Key takeaways

  • Newsletters can improve website SEO by driving traffic to key pages like blogs, services, and educational content.
  • Sharing clinic updates, such as new staff introductions or new services, keeps clients engaged on a more personal level.
  • A veterinary practice newsletter isn’t only for clients; it can also keep team members informed and involve them in marketing efforts. 

 

Are you connecting with your clients beyond the exam room? Marketing a veterinary business can feel impossible given the time constraints of daily clinic life, but choosing a few high-value strategies can help you focus your efforts where they’re most fruitful. A newsletter is one strategy that requires minimal investment but can yield significant rewards.

Newsletters are cost-effective, relationship-building tools that help your veterinary practice stay top of mind with pet owners, nurturing long-term client relationships. Here are five reasons why your vet clinic, small animal hospital, or veterinary business should start a monthly newsletter to kick off or supplement your marketing strategy.

 

1. Newsletters keep clients connected

Your clients trust your team with their pet’s healthcare needs, and a veterinary practice newsletter lets you share helpful pet care tips, wellness reminders, and special offers. A newsletter helps build trust with current clients by showing you care about their pet’s well-being beyond the few minutes of face time they get in the exam room during visits.

Email marketing has been shown to have strong open rates and click-through rates compared to other digital marketing channels. Pet owners who opt in to your newsletter email list want to hear from you, so keep them engaged with quality content. As a bonus, some clients will forward emails with interesting or helpful information to friends or family, potentially gaining you new clients organically.

 

2. Newsletters are cost-effective

Social media posts can get buried in a busy feed, but a newsletter lands directly in clients’ inboxes. And unlike print materials or paid ads, veterinary practice newsletters are relatively low-cost. All you need is a commercial email marketing platform like Mailchimp or Constant Contact and a team member with a few minutes and a bit of creativity to get started. 

Use your platform’s built-in templates to optimize your design and use tracking tools to monitor open rates, unsubscribe trends, and click-through rates to refine your marketing strategy over time.

 

3. Newsletters keep your team in the loop

Female veterinarian reading a veterinary practice newsletter on her cell phone while sitting on the floor of her office with a large dog

Your team members are the business’s front-line communicators. Involving them in the newsletter process is a way to keep everyone looped into clinic happenings and empowers them to contribute ideas. When your team knows what’s highlighted in the newsletter, such as a new preventive care package, an upcoming community event, or a new staff member joining the team, they’re better prepared to answer questions and promote those ideas to clients.

 

4. Newsletters improve your online visibility

Regular veterinary practice newsletters can support your veterinary website’s search engine optimization (SEO) by sending clients to the page via links. Organic site traffic and ongoing site updates (e.g., blog posts, new educational content) show search engines that you’re an active business and authoritative site. Showcase your clinic’s new educational hub, weekly team member blog column, or new online booking site with newsletter links.

 

5. Newsletters provide value over promotions

Pet owners can spot a sales pitch from a mile away. Use your email newsletter to educate, inform, and entertain pet owners rather than push promotions or sales, so they’ll look forward to reading each one. Clients want value, and quality content provides that value. Use your veterinary practice newsletter to share practical pet health tips and feature feel-good client stories, to keep readers engaged and gain new subscribers. Then, you can use the email list to occasionally send promotional emails separately. However, do so sparingly so you don’t break your clients’ trust and lose subscribers.

 

Getting started

A veterinary newsletter gives you a direct line to your clients—a huge advantage over social posts that quickly disappear and ads that cost money. Newsletters are a great place to start if you’re new to the marketing game, and they can become something your team looks forward to building together each month or quarter. 

 

If your clinic staff is overwhelmed or you don’t have the time to promote your new business, a professional writing agency can help. Contact Rumpus Writing and Editing to learn how our skilled, experienced team can help you launch a newsletter, start blogging, or revamp your website to attract and keep quality clients.