Marketing in the veterinary hospital is not about advertising.  We market our services, build client trust, and increase caseload by providing information about pet healthcare to pet owners.  "Information-Based Marketing" uses  coordinated efforts in different media to keep clients engaged in the project of their pet's health, behavior, and nutrition.  Marketing materials available from Pacific Crest Veterinary Services include:

Client Education Handouts:  Written materials on pet diseases are widely available, but there is much more to a successful handout program.  We can provide a complete system of client materials on diseases, wellness, interesting subjects (such as what to do about urine burning on your lawn), behavior, nutrition, and breed-specific issues.  Customized client education materials also provide "talking points" to use during the office call (such as a review of the underlying causes for skin infections) and they ensure a uniform message from all staff and doctors.   Handouts should always include color, clip art (or pictures), and the hospital logo and contact information.  Every clients should leave the exam room with at least one handout during every visit.

Newsletters: Clients will read and respond to well-written, hospital-specific newsletters, and this can be a great way enhance your reputation with pet owners.  Clients bond more readily if they see the names and pictures of your doctors and staff along with hospital-specific health information.  In a newsletter, the information needs to be entertaining and should focus on subjects of general interest, such as behavior, nutrition, and wellness.

Email Newsletters:  With email newsletters, information can be provided even more quickly and inexpensively.  We have sent out e-newsletters within hours when a new food recall is announced or an influenza outbreak.  Seasonal e-newsletters provide reminders on heartworm or holiday hazards. 

Website Content:  We can make our websites work harder for us when we provide more healthcare content and direct clients to the website.  Our newsletters and handouts should include links to the content on the site. 

Targetted Marketing:  The more focused the information we provide, the better response we see from clients.  For instance, when we send a Senior Cat E-newsletter to client with cats over 10 years old, we have seen 42% of these cat owners visit the hospital within the following month.  As veterinarians, we know just what health problems are likely to occur in a particular pet, but we need to connect this information with the owners of these pets.  We have done targetted marketing for puppies, senior dogs and cats, different breeds, and pets with speciic chronic health problems.  We are currently developing breed-specific marketing programs.  Clients are very appreciative when we provide knowledge that shows that we know their pet.

Dr. Harris has written thousands of articles for client handouts, newsletters, magazine articles, breeder newsletters, and website content.  He has done a video on bird care and contributed to a book on natural pet care.  Please contact us to learn how you can use Information-Based Marketing to bond your clients and grow your practice.  Samples are available upon request.