Digital Marketing 101 for Veterinary Professionals
Actionable tasks that you can use to boost the digital marketing strategies at your practice.
About This Course
Welcome to Digital Marketing 101 for Veterinary Professionals. During this course, we will be discussing actionable tasks that you can use to boost the digital marketing strategies at your practice. Within this video series, we will discuss the basics of website creation, search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, digital advertising, and how to implement all of these tactics into your veterinary practice.
Introduction
Welcome to Digital Marketing 101
Resources for This Section
For this course, we referenced the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below so you can review:
Section 1: Website Creation
Your website is the most important part of the digital marketing strategy for your practice. Digital marketing is a mass web of different outreach options, but to be able to reach out with digital marketing, you need to have somewhere for those visitors to go. That’s where your website comes in.
Resources for This Section
If you’re looking for good examples of veterinary websites with a clean customer experience, check out a few of these websites below:
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Section 2: SEO
For pure basics – search engine optimization is the practice of creating digital content with the intention of ranking higher on search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing. The good news is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on search engine optimization (or SEO) to achieve results – but by proactively working on your website, you can improve your page ranking consistently over time.
Resources for This Section
When submitting your address to a directory, we recommend formatting your address the same way that the United States Postal Service does. You can find information on the United States Postal Service website.
For those in Canada, we suggest using the same format that Canada Post uses. You can find that information on the Canada Post website.
Sitemaps are the skeleton of every website. Google uses sitemaps as a way to index website information, so ensuring that they have the most up-to-date version of your sitemap is important for your search engine ranking.
You can easily create a sitemap with these free generators:
For more instructions on submitting your Sitemap to Google, check out these video resources:
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Section 3: Social Media
Social media has become a major powerhouse in our society. While a fun tool to connect with friends and family, learn more about current events, and discuss topics with like-minded individuals, social media has also become a huge driver for digital marketing. Here are a few of the best channels to utilize as a veterinary practice and the best practices for each.
Resources for This Section
Tools for Image Creation:
- Canva – Good for creating social media assets
- Pablo by Buffer – A good tool specifically meant to help resize images to fit specific platforms
- Stencil – An alternative to Canva, a tool that can help you create engaging social media images
Tools for Scheduling Posts:
- Buffer – Great platform for scheduling, free up to 10 posts, but have options for more posts after that
- Hootsuite – Strong tool for social listening, in addition to scheduling and analytics. Offers a free trial, but certain plans cost more at some point.
- Coschedule – A more comprehensive tool that has more team-centric features. The most cost-heavy option of the three.
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Section 4: Email Marketing
Messaging your clients, especially via email, can be a balancing act. You want to make sure that your clients are hearing about your promotions and specials, but consider this: what channel are you using to remind your clients of their upcoming appointments? Within this section, we discuss important things to consider before starting an email marketing campaign such as segmentation, goal management, and measuring success.
Resources for This Section
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Section 5: Digital Advertising
There are many digital marketing agencies that can help you manage your advertising. However, if you’re only looking to get the basics of advertising, these channels are simple enough to use even if you’re not an expert.
Resources for This Section
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Section 6: Implementation
This foundation is essential for establishing future marketing campaigns. If you’re looking to create campaigns consistently, the foundations we’ve discussed before will be a great starting point for your veterinary practice.
Resources for This Section
For this course, we will be referencing the Digital Marketing Glossary and SMART Goal Worksheet located in the Resource Packet. Download it below:
Wrap Up
Talk to a Practice Management Consultant
Have questions about digital marketing or PetDesk? Feel free to reach out to us using the button below.
