Just as the New Year is a time for creating goals and resolutions on a personal level, it’s also a good time to look at your veterinary practice with new eyes—including your marketing and branding strategies.

Danielle Lambert began her journey as a practice manager for five years before starting the Snout Group, which provides comprehensive marketing services to veterinary practices, and Snout School, which provides tools and training for veterinary professionals to DIY their own branding. Lambert has worked with all levels of vet med, including advising individual professionals, small clinics, larger brands, and well-established practices.  

“Some veterinary professionals are amazingly talented creatives and marketers. If that's you, you might be able to learn some basics and implement on your own with a program like Snout School,” Lambert said.  

If you’re ready to dive in, here are Lambert's suggestions for giving your brand and marketing strategy that “New Year, New Look.” 

1. “Be very clear on the ideal client you want to serve. You don't have to be for everyone!”

You want to attract the clients who are going to get the best service out of you consistently. If your practice is great at working with senior cats, design a marketing strategy to reach this audience specifically and let them know you’re there.

2. “Create content that is going to speak to and support that ideal client as they care for their pet.”

Once you’ve defined your ideal client, you can generate content to draw them in. Think about what those clients care about. What are ’their major concerns? Create content that provides solutions for their problems.

3. “Make your content look consistent visually.”

This is when you get into the details of branding. Your clients should see your content and recognize you because it looks similar to previous social media posts, as well as to your website and advertisements. “Picking two colors and two fonts can go a long way to creating a clear visual brand,” Lambert said.

4. “Identify what makes you different from other practices in the area— as a service provider and as an employer—and make sure you communicate that.”

If you’re in an area with many practices serving the same clientele, whether it’s small animal or pocket pet owners, your message could easily get lost. What sets your practice apart from the rest? What do you offer that others don’t (or don’t do as well)?

5. “Clarify your core values and a brand promise to serve as a guiding light for all the business decisions you make.”

Your marketing statements must match your personal and company core values. For example, if you market yourself as a practice that is all about community accessibility and access to care, then your clients will expect you to offer options to help them pay for veterinary services. “You need to back [these claims] up with flexible payment options that aren't credit-based, like VetBilling,” Lambert said.

Marketing when you're hiring

All of this advice also applies to the ideal type of person you’d like on your team. Potential new team members are a different audience from your ideal client, and just as important to market to. When promoting your practice to potential new employees, Lambert said it’s valuable to share some personality. “the strongest employer brands happen when the practice owner builds a personal brand,” Lambert said, because “people can get a taste of who you are as a leader and become interested in working with you.”

These steps are a great start to building your new and improved brand in the New Year—or any time of year!

Terrisha Buckley is a freelance writer who also works in biomedical research. She enjoys writing about the veterinary medical profession and sharing new information with those interested in the field including veterinary professionals.   

Photo credit: © Sanny11 E+ via Getty Images Plus 

Disclaimer: The views expressed, and topics discussed, in any NEWStat column or article are intended to inform, educate, or entertain, and do not represent an official position by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) or its Board of Directors.