Americans love their animals. Across the United States there are an estimated 380 million pet animals. The human population in the country currently stands at about 300 million. At least 63% of American households are home to pets and at least 40% are home to more than one. Cat pet care costs about $792 for a year and dog pet care runs people about $1,135 per year. If you manage a veterinary clinic, you may be looking for ways to get more of these animal lovers in your door.
- Revisit your mail campaigns. When do you send out reminder cards to your patients? A good reminder set up will be effective between 80 and 85% of the time. The reason for this is simple. Most people who own pets and can afford to take their animals in to get the proper health care, want to do that but need reminders. We all need reminders. It is easy to forget that the time has come to take Fido or Fluffy in for their annual exam and shots. Every practice is different but experts in sending mass mailings argue that you should send three reminders about the annual exam and these should be spaced at least one month apart from each other. You should also consider sending mailings to remind people of the upcoming flea and tick season and when a pet dies. Pet owners consider their animals to be family and appreciate it when they get the cards. Send out coupons for flea protection that have expiration dates on them. You will see more of a response when you add that date.
- Develop an outreach plan. How many people in your community even know where you are? People come and go and may not even know where you are. Whether you are an established operation or you are just opening up shop, have an event at your clinic and invite the community in to learn more about you and about how they can take better care of their pets. Offer snacks for the people and their furry and feathered friends. Set up a booth at a local crafts fair or famers’ market. Have information that is helpful to pet people with your contact information on the back. Talk to the locally owned pet supply stores. Get your name out there even if you think it already is.
- Offer deals for referrals. Your clients know how well you look after their pets and they should be willing to share that information with the people they know. For every referral, give the person who came in after being recommended by the friend or family member a discount. Give that same discount to the person who did the referring. You can print cards for this or have a more informal approach. People generally like to help their friends and other people they know and recommending products and services they like.
- Use your social media channels. At the very least, your veterinary practice needs both a Twitter and Facebook page. Give a discount for anyone who follows your Twitter account or likes your Facebook page. Use these posts to give out useful and practical information about proper pet care. Use your keywords and location in your posts. Google can index Facebook and Twitter posts so you expand the reach of your content when you include your keywords in everything.
- Remember your local SEO plan. You need to first make sure your practice is listed properly wit Google. Next, you need to include keywords in your website that denote your location. You run a Waynesboro veterinary clinic? That needs to be in your content, URL, page descriptions, etc. You need to create content for your blog or website fairly often. You can link to your new posts on your Facebook and Twitter pages. Some veterinary clinics do not have websites, if yours is one of them, you really should invest in creating one.
- Consider offering a Groupon. Do you use Groupon? You can offer a discount on your services for people using this. It is a great way to increase your exposure and get more people in the door.
Follow these tips to get more pet parents in your door.
