Fortunately, more and more pets are being treated as a member of the family. The attitude of most owners has changed for the better and, due to this new trend, more and more users are concerned not only about the physical health of their pets, but also about their mental health.
This general concern for the welfare of pets has meant that the industry’s turnover is not suffering so much today, especially in view of the global situation we are experiencing. However, according to studies by various associations, 50% of the money spent on maintaining a pet is invested in its food, followed by accessories and services, while only just over 8% is invested in its health.
And the key to improving this last figure lies on the Internet, specifically in the information that can empower owners and make them more aware of what care is necessary that can guarantee the well-being of their pet. In fact, more and more users are turning to the web to gather information, which brings us to the first fundamental marketing strategy for veterinary clinics:
1. Content Marketing.
Content marketing is a must in the digital strategy of any business in the healthcare sector. First of all, content guarantees a company’s presence on the Internet and, especially when it is of quality and designed to improve brand positioning, boost its visibility, attract more users and potentially improve conversions, i.e. appointments to the clinic.
1.1. What kind of content can be interesting?
As we mentioned at the beginning, more and more owners are interested in a global aspect of their pet’s health, i.e., they are not only looking to maintain their physical well-being, but also emotional. And this implies the search for more specific and quality information that can meet their needs.
In fact, you have probably been able to detect several buyer personas in your business, that is, several types of buyer, even if they have the same type of animal. This is due to the particular needs of each owner, who will be interested in one content or another depending on the type of pet they have, the age of the pet and their relationship with it.
In addition, this type of information will be segmented according to the phase of the buying cycle in which the owner is, that is, the stage of search for information that depend on their degree of knowledge about a problem or need of their pet and the possible solutions or alternatives to satisfy them.
It is worth mentioning that, the phases of the purchase cycle of some of these consumers may be shortened in relation to the physical health of their animals as a matter of urgency, especially if they do not know the reason for an abnormal behavior or have had an accident or problem. Whereas, in relation to their mental health, education or training, they usually conduct a more thorough investigation. That is why we distinguish:
Brief purchase cycles:
- In the recognition phase: the content that interests an owner is usually related to the symptoms that their pet may manifest, either because they stop moving, eating or because they have some different behavior.
- In the consideration phase: since it is unlikely that they know the answer to the problem that their pet manifests, the content that is interesting in ‘consideration’ can usually be related to the information about services present on the web.
- In the decision phase: closely followed by the previous one, this is usually focused on the facilities when requesting an appointment and the availability of the veterinary clinic when attending the animal patient, so it is convenient to facilitate the conversion.
Long purchase cycles:
- In the recognition phase: users are usually interested in content related to the first steps to be taken after the first acquisition of a pet, or when they want to train with it and improve its quality of life.
- In the consideration phase: owners tend to value the different techniques, services and procedures that can help improve their pet’s wellbeing, especially if it manifests a disease.
