What's the value of LinkedIn & Google+ for your veterinary practice?

I recently received an email from a Vetanswers member with the following question....

Lesley's question...

May I pick your brain please?  Do you have much to do with LinkedIn?  I am unsure of its value for a vet practice?  I am in the process also of learning Google+ and Google Circles to expand our social media presence - my poor brain is spinning at the moment but I am determined to plow on and learn it all.

– Lesley, Business Manager & Practice Owner

My response...

Hmm LinkedIn & vet practices.  LinkedIn is more of a social media platform for professionals & B2B type businesses. So people tend to be there for business purposes rather than personal (family, pet, etc.) purposes.  It could be a good platform for you personally to connect with others in the veterinary industry - especially if you join groups involved in topics that interest you.  I'm on LinkedIn both personally & also have a Business Page for Vetanswers but I don’t tend to spend much time on it as to be honest I find it a bit boring!

The Groups I've joined don’t seem to be that active and I've never had much response when I've posted blog posts, etc. however I should also admit I haven't spent that much time on them.

Some of the LinkedIn Groups I'm a member of that you might like to check out:

• This is a new one I've just joined: Veterinary Practice Management Group (Admin: Helen Dutton)
• The Hamster Wheel Veterinary Business Group (Admin: Dr Dave Nicol)
• High Performance Vets (Admin: Dr Natasha Wilks)
• Veterinary Industry - promoting wellbeing for veterinary professionals (a new group Admin: Nadine Hamilton)
• Beyond Veterinary Practice Management (Admin: Dr Heike Jung)
• Marketing in Veterinary Medicine (Admin: Sergio Logato)
• Social Vet Professionals (Admin: Dallas McMillan)

Google+?

Google+ is a bit of a graveyard as far as the Australian veterinary industry goes & I suspect Australian’s in generals - and according to some of my US contacts it’s the same for the US veterinary industry!  I do post on it regularly - again I have a personal page & a Vetanswers Page  - but the only reason I do so, is to increase my Google rankings for blog posts etc.

Rather than spread yourself too thin on social media it could be worthwhile surveying your clients to see where they are online, how much time they’re spending on each platform & for what purpose. You could set up a simple online survey using Survey Monkey & email it to your clients (if you have their email addresses) and also have some printed versions that you could ask clients to fill in when they visit – that’s if you haven’t done so already of course!  You might find quite a lot of them are on Pinterest, Instagram or YouTube rather than LinkedIn, etc.

Hope that helps! 

Now it's your turn...

Do you agree or disagree with my advice to Lesley?

Are there some great LinkedIn Groups I may not be aware of?

Do you need any help to set up a 'Client social media survey' on Survey Monkey? Or is this a resource you might be interested in?

Add your thoughts, comments and ideas in the Comments section below...