Effective Social Media Advertising Formats for Veterinary Practices

The power of social media cannot be ignored. However, while it’s possible to reach potential clients through basic social media posts to some extent, it can be a challenging — and time-consuming — process, especially in the current, over-crowded social media space.

If you’re not experiencing a lot of engagement or lead generation through your veterinary practice’s social media pages, you may want to consider social media advertising.

Whereas a standard social media post will only reach a fraction of your current followers, advertising expands your reach to specific demographics of people that might not otherwise be aware of your practice. To be successful, however, you must be strategic in identifying a target audience that will generate more clients for your clinic at the lowest possible cost.

To achieve this goal, you can use plethora social media lead generation tools to create effective ads. Lead ads include a contact form that lets potential clients show their interest in your product or service by submitting requested contact information and allowing your practice to follow up with them.

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The following are a few effective lead generation tools to consider:

This ad format allows your potential clients to connect with your veterinary practice on Facebook quickly and seamlessly. Through this method, potential clients provide information in a give-and-take manner by giving their contact information in exchange for valuable items that you offer. For instance, you can promote various digital items, such as pet health tips, white papers, e-books, newsletters, coupons or other useful information or gifts you think potential clients may be looking for.

One way in which Facebook supersedes regular content offers is that it automatically populates the lead form with the user’s contact details, thereby expediting the process for potential clients to connect. With Facebook lead ads, you can also choose the amount of information required to make the lead useful for your practice. In addition, you can attach your leads to a CRM or mail program, or simply download them.

This ad format enables not only Instagram leads, but also Facebook leads that appear on Instagram. However, there is one pre-requisite: the ads should adhere to the design requirements of Instagram.

Like Facebook, Instagram auto-populates the lead form with clients’ details, including their name, email address, contact number and gender. For additional details, clients need to type their details explicitly. It’s worth noting that Instagram lead ads primarily appear on mobile devices, and filling out a form on a mobile device takes almost 40 percent more time than on a desktop. Therefore, it is important to request additional information only when it is critical to your marketing efforts.

Moreover, Instagram does not require clients to scroll down to different sections to complete the lead form, as Facebook does. Instead, Instagram provides more opportunities for clients to click through various sections that appear on different screens.

As a specialized networking site, LinkedIn has the advantage of providing significant information about leads, such as their company name, job designation and experience. In addition, the site recommends focusing on a few key fields to convert the maximum leads.

LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms is currently only available on mobile devices and appear as Sponsored Content campaigns. The lead forms should become available later this year for desktop and Sponsored InMail campaigns.

Despite being available only on mobile devices at present, these lead forms are extremely easy to complete. Introduced in 2017, LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms have already generated decent results. Almost 90 percent of the 50 businesses in the pilot project outdid their cost-per-lead goals, as per statistics revealed by LinkedIn.

For a comprehensive advertising strategy and optimal results, veterinary practitioners should consider working with a professional online marketing firm that provides dedicated services for digital advertising, including paid social media advertising.

Naren Arulrajah is president and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education and the online reputations of veterinarians/practice owners. With a team of 180+ full-time marketers, ekwa.com helps practice owners who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak one-on-one with Naren.