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THIS article is about marketing in equine practice. If that seems like stating the obvious, that's good because marketing should be obvious and common sense. If you want to attract more clients or you want your existing ones to spend more with you, then you have to show them how and why your practice is their obvious choice. But engaging equine clients has its own set of subtleties.
Why do I need to do any marketing?
Sadly, the importance of marketing is still overlooked by many equine practices. It's not so long ago that horse owners didn't have much of a choice when it came to veterinary care for their animals. There was usually one local practice, so they would register there. This was at a time before anyone knew about 'Googling'. If owners wanted advice about their horse's health and wellbeing, they spoke to the vet. Diagnosing (or misdiagnosing, as the case may be) and purchasing medications online was not an option back in the day. Times have changed, and while not everyone might like it, it's vital to accept it, and work with these new rules in a changing game.
Owners have choices
If you want owners to choose you, you have to show them why your customer care is brilliant, demonstrate that you are open more hours each week than anyone else around, that your expertise is second-to-none and that your yard visits are competitively priced. All of which requires marketing. So let's look at how you might go about it.
Create a marketing plan
When you tackle a complicated case, you draw up a treatment plan. Marketing your equine practice is very similar; you need a plan. Creating a clear and succinct marketing plan that you share openly with your team allows you to:
Define a goal and make it specific - For example, you might want to grow new client registrations by 20 per cent before the end of the year or increase turnover by 10 per cent and so on.
Identify steps - Break down your goal so that you understand the steps you need to take in order to achieve it.
Identify target customers - It is no use blanket mailing inner city areas if you are...