
• Write a quick blog that lists out your practice’s top 4-5 Fourth of July safety tips. Take this as an opportunity to mention microchips, yard safety, food safety, and overall behavioral support. Then share the link on Facebook.
• Create an infographic with your 4-5 main safety tips and share it on Facebook. PRO TIP: Embed the infographic on your relating blog post!
• Create a series of graphics (a.k.a. a carousel) that highlights one safety tips on each graphic and share it on Instagram. PRO TIP: Share it to your Instagram Story and save it as a highlight!
• Take those main points from your blog and turn it into a video! Record one of your team members sharing the safety tips with props. This is a great time to promote your calming sprays, calming kits, relaxing tools, and anything you provide patients to ease them. PRO TIP: You could embed this on your website!
• Share pictures of patient or employee pets dressed in Fourth Of July apparel and ask your audience to share their pet’s festive pictures. Here is another opportunity to share the link to your blog with safety tips. You could also hold off for All American Pet Photo Day (which is July 11) and apply the same idea then.

*Reading this a little too late? Save it for next year and set a reminder on your calendar! My favorite way to store this type of idea for education or marketing plans is on Trello and Airtable. Both serve as a great way to store and organize all your ideas and plans. I highly recommend you check them out!

Janel’s Bonus Biscuit of the Month

It’s been busy, protocols have changed, we are all just trying to keep our heads above water, right?

When was the last time you went over with your team about how to look for content, what is your brand voice, what do you want for photos?

Right now might not seem like the ideal time to focus on your practice’s marketing and messaging, but it’s the best time! Clients are still actively searching for veterinary practices to do business with, even if you aren’t able to take on more your practice’s image is still visible.

Regardless of what is happening in the world, it’s always a good idea to have your entire team on the same page concerning what you want on your social media pages, what you want them to say, and how they look.

Here is an example of things to go over:

• Do you have a monthly strategy?
  • What are your monthly marketing goals?
  • What holidays are you celebrating this month?
  • Are you going to highlight specific team members?
  • Anything fun going on in the clinic?
  • What products are you pushing this month?
• Who is taking photos for you?
  • Talk with your team to make sure they are aware of their surroundings and backgrounds of photos.
  • Always ask for permission!
  • Try to get a human-animal in all photos; they perform the best on social media!
  • Use appropriate filters on your phone, Instagram, etc.
• Discuss what platforms you post to and ask your team to follow your pages.
  • You might be surprised that some of your team didn’t know you had an Instagram account!
  • Encourage the team to engage with your pages and SHARE!
• Ask the team for their ideas! They might have some great ideas, and you’ll never know if you don’t ask.

Involving your coworkers with your social media strategy can help during these CRAZY times! We are all in this together!

My best advice is to always keep communication open on what you want for your social media pages, so your brand voice stays consistent and attracts the right followers.

Looking for more marketing resources, tips, and tricks?! Our friends at WhiskerCloud and compiled a ton of helpful resources for you here. Not to mention, we have a TON of resources for you over in the Snout School blog and store. Go check them out!

About The Authors