Make Marketing a Group Effort
Who says that you should only appoint a single point person as your lead marketer? After all, your veterinary practice is a team of unique individuals; creating a unified experience by combining the many talents of a diverse team. If you utilize this same diversity for your marketing, you may be able to generate far more content, that’s actually far more compelling.
Read on to see how the team-oriented approach to marketing can actually help you generate content more consistently, and enforce more accountability in the process.
Enhance Content and Camaraderie in One Fell Swoop
Yes, there is some peace of mind that comes with appointing a head of marketing, or other point position, but let’s look at what can happen when instead, the effort is spread across a team:
- Rather than making a new hire solely for marketing, spread responsibility among a diverse staff that is interested in participating!
- A team can create a rotation of marketing and social media related tasks, easing the responsibility on everyone.
- Sharing responsibility can create accountability and a sense of true shared-identity related to your veterinary practice! When members of your staff get to share a piece of their experience on social media or otherwise, they are supporting the practice and giving their unique point of view in the process. This can be very empowering for your staff!
- Appropriate rotations can involve each member of staff taking photos to share via social media, and creating a schedule of posts for your website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Content can be diverse and customized to fit the tone and feeling of your veterinary practice! You may decide to include staff photos, quotes, pictures of happy pets, stories, health tips, or more. All of these things help to convey a true sense of identity for your veterinary practice, and exhibit your practice as a place of both work and community.
- Consider designating tasks based on skill set; maybe a staff member that studied photography touches up shots before they are posted to Facebook. Perhaps an English minor helps to proofread content before it goes live. Get creative!
- By working as a team, you can share responsibility, save money on a new hire, and teach your entire veterinary staff the various skill sets that it takes to remain competitive in an evolving veterinary industry!
- Many veterinary practices learn to enjoy the shared approach, creating a sense of camaraderie amongst staff, while enhancing their veterinary practice’s marketing efforts in the process.
The Round Table Approach
There are many ways to facilitate this group effort. The “Round Table” approach means that at least once a week, your staff gets together to discuss the strengths of your approach to marketing, what can be improved, and any other topics that may be deemed appropriate. You can facilitate this approach through a group email where everybody responds, or a lunch where everybody gathers around, yes, a round table! The details are up to you, but your staff will love a chance to be heard and enhance your veterinary practice.
Some ideas for sharing ideas amongst your staff include:
- A weekly lunch where some of the top social media posts are shared to the staff or read aloud.
- A schedule or white-board that helps to delegate social media or marketing tasks amongst a team
- An email thread that encourages everybody to participate and chime in with tips for improvement, or accomplishments experienced over the course of the week.
- Anything else that may excite or motivate your staff to share the stories and perspective that are a unique piece of your veterinary practice. When marketing becomes a group effort, everybody wins!