Facebook is a Tool, Not Your Practice’s Savior

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Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Several weeks ago, the Broad Ripple Animal Clinic and Wellness Center’s Facebook page passed the 2,000 “likes” mark. It has been a slow and gradual process where we have nurtured the fire we kindled a few years ago as part of our social media strategy. It seems like just yesterday that we passed the 1,000 fan milestone, but it was actually a little more than a year ago.

What are my thoughts on Facebook for veterinary practices after doubling our audience? Quality beats quantity every time, and we must all remember that we are merely “leasing” space on Facebook.

While I am very proud to have passed the 2,000 “likes” mark, I know that it is simply a number. When it comes to social media, you can’t always look at the bare bones numbers. The more important value is the quality of the interactions you are seeing when you use the tool that is Facebook. Are your posts generating “chatter”? Do you ask relevant questions that spark comments and conversations within your practice’s online community? Do your clients use your page to thank you and your staff, or to post photos of their pets? If you can answer YES! to these questions, then you are seeing a return on your social media efforts.

Why am I calling Facebook a tool? I want you to remember that you are simply leasing a little bit of space on the Facebook platform. It is not the end-all, be-all saving grace that is going to grow your practice all by itself—it’s a tool in your online toolbox. This virtual toolbox should contain many tools including:

  • First and foremost, a solid website that is relevant and fresh and can be easily found through online search
  • A content-rich blog that is attached to your website, and updated regularly
  • Your Facebook business page
  • Your practice’s Twitter profile
  • A YouTube channel for your practice
  • LinkedIn profiles for each of your practice’s veterinarians
  • Your practice’s Google Places page has been claimed by You and has been completed in its entirety
You may have a few more tools you could list, just be careful not to overload the box, or you may become so overwhelmed that you neglect your box altogether. Make sure Facebook isn’t your most-used tool, or you might just find it doesn’t work the way you thought it did. We are all seeing significant changes to Facebook right now. So far, I’m not very happy with what I’m experiencing from my practice’s perspective. There are several things not working quite the way they used to, and my page doesn’t show up in news feeds the way it did a month ago. I’m riding out the software changes and hoping the Facebook apps developers can catch up with the programming changes. In the meantime, I’m glad all my eggs aren’t in the Facebook basket!! While Facebook tweaks things, BRACpet’s clients can find us via the many other tools we use everyday.


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