Today's Veterinary Practice provides comprehensive information to keep every small animal practitioner up to date on companion animal medicine and surgery as well as practice building and management.
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PEER REVIEWED PRACTICE STEP BY STEP Leveraging Social Media Communication By Sheila Grosdidier, RVT, PHR I n the November/ December 2011 issue of Today's Veterinary Practice, the article How Practices Can Thrive in an Online Environment provided a fundamental review of the online resources available to create and enhance your ability to connect with clients, potential clients, team members, and business alliances. This article will address how to establish an online presence, resulting in positive outcomes for your practice. Each step in this plan requires that you identify what you want to accomplish and set goals. Follow these steps for success: 1 Resources on TodaysVeterinaryPractice.com Visit our Resources page to view the benefits of adding Facebook and Twitter to your social media toolkit, find ideas for online videos, and implement other social network marketing ideas. YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION Take time to review your cur- rent online presence (eg, web- site, Facebook). Look at it from the perspective of a client and consider what initially brings them to your site and what would encourage them to continue returning. Alex Todorov and Janine Willis, re- searchers from Princeton University, had students view a brief (microsec- ond) video clip of a political candi- date. Respondents predicted, with 70% accuracy, who would win the election, merely from this tiny clip of video.1 Our clients also make quick deci- sions based on interactions; there- fore, develop a social site that en- courages interaction and invites re- turn visits: r Be real: Use language that is conversational. Avoid long, tech- nical words unless you pro- vide a definition. Include accu- Courtesy Jim Ladd rate spelling and grammar. Hav- ing a conversation with a viewer means making the discussion user friendly. Simple concept? Yes—but one that is often for- gotten. r Determine who you are: Your online presence gives you a voice. Now let it embrace your personality. A well-quoted prac- tice management consultant reminds clinic owners to decide who they are in comparison to a hotel chain: Is your practice the Marriott, Ritz Carlton, or Holiday Inn? Make sure your sites reflect your brand personality (see Brand It). r Commit to updates: Inform- ation should be updated regu- larly and someone should be responding to questions and comments from visitors. r Add photos: Personalized pic- tures tell a story better than July/August 2012 Today's Veterinary Practice 63