When I start talking about marketing strategies with my customers I border on hyperventilation. I get about as excited as a monkey in a banana store, but I guess that’s what marketing geeks are supposed to do. This happened again yesterday.
I was conversing with a customer in his beautiful new practice. The discussion topic surrounded web sites and their ability to be a working part of a business (the key term being working). The folly of many small business owners, veterinarians included, is the “if you build it, they will come” philosophy. This applies to the physical practice itself and their websites.
The general purpose of this blog and our business is to get veterinary practices noticed. Many of the marketing strategies we develop include, or center around, a strong online presence. This is vastly different than just building a pretty web site because just having a website is about as functional to growing your business as just having walls and bathroom. The simple existence of a building does not make a business; subsequently the existence of a website doesn’t mean a business has a working online presence.
For 99% of businesses the goal of a website is simple, to increase customers. The problem is this whole world wide web thing – it’s just not that big of a secret anymore. Most businesses, many individuals, and even some kids have their own presence on the internet. The Big Fish household has 7, and that’s just mommy and daddy fish, the minnows can’t use the computer yet.
So this presents the dilemma of getting found. The terms SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) describe the strategies and tactics used to get you found on the internet. And most discussion of getting found on the internet start and end with Google as greater than 70% of searches are done there.
I have two articles that are good introductions to this topic. The links are listed below . If you have further question leave them in the discussion section and we will answer them quickly.
This is a guest post by Platinum Pet Memorial Service. It is an organization I recently worked with. After touring there facilities and getting to know the owners better I could tell they had a true passion for their work and an honest desire to serve the veterinary community. I asked them to do a guest post for me, it is displayed below. You can learn more about them at www.platinumpetms.com
When a “Private” cremation is not really a PRIVATE Cremation
Many crematories offer “Private” and “Communal” cremations for pets. Most of us (including our clients) understand a communal cremation is when a pet is cremated with other pets. One would think that a “Private” cremation is when a pet is placed in a crematory alone. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many crematories partition their crematory, thus placing several pets in the crematory at the same time by (say) placing one in each corner or placing them in a circle. Obviously, this is a way for the crematory to save money. However, it can also cause many issues – for you and your client. The two biggest in my opinion are: (1) this is not a private cremation – the client is being misled (2) is the operator organized and not confused such that a pet is returned to the wrong owner(s).
The practice of grouping Private cremations has been going on in our industry for some time and is even recognized as appropriate, if the client fully understands. However, we are finding that more crematories are now performing this type of service – and maybe without you knowing. When you receive a “To whom it may concern” letter offering a better price, be sure to ask the right questions.
We know people shop around for better prices in all areas of our industry. We believe that once a client has decided on a service there should be no confusion in that service (is a private rally a private, etc.). Some would chalk this up to “you get what you pay for” and while I agree with the saying you also have to add that you should know what you are paying for before you agree to the price. It is not always an apples-to-apples comparison.
At Platinum Pet Memorial Service we offer a Private Cremation. It is our guarantee that when you or your client pay for a Private service there will be only one pet in the crematory. We do not and will not offer Private or Individual Cremations where there is more than one pet in the crematory.
Platinum Pet is open to the public and we encourage you to visit our facility. We offer a private viewing room for your clients. We entered into this business knowing we could operate our business and maintain our values. We believe the relationship between an owner and pet is special and we will maintain that special relationship and treatment to the end.
