This past year has shown us how important it is for veterinary practices to connect and communicate with your clients.
Prompted by the need to communicate COVID-19 protocols with pet owners before they bring their pets into the vet hospital, this experience has reinforced that by regularly engaging with clients over various different communications channels, veterinarians are well placed to show that you care about both your clients and their pets.
The various methods of communicating with clients, such as via social media, website, SMS and telephone, coupled with the use of storytelling – are vitally important to harnessing your connection with clients and the community. This communication helps to drive community engagement, whilst building connection and trust, which will hopefully lead to positive outcomes for business development and practice growth.
Storytelling can inform and engage
Through storytelling, it is possible to showcase what vets do, educate and inform the community about pet information, and provide insights about the vet practice – such as your staff, your services and any community initiatives you’re involved with. In this context, good storytelling involves being able to capture attention and succinctly educate or direct your clients with a call to action. It’s important to write content for your social media posts, website blog articles and e-newsletters so that it is done in such a way so as to showcase, inform and engage – aiming to encourage people to bring their pets into the practice or to learn valuable pet health information.
Storytelling can showcase what you do in your veterinary practice
Vets are known for being compassionate and caring people, and clients will often choose their veterinarian based on the personality of the vets or the practice itself. With more and more people researching online to find a vet or to find pet information, now more than ever veterinarians need to be showcasing what they do – through storytelling and communications. By building engagement with clients and the local community, business development prospers as new clients are attracted, existing clients are retained, and the pet owners bond with the practice is strengthened.
Vets are busy! So veterinary communications management or marketing often falls by the way side ….
Veterinarians have busy roles, juggling the demands of clinical work, running a business, managing staffing, continuing education and life outside of work. With these competing priorities, veterinary communications management or marketing can often fall by the way side a little. However, by investing some time and budget into good veterinary communications management and marketing, this can make a huge difference to your business.
Some vets might feel that they don’t have the time or skills to write good social media content, website blog posts or practice newsletters. The good news is that there are people who can help you with veterinary writing, content development, communications management and marketing support. I for one, enjoy nothing more than helping vets to showcase what you do to ensure your business thrives.
About Phil
Dr Phil Tucak is veterinarian, communications manager and journalist, and as the Wildlife Outreach Vet, he also works to share the conversation about conservation. Based in Perth, Phil works on communications for several veterinary businesses and science and conservation organisations. He regularly writes content for the Australian Veterinary Association and he curated content for the AVA’s Return to Work online learning resource. Phil has previously worked as Communications Manager for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Communications and Interpretation Coordinator for Perth Zoo, as a journalist for SBS News, and as a producer and presenter for the ABC. In 2020, Phil was awarded the Veterinary Business Professional of the Year.
