So your animal clinic has a Facebook business page, but now what? Your veterinary hospital’s Facebook needs more QUALITY fans to help spread the word about the pet care your clinic provides.
Getting quality fans on your veterinary hospital’s Facebook matters. It’s not a popularity contest, it’s about reaching and connecting with people who are current or potential clients.
If you’re wondering how to get more Facebook fans on your veterinary hospital’s page, I can provide 4 tips to get more likes. Remember: We’re looking for QUALITY VS QUANTITY when it comes to fans, though!
Here’s a few great (and easy!) social media strategies any vet tech, veterinary practice manager or other veterinary professional can employ to make sure plenty of pet parents are raving about your Facebook in no time.
1) Let Your Veterinary Hospital’s Clients Know You’re on Facebook
You communicate with your veterinary clients in exam rooms, on the phone, via reminder postcards, with email, using text messages & in countless other ways. Use the established communication methods your animal clinic uses as opportunities to mention or include your new Facebook.
You can also use your hospital as a canvas for Facebook ads! When I launched Quinebaug Valley Veterinary Hospital‘s Facebook almost 4 years ago, I put up posters in the waiting room saying, “GET A FREE BAG OF LEAN TREATS WHEN YOU LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!” Clients saw the signs, showed the staff their phones to prove that they liked the QVVH Facebook page & were handed a free bag of treats for their dog or cat. Easy!
Be sure that all of your invoices, postcards and other mailers are branded with a “LIKE US ON FACEBOOK” logo. If you have a message-on-hold when people call, make sure you mention your new veterinary hospital Facebook page. There are COUNTLESS simple ways to get clients liking your animal hospital’s Facebook that just involve using things you already have.
2) Create GREAT Content That’s for CLIENTS not YOU
This is the hardest Facebook strategy to master, but it’s critical to making your animal clinic’s Facebook a success. When you have awesome posts geared toward pet parents, your current fans are more likely to like them, comment on them, or – if you’re really lucky – SHARE THEM! Current fans can help get your veterinary hospital’s Facebook posts into the newsfeed for all users to see, ideally drawing them to come “like” your page.
It is important NOT to think like a veterinary practice manager nor a veterinarian with your posts. Your Facebook isn’t about promoting your hospital 24/7, it’s about creating a community for your clients. (Remember the Snout School philosophy: Communicate, educate, connect!)
Generally speaking, great content should involve an engaging picture, ask for action (Eg: “Please share!”, or “Tell us what you think about…”) and be something that your clients are interested in!
3) Put a Like Box on Your Website
A Facebook like box is a plug-in that your website designer can install on your veterinary hospital website.
It will allow people who are already on your veterinary hospital’s website to like your Facebook page while they’re there. Bonus? They can like your Facebook without having to LEAVE your animal clinic’s website. The ultimate goal of all of your social media efforts is to drive more traffic to your website (and ultimately through your hospital doors), so use this trick to ensure you get Facebook likes for your pet hospital while keeping your hard-earned website traffic on your veterinary site!
4) Try a Targeted Facebook Ad
This option is a tiny bit advanced, but it’s a pretty simple Facebook Ads option. Creating a “Like Ad”, one that targets non-fans through current fans, is a very effective way to get fans for your veterinary hospital’s page.
Facebook knows a lot about us, and you can use that to target your ads. If you target your ads well, they’re going to be QUALITY fans, not just random people. You want to attract pet-loving people who actually have an interest in your animal clinic, not just anyone on Facebook.
My biggest tip is to TARGET your like campaigns to your local area. I do a lot with Facebook ads over on SnoutAds.com, so be sure to head over there if you need help getting a good ad set up.
If you have specific questions, never hesitate to leave a comment below or contact me directly. I created Snout School to share what I’ve learned from managing my veterinary hospital’s social media, so I love helping out.