How to use marketing to bounce back, stand out from the pack, and appeal to today's pet owners (Proceedings)

The program will focus on smart marketing strategies and ideas to help you make careful, considered choices to attract new clients and work better with the ones you already have.

The goals of today's program are to give you information and build your confidence in:

     • Making smart, practical choices to build your veterinary practice

     • Helping you decide what marketing activities you should spend time and money on and what marketing choices you should avoid

     • Using underutilized but highly effective marketing strategies and tactics

     • Making the value proposition with clients

With so many marketing choices today, especially the new online marketing choices, it is hard to know what to do and what not do to build your practice. All choices cost time and money and it is smart to look for options that build your brand and give you the best return on your investment.

Start to evaluate new marketing options by learning everything you can about them. Next, make a "pros" and "cons" list and think about the return on investment you would expect to justify the cost. For instance, to make a decision when a new internet company contacts you and says, "Sign up with us and we will give your name to pet owners who are looking for a veterinarian in your area" ask: how many pet owners can I expect to hear from if I sign up? Is there a guarantee? Then weigh the costs against the benefits and ask for a trial so that you can evaluate how well this service works for you.

It is a good idea to go through an exercise like the above any time you are asked to make a marketing investment on a new or existing service, like whether to advertise in the paper telephone book, or a high school year book or church flyer. This exercise has a secondary benefit as well because it can give you insights into how clients sometimes feel when they have to make decisions for their pets. Clients may feel a little lost and uncertain, especially if your recommendation is for something new that they do not clearly understand the benefit for the cost.

In-clinic marketing and staff-as-clinic-spokespersons are two frequently overlooked and underutilized resources in practices. Did you realize that even in a practice with 20 hospital team members, employees will have over 100,000 contacts with clients a year? What are your staff members saying about the practice? How are they interacting with clients? Do they love working there? Do they have team pride? How well are they building your brand?

Finally, do you and your team members know how to make the value proposition with clients? Too often, veterinarians think that "value" equates with discounts and coupons. It is so much more than that! Research* shows that clients derive value from trust, rapport and understanding. Clients that have this kind of relationship with you are more loyal, less price-sensitive and say yes more often to needed and necessary veterinary care.

Clients are clear on the relationship they want with veterinarians and their hospital team members, but even when relationships are strong we can still fail to make the value proposition by failing to explain recommendations in relevant terms to clients. This takes translating science into meaningful concepts that clients can not only understand but also relate to, e.g., your pet will feel better.

References

Pet Owner Price Sensitivity and Attitude Study, American Veterinary Medical Association 2007, Schaumburg, IL, BNResearch, Portland, OR