26 Oct 2017
Developing a social media strategy is fundamental for your practice's ability to communicate with existing clients. However, as Justin Phillips states, it is also vital in attracting new pet owners and differentiating yourself from the others in town...
Can you remember the time before Facebook?
When we talk about “social media”, what we really mean is Facebook. Yes, countless other platforms exist, but Facebook is where the majority of pet owners hang out – which means it’s where you should focus your resource.
So many opportunities exist within Facebook that the “usual” – such as posting daily, engaging content and responding to comments – is the tip of the iceberg. In reality, running your Facebook page effectively has the potential to be a full-time job in its own right – social media coordinators are already commonplace in many other professions and industries.
This article explores some key elements of what Facebook is and what it offers.
Is your page set up properly? If you said yes to that, check again.
As a company, Facebook loves to change things without much warning. Using Facebook’s business manager tool, you must verify your page, configure the “call to action” buttons and pack the “about us” section with keywords, links and lots more.
Help protect your team members on social media by encouraging them to increase their privacy settings. Also, adopt a social media policy to ensure they understand any views posted on Facebook are done so in a public forum and representative of your practice.
A comprehensive policy works both ways and will help your team sidestep the awkward moment a client sends a friend request.
Algorithms have been around since the dawn of the internet, but have gained notoriety due to the influence they are believed to have had on the US presidential elections by perpetrating so-called “fake news”.
Nicknamed “the bubble”, Facebook’s algorithm monitors what users interact with on their news feeds and shows them similar stuff. That’s why it is so important to post engaging content.
We’re fortunate to have the most engaging subject matter to work with – animals. Put it this way, whenever you’re struggling for content, remember there’s a poor soul stuck in an office somewhere in charge of running the social media for East Midlands Trains.
However, everyone suffers writer’s block occasionally, so to oil the wheels of inspiration, you should have a social media calendar.
To answer the “what should I post?” question, look for the content that gets the most engagement – reactions, shares and comments – and post more of it.
Are you signposting your social media profiles to encourage clients to visit them?
Opportunities range from taking a photo on the practice camera accompanied by a cheery “you can check out this photo of Roxy on our Facebook page”, to including a prompt as part of your telephone system’s on-hold messaging.
You should incorporate your social media profiles on to all printed material, too, including vaccination record cards and till receipts. There’s also TV screens and/or posters in reception.
Also, are your social media profiles embedded into your website on the appropriate pages? If your website is built on the WordPress platform, this can be easily done by a web developer in an hour using a widget. If your website isn’t built with WordPress, it can still be incorporated, but the author’s advice would be it’s probably time you invested in a new website.
The most common misconception is Facebook is free, when it should be viewed as any other advertising medium seamlessly integrated into your marketing mix.
Endless paid-for ways exist within Facebook to promote the amazing work your practice does, which, while costing money, can be incredibly cost-effective if used correctly. Boosting posts, for example, is the beginning of a journey that will eventually introduce you to carousel link ads and remarketing.
At some point in your social media journey, you’re bound to encounter disgruntled clients, vigilante groups and spammers.
Understanding what Facebook does and doesn’t let you do will enable you to handle these situations quickly to minimise the damage to your hard-earned reputation.
Everyone would agree every practice needs a strong Facebook presence and must post interesting, engaging content three to five times a week. A good marker is 1,000 “likes” per full-time vet; although, for practices in densely populated urban areas, this should be viewed as the beginning.
Other social networks are around, but their audience is evermore fragmented while their diminishing return on investment (essentially, whether they drive clients through the door of your practice) makes it difficult to justify team members spending time on them.
As the profession moves forward, specialists will become increasingly more common in the veterinary world – with job titles such as marketing manager, content marketing executive and social media “maven” (really) bringing experience of industries outside the veterinary sphere.
Video, meanwhile, will grow in popularity. Videos are easier to consume than a lengthy article and can say more about the quality of care provided in your practice than a photo ever could. Facebook Live makes streaming video – in effect, running your own TV channel – incredibly easy, too. Congratulations if you are one of the practices that has already gone “live” broadcasting a puppy party.
Personalisation, segmentation and targeting will become evermore sophisticated as well, while social logins for websites will become commonplace, allowing content and the user experience to be personalised. At its most basic level, this means dog owners will see canine-focused content. The use of the Facebook Pixel, meanwhile, enables a bewildering level of complexity when it comes to retargeting paid-for ads.
Remember, though, whatever the future holds, view every development as a chance to bond clients to our practices and educate owners about the importance of responsible pet care. After all, ours is the most engaging content on the World Wide Web.
The author provides his top tips on for how to make Facebook work for you in practice.
