What would a good vet's website and social media provide you with?

[Tha_Ridge]

I have lots of experience doing websites and social media for various barns and equine businesses, but I’ve now been asked to help a local sporthorse vet with her web and social presence—yay!

So, as a client or a prospective client, what do you expect to see, and what would you want to see? Right now, I’m thinking of an about page, a services page, perhaps a client form page to gather intake info for new clients and a contact page. Secondly, what would make a vet’s social media presence fun and interesting to you? Q&As? Random facts? Behind the scenes looks at certain procedures?

I think there’s a lot of opportunity for fun and education here so I’m curious to hear what clever COTHers think.

[FromTheGalaxy]

I agree that on the website I definitely want to see an about page and services page. A “recommendation” page with their favorite farriers/chiros/bodyworkers/saddle fitters/etc and their contact info would be really cool too.

On a local vet’s FB page she shares informative articles about different equine diseases or injuries. She also does live Q&As where people can submit their questions on a topic and she’ll sit down and answer them, which is always fun. She sometimes does giveaways with these. She shares posts talking about and showing photos of what to have in an emergency kit or foaling kit. And of course I always love seeing photos of clients (shared with permission of course). Then people get to feel like a bit of a celebrity for a bit

[Scribbler]

@Tha_Ridge

I have lots of experience doing websites and social media for various barns and equine businesses, but I’ve now been asked to help a local sporthorse vet with her web and social presence—yay!

So, as a client or a prospective client, what do you expect to see, and what would you want to see? Right now, I’m thinking of an about page, a services page, perhaps a client form page to gather intake info for new clients and a contact page. Secondly, what would make a vet’s social media presence fun and interesting to you? Q&As? Random facts? Behind the scenes looks at certain procedures?

I think there’s a lot of opportunity for fun and education here so I’m curious to hear what clever COTHers think.

I will follow FB vet or farrier accounts that have genuine new research but are nowhere near me. I will follow accounts of local practitioners that I will never use. So the question is, do you just want social media presence or do you want to convert to clients? And what clients?

Do you want to be a 24 hour emergency call or to be the best lameness specialist with the best imaging equipment in the region? Decide on your niche and tailor to it.

I feel like people either have loyalty to one vet and trimmer like me, or they constantly shop for bargains, or they are new and will grab the first practitioner they see. I expect the ideal is a loyal client but there’s not a lot you can do on FB to create that. My vet posts very seldomly.

[poltroon]

The website should have a bio, maybe some suggested care routines (like preferred deworming protocols), and also information about the best way to contact the vet. If there’s a regular schedule, like they are in a certain area on certain days of the week, I’d include that (though you have to keep it up to date). Emergency coverage and options may also be appropriate.

For social media, I think it’s great to humanize your people. Showing pictures of interesting cases or cute animals or something of community interest can be nice. Always be careful with client confidentiality and also… in a world where vets are overworked and underpaid, there’s a line to walk to not make things either too gritty or too cheerful.

Social media is a good way to remind people to schedule teeth and vaccinations, again a nice picture of animals receiving those services may do well to get people thinking about them. Ask the vet what it is they wish more clients knew/did- maybe their practice area more people need to know about nutrition, or teeth, or safety, whatever. You can use it to remind people of practices that are helpful in extreme weather, or what information you want them to gather before they call.

Social media can do two things for you: remind and communicate with existing clients, and also flesh out the people for potential clients choosing between veterinary practices. Finally, if you want to raise their profile outside the local area for some reason, this is also a way.

My vet was asked to x-ray a beached whale carcass which made excellent social media, and also sometimes shares photos of healthy baby animals they’re seeing, always a winner.

[Tha_Ridge]

@Scribbler

I will follow FB vet or farrier accounts that have genuine new research but are nowhere near me. I will follow accounts of local practitioners that I will never use. So the question is, do you just want social media presence or do you want to convert to clients? And what clients?

This is a good point, but the beauty of social media is both! By you following practitioners you don’t use and hypothetically resharing or simply engaging with their content, the algorithm is pushing them into more and more feeds, both of people who might become clients and those who may not for whatever reason, but volume = conversion.

Love the responses so far, thank you all!

[Eclectic_Horseman]

Photos of clients. (Not humans). We all know animals get lots of engagement.

I found my current vet through one among many referrals from friends but then vetted him through his website. The things that sealed the deal were his bio (educational credentials, experience etc) and then photos of cute young animals.

[deweydee]

I’m not sure if this is unpopular, but there’s a prices page on one lameness specialist’s website and I appreciated that transparency. I know price isn’t the be all and all when you’re chasing a diagnosis, but it does matter and some people package/price differently.

[Tha_Ridge]

I appreciate prices, too, and I’ve found myself researching other vet’s websites in the past to get ballpark estimates for various procedures. I’ll see how she feels about it, but I personally agree that the transparency is very helpful.

[Xanthoria]

I want to know what equipment they have and if they don’t have it, who they refer to or work with to get the job done.

E.g. My vet doesn’t have an expensive X-ray setup but works with a very skilled mobile radiology tech and a consulting radiologist so while the convenience is lacking, the results are better than if he DIYed it.

He also works closely with one of the biggest vet hospitals in the US and “knows all the right people” which can help a lot.

We have another local vet who writes blog posts on the latest vet news that are great reading. It shows that he is up to date on the latest stuff and he emails out links to this content regularly to his subscribers.

Lastly another practice I know of makes it very easy to schedule group shot clinics at our barn by having a phone line just for that, a well thought out email automation system for the same sort of thing, online pharmacy, telehealth appointments for all sorts of things https://www.starwoodequine.com/telehealth.html and a whole lot of other useful content.

[Heinz_57]

I would think about what typical questions people call and ask that could be answered on the website, and social media posts could be tailored to include that info as well.

Are you accepting new clients?
What is your service area? Do you come to X town?
How much is the farm call?
Do you have someone on call 24/7?
Do you do after hours emergencies?
Do you have a surgical suite, overnight/boarding facilities, farrier on staff, etc?

These are all things that people want to know when shopping for a new vet practice, along with specialties, areas of focus, etc.

[Simkie]

For social, I’d love to see “we’re seeing a lot of -x- (lyme, cellulitis, anaplasmosis, laminitis, etc etc etc) lately, it’s that season! Here’s what to look for, here are preventive measures, call us if you see this.”

[Texarkana]

Things I like to see on a website:

-Comprehensive bio; I care where vets went to school, where they are from, any specialties, if they are horse owners themselves, etc.

-List of services offered. Do they do digital X-rays, ultrasound? Scoping? Repro? And a HUGE one- do they do 24/7 emergency services for clients?

-Area served. What areas do they travel to? (If they offer farm service at all; some vets are going to all ship-in)

Social media: apart from the occasional pics of clients, I think it’s helpful when they share articles and topics of interest. Also if there is something major horse owners need to know, like we almost always have EHV-1 outbreaks semi-locally every year. Although instead of just adding to the pandemonium, it’s nice when the vets to share helpful facts for prevention, etc.

[OzarksRider]

Before you think about specific content on the website first clarify your audience and your purpose. For example, are you trying to reach the general population of horse owners or do you want to reach mainly the sport horse owners? Where are these people located? What are the characteristics of these people? Do they live nearby, or does the vet take referrals from a distance? Are you trying to persuade visitors to the site to become customers? Are you trying to educate them about issues specific to sport horses? Are you trying to inform them about the vet’s qualifications and the office’s policies? Ask yourself and your vet client “How can this website benefit visitors?” Just let that question roll around in your subconscious for a while, and you’ll be surprised at how many ideas you come up with. And clearly defining your audience and purpose will help you keep the information focused.

When I look at a professional’s website, I want to know that person’s qualifications. Where did she get her education? Has she won any awards in her field? Has she published any papers? How much experience does she have? In other words, anything that would convince me that she knows what she’s doing. Personally, I don’t care anything at all about her family life or hobbies unless it’s directly related to her area of expertise. In addition to the vet’s qualifications, I might need to know where the clinic is located if I’m not from the area, hours of operation, availability of emergency services, and so on. And put contact information on every page, so it’s easy to find.

Information on a website needs to be kept up to date, so I’d put information that changes frequently on social media. But keep in mind that not everybody uses social media.

This sounds like a fun project, just take some time to define your audience and purpose before you dive in.

[OzarksRider]

More thoughts about your website . . .

Since your client is a sports horse vet, does she get referrals from other vets? If so, the site might have two audiences: sports horse owners and other vets. In that case, you might want to create a section targeted to vets that includes information such as how to make referrals, what information is required for referrals, maybe information about procedures that is more technical than what sports horse owners would want or understand.

Does your client do general equine services, or is she exclusively treating sports horses? Again, this goes to identifying your target audience. I can’t overemphasize how important this is, because this will determine the site’s content and tone. One of the biggest mistakes in web site design is failure to identify the audience and purpose, because it virtually guarantees that the site will communicate effectively with no one. So spend some time thinking about this, and once you have it nailed down then start thinking about specific content.

[Amy3996]

This might be more complicated than standard web design, but our clinic recently shifted to a web-based portal (EZVet) for payment and documentation purposes. Clients set up the initial account and it’s a central location to pay invoices, review clinical summaries, and access vaccination certificates, etc.

It makes it really simple keep track of everything - no more digging through emails to find reports or bugging the clinic with a phone call when all I need to do is pay my bill.

[weixiao]

I would love to have this available!

[stb]

As far as social media goes, I follow Springhill Equine in Florida. The practice owner does a lot of social media - blog posts, YouTube videos, and Podcasts. I particularly like the podcasts. She gives great information about a large range of horse health related topics.

[LCDR]

Education - vet school attended, any interships and residencies and where.

Orher training and where - things like acupuncture, chiropractics, dentistry, etc.

Chronolongic list of continuing education courses attended , and kept up to date.

Services offered, including pieces of modern imaging systems owned by the practice.

Geographic area covered, maybe divided into zones with farm call fees for each.

Does vet work alone or can I expect a vet tech to be along?

If vet is also running a small animal practice, say so. I have had 3 over the years who basically dabbled in horses but were occupied during the day by their small animal clinic business.

[Tha_Ridge]

@LCDR

If vet is also running a small animal practice, say so. I have had 3 over the years who basically dabbled in horses but were occupied during the day by their small animal clinic business.

Wow, that’s interesting! I’m in a pretty horsey area in the NE, so that’s not common here but I supposed maybe it is in rural areas where there’s a dearth of vets.