EP23 - 4 Content Ideas Any Clinic Can Use For Social Media

Struggling to figure out what to post on your clinic’s social media? You’re not alone and the good news is, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to show up consistently and effectively.

In this episode, we break down 4 simple, proven content ideas that any veterinary clinic can start using right away... no complicated strategy or big production required. Whether you’re a solo doctor, a growing multi-doctor practice, or somewhere in between, these ideas are designed to help you connect with pet owners, build trust, and stay top-of-mind in your community.

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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:07 Avoiding the "Post and Ghost"
05:32 Negative Reviews and Comments
08:31 Content Idea #1: Asking Staff Unhinged Questions
13:17 Content Idea #2: The Pet's Perspective
14:45 Content Idea #3: Exam Room Improv
15:59 Content Idea #4: Filming Real Appointments
18:25 Cameras vs Smartphones
21:00 Outro

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Vet Practice Playbook brought to you by Vet Practice Pro, where we talk all things veterinary leadership, management, clinic ownership, and more. I'm Kayla Bittles, and I am with Harrison. We're all by ourselves today.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

I know we're missing uh people. Because they're doing more exciting things than we are. Maybe. Well, I guess two of them are. John is working.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

John's working. We had to switch a schedule.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

That's not very exciting. But uh Dr. King and um Richie. Is that weird to you? It is weird. I don't like that. Um one of the clients that I work with, he also works with his mom and he calls her by her first name in front of people. Yeah. Um, which like, you know, do whatever you want to do, but I can never imagine.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Yeah, that's where I was because I worked with my mom for a little bit, and every time I would say her name, everyone was like, Don't do that. Just say mom.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah, I know. It's it's super weird. I when I first started working with her, I like went back and forth a lot, but now it's just mom.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah. Well, I still call her Dr. King. I can't I can't call her Emily, it just doesn't come out.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Yeah. So yeah, they're in Florida, so just hanging out.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Summer has begun, so we won't see them.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yes. Um, okay, we also forgot to say um to check out vetpracticepro.com. Um, we bring all the tools, conversations, frameworks that can help your clinic move out of just survival mode and into intentional leadership.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

And before you continue, Kayla, for anybody who's listening or watching right now, if you have been going to the website recently, taking the courses and stuff, you might notice that the website is being changed a little bit. We are uh sort of changing up a few things around our strategy on how to um help individuals in the veterinary profession. So we're just changing up some things with the website. It's gonna look a little different. Um, our offerings are gonna look a little bit different. Anyone who is is subscribed to the courses or anything like that, that's not gonna go away. But it's just we're just changing up a handful of things. So don't be alarmed if you notice that.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yep. And then also join our email list where you would get all that information too when there's changes or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

So many gold nuggets in there.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah.

unknown 2:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Three, four emails a week, so many gold nuggets.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yep, with little tidbits and all that. So it's great. So make sure you join that email. And then also, lastly, do you want to describe our circle community?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah. So circle is where you can ask any kind of question uh for the veterinary profession from anyone. It can be you can be a vet tech, clinic practice owner, veterinarian, doesn't really matter, but it is a community of veterinary professionals who are there to help each other answer questions. We're also in there as well. So if you have a question regarding HR, Kayla's in there, she can answer directly. We have around 400 of you in there. It's fantastic. It's free. And it's just kind of a nice little hub for veterinary professionals to be.

Avoiding the "Post and Ghost"

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yep. So yeah, check it out. All right. So, like I said, it's just Harrison and I today. Um, so we thought we would do um kind of part two of social media. So if you didn't check out last week's episode, um, we hit on just some basics on social media, how to get it up and running, how to get it started. Um, so if you didn't check that out, make sure you go and listen to that one. Um, because we're gonna kind of hit on a little bit diving deeper into that world today.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

So yeah.

unknown 3:28

All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

So Harrison, what do you want to talk about first?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

So I think um before we dive into the nitty-gritty of what this episode really is, I wanted to touch on one point that I've been seeing recently uh through not only clinic accounts, but just veterinary accounts in general, is I think it's so important to when posting on social media to not just uh what they call it is post and ghost.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

So it's not important, it's it's important to never post and ghost. And I don't think that that is ever going to go away because the longer you stay on the platform commenting, interacting with people who are commenting on your videos, the better the the platforms like that, is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. And so not only does it benefit the platform, but it also shows you're trying to make meaningful connections with the people in your comments, whether they are fellow pet owners in your local area or they're just people across the country that like your content. I think it's important to be engaging with those comments because it just shows that you're trying to make that effort. Yeah. And I think on top of that, it is important to note that you don't, you know, say if you get 100, 200, 300 comments on a video, you don't need to necessarily respond to each and every one.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

But I think it's important to respond to a good chunk of them.

SPEAKER_03 4:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

So just keep that in mind, especially when you're getting DMs as well, be responding to those, be on the lookout for those as well. There are a handful of accounts that I've seen over the years where they don't even know that like the DMs are there, or even in TikTok when the request tab is there and like you can't people just don't know that's there. And so that could lead to either another connection or missed appointment, missed appointments. I mean, that's a big thing, too, is that people inquiring about their pets. So there's that as well. But just keep that in mind.

Negative Reviews and Comments

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah. I would also say even comment or you should always comment, I should say, in my opinion, on negative comments. What's your thoughts on negative reviews and negative comments?

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Replying on negative comments? That is it really depends. I shouldn't say always. That's an that's well, that's an interesting take. I think that you I personally I agree with you. I think that you should always respond to negative reviews.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Reviews, yes. Reviews, yeah. What's your thoughts on comments though?

SPEAKER_00 5:50

I think on comments, it depends on the comment.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

I think that if a comment, because it's text, people can assume your tone.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Sometimes people tend to be more honest and blunt than what you're used to. I think it can come off the wrong way. And so if you respond in the right way, most of the time, if that's the case, the person will say, Oh, like thanks for letting me know. Like I didn't even know, you know? Um, and they in fact did not mean it that way at all. But there are some comments that I've I've seen hundreds, if not thousands, over the years that are just like inflammatory.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah. They're looking for a war.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah, aren't constructive. Like, it's just best to ignore those. And I think that's so important because the more you engage with them, the less the worse it is for your mental health. So I I find that it's it's just not worth the mental toll to be going back and forth in the comments. And to be honest with you, like I've gotten to a point, I mean, I've been I've been jaded for years, but the I've become numb to them because I've just seen so many, but it's just so much better if you just ignore them.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Those kinds of comments.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yes, yes. I for some reason in my head at first when I started to say that was reviews, um, which I do think it is.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Reviews, I think you absolutely should.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah.

Content Idea #1: Asking Staff Unhinged Questions

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And I think that that's something that, you know, at some point in the near future we'll have to do an episode of marketing on the Google side of things, like setting up your Google Business profile, getting all Google My Business set up, you know, all that stuff, which I feel like a lot of practice owners don't quite understand how important it is to keep up with that. Because now there's not just the information side of things on Google My Business and Google Business Profile, but there's also the the uh posting side of things where clients and then also you can post, but that's a different discussion. Um, but yeah, so I would respond to negative reviews. I it depends for negative comments. Yeah. But yeah. But today I really wanted to dive in. I'm really all about using tangible information, pulling at least one thing from uh a podcast episode like these, which I feel like we've done a pretty good job of people being able to pull some kind of tidbit of information from these. But today I really wanted to touch on four content ideas that you can literally go take and film and post today. So I want to dive into the first one here, and I kind of touched on this last week, but number one is going to be asking your staff veterinary/slash animal care related questions.

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

Now, when asking them these questions, it's important for them to be silly and playful, but also a little unhinged because that's just what people like. Yeah. And I touched on this last week with one of my clients, uh, Cat Care Center and Baton Rears, they're fantastic. Go check them out. Where they are a specialty center, so it's a little bit more niche, which is uh can be good uh in some aspects. But I went around and asked them the first question, I think the first video I asked them was would you slap somebody if it meant your cat would live? And it went bananas. Yeah. It was like their first viral, their first, I wouldn't say it was viral, but it got hundreds of thousands of views and lots and lots and lots of engagement. And I think that if you were to apply that similar content idea to your practice, you don't have to be a specialty practice either.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

I think it just makes it a little easier because they are so cat focused. So that's like what the content is, like it's only cats. But even for exotics as well, I mean, exotics is another great one to use this idea for. But even if you're a GP going around asking your staff members, I came up with a few here. Would you bark in a full waiting room if it meant your dog lived longer?

SPEAKER_03 9:56

That's fun.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Uh, would you let your dog pick your outfit every day for a year to keep them alive? I don't know why all these were like trying to keep them alive. Um uh would you eat dog food once a day if it meant your dog got five more years? Grant, these don't need to be like your dog living longer.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

There's mine your mindset wasn't right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

But it gives you an idea. I think it's funny because I think it's so in uh inflammatory in a good way because people are like, oh my gosh, like my dog would die if I if I didn't do X, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

I think you should film them barking in the lobby full of people.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

That would be funny too. Like, oh my gosh, you know what be funny? Yeah. Have you seen that trend on social media where people will yell Jessica?

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yes, when they make their kids stop crying.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

That would be so funny. Yes, I'm writing that done. Don't steal that everybody. Hold on. Bark in a bar bark in a waiting room, and that's like just like the Jessica trend. Yes. That's so funny. Okay, barking in a waiting room.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, I have a close friend, her name is Jessica, so I've given her a hard time lately. It was like, we're just yelling, Jessica.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Oh my gosh. If you have not seen that trend, guys, go go look that up. But uh barking in a waiting waiting room is really funny. But yeah, I think you know, simple ideas like these are what's working right now. And I think one of the reasons I know one of the reasons why this idea specifically is working is because it's showing uh it's showing multiple staff members in one 30-second video or 40-second video. Depending on your staff members, it gives them uh a chance to kind of show um did I say that, show their personality and kind of uh give the pet owners a glimpse into what the staff are like. Yep. And then on top of that, it just allows it's just funny and entertaining. Yeah. And I think that with a lot of the answers, you know, depending on the staff or the employee's personality, a lot of the answers can be really funny. Yeah, but unintentionally so as well. So yeah, I think I would I I that's my first content idea. Um do you have any other thoughts on that, Kayla?

SPEAKER_01 12:04

No, I love the barking in the lobby.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Would you trade your pillow for your dog's favorite toy forever? That's a good one. Never being able to sleep on a pillow.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

For my dog's favorite toy?

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I like my pillow. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

I love my dog. Now, if it was if I couldn't use a pillow to give my dog more years, okay, sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Well, that's what's funny, is that then and again, another reason why that this idea works so well is because people in the comments start figuring out uh loopholes. So the second question I asked Cat Care Center was, would you take a million dollars if it only meant you could see your cat once a year? And people are like, Well, I'll just keep seeing my cat. Like I'll stay in, like, say if you, for example, you get I only said get to your cat once. Yeah. And so maybe that one time is just like for like you never leave.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Oh.

Content Idea #2: The Pet's Perspective

SPEAKER_00 13:01

So like it's just funny like that, how comment how viewers will anyway. But I think it's a good content idea to at least start with. The second I the second one, number two, that I have is the um the second content idea that I have is filming an exam or just a visit from the pet's perspective. I think this works on works on multiple levels, but you can get really creative with it as well. Uh, you can make it like a parody of itself where the dog comes into the clinic and it's just hell, like right, and like things are going crazy and whatnot, but it's from like say a Dachshund's perspective, right? But I also think just if you were to, and I did this recently with a clinic of a client of mine in Texas. I we we came up with this idea on the fly. We didn't have anybody to, you know, uh, or any tool to like film it. Otherwise, I would have been like crouching on the ground, like what it would not have turned out well. And so they had this like this cane like tool that is used to measure horses, I guess, or something.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

And I literally duct taped my phone to the end of that and just like walked. It turned out very well. I put it on 0.5 zoom and it was great. It looked like like a fish, you know, eye lens and stuff. So I think that doing something like that uh has multiple benefits. Again, showing the staff, showing how creative you can get, showing the the clinic, uh showing your processes and all of that stuff, but in a creative way.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Yeah, and I think too, it helps from a client's perspective perspective of knowing, like especially if it's their first time or they haven't been there often, like what are they walking into? What are they gonna see? You know, all that. So I think it really helps with the client perspective.

Content Idea #3: Exam Room Improv

SPEAKER_00 14:40

I agree as well. Um do you want to go over the third one real quick? What's the third one?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Um, let me look.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Number three is Oh, the improv. The improv, yes. So I came up with this idea today, actually. Yeah. I think it could it could be funny depending on the people. But um you're going to be filming your staff members doing an exam, or say you're a veterinarian. They're doing an exam in the exam room, right? And it could be really funny if much like improv, they are examining this patient, but then somebody in the background says something like change. And as they're examining the pet, whatever they're saying has to change. So for example, the veterinarian could be saying, Oh, you know, this doch and it's very lethargic. And then they could say change, like, oh, it's back is really hurting. Oh, change, oh, like, you know, and like just keeps going and going and going. I think that could be really funny, depending on the type of people. These last two ideas depend on the type of people. Yeah. But again, that shows your processes, your your how how playful and creative your staff can be, how fun they are, uh, while also showing, you know, one of your exam rooms. Like, you know, it has so many benefits.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Yeah, yeah. I like that one.

Content Idea #4: Filming Real Appointments

SPEAKER_00 15:57

It's good. So the last idea that I have here, number four, is it sounds way easier than it actually is.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

But sounds harder.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

What did I say?

SPEAKER_01 16:08

It sounds easier, it sounds way easier than it actually is.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

It sounds way easier than it sounds easier than it than it actually is, but it's just filming appointments.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

What I mean by that is if you go to uh uh modern animals social media accounts, they're a chain, they just got bought by Chewy actually. Uh they do this is really the only kind of content that they post. They post content of just regular exams and how their staff interact with the patients. And it's almost like behind the scenes footage or say like the office, for example. Yeah. Right? Like it's very behind the scenes documentary-esque, right? It's not meant to be. But I say it's a lot easier said than done because modern animal has multiple cameras set up. Yeah, it's very clear they have some kind of team behind what they're doing. However, you don't need the fan, you don't need the fancy cameras, you don't need the GoPros. You could very easily just set up your phone and film the exam room.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Somebody else that's done this really well recently has been Dr. Nicole Fine. She's one of the largest growing accounts I've ever seen in BedMed ever. She went from like 50,000 followers to like a million in four months.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah. It was insane. And it was all off of that kind of content. It was just and but again, it depends on the kind of person.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

The with the posts that perform well for modern animal are people that are playful, they talk in their baby voice, they get all up in the patient's business in a good way. Like they do that. And Dr. Nicole Fine is the exact same way, very baby voice, like up in the, you know, like cuddling them, kissing them, whatever. I totally understand that not all of that meta is like that.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

But if you have staff members, if you have veterinarians that are like that, or even a little like that, it could be worth it to film content like that and see how it performs.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

So yeah, I like it.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Super easy, like I said, easier said than done. Takes a lot of editing because you're you're probably filming a 15, 20, whatever minute appointment, however long. But could be worth it.

Cameras vs Smartphones

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Um, so you brought up a good point that um you don't have to always have fancy cameras, fancy GoPros. Um how what do you use? Do you usually use your phone? Do you use a camera? Mixture of both.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Well, Kayla, my heart hurts these days, you know, because when I started out at the clinic, we had all these fancy cameras. Right. And I think for the time it was fantastic because not everybody had access to that kind of uh equipment, and it made our content stand out. And I think it still does to a certain degree. But nowadays people really just want content from your phone.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

And I think it's because they want less polish, and less polish means more human connection.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Yep. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

So that's what people are wanting at the end of the day nowadays.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah. And I think especially when you're starting out, and like the phone's camera quality is so good. So, like, you know, I don't feel like just use your phone. I don't feel like you have to go out and buy all this fancy equipment.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Now, there are settings on your phone that you can you can turn on to and customize to optimize the performance of the camera, which maybe we should do an episode on that. But at the end of the day, starting on your phone is absolutely fine.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Like I would not even bother trying to go get a cam. I it's not even worth it. Don't even bother. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

That's all I got.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Yeah, I like them. So hopefully you guys can at least take one of those ideas and go with it. Um real quick question too, that people may ask is what how do you handle staff who's like, no, I don't film me. Or you're like, they just get used to it. Like to me, when I first started getting on the camera, I was like nervous and kind of, but then like you just did it, put yourself out there and you get used to it. But what happens if staff's like, nope, not doing it?

SPEAKER_00 20:23

You know what, Kayla? I love that question. And we're gonna save that for another episode. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:27

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Because I think that that question could take up a whole episode.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

And I think that having somebody like my mom here, or even my dad or John here, would be super beneficial because they also were not always like that, or my mom specifically was not always like that. But then she got much better with it. And I think that a group discussion would benefit from answering that question. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Then you guys have to stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Because it's very common of you put a camera in somebody's face and they're like no time.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

90% of the time.

Outro

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yes. Yes. Yep. All right. Well, if that's it, then that's it for today's episode for the Vet Practice Playbook. We hope you got a few plays to use for yourself or for your clinic. If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with others, leave us the review, and check out vetpracticepro.com for tools and courses that can take your clinic to the next level. We'll see you guys next week.