Web Technology and Public Relations

Public relations in a veterinary practice may sometimes seem overwhelming and diffi- cult to manage. the importance of public relations for a practice is significant. this is how you get your name across in the community you serve, the clients you see and most importantly future pet owners. How you currently manage public relations in your practice will determine how clients view you. if you have poor public relations you may not have the best visibility amongst your competitors. if you have well managed public relations your clinic will stand out among the rest. think about any recent public rela- tions you have done recently. if the answer is little to none then this is a great place to start. However, if your answer consisted of a variety of public relations tasks then its time to bring out some new weapons from the web technology arsenal.

Cost Versus Value factor
It is important to know that public relations does not have to cost your practice a for- tune. in the past you may have implemented a variety of one-way communication methods of public relations and found it difficult to find a value for it. one-way methods of communication in public relations is where you communicate to the public but do not receive any communication back. for instance, you may have sent out newsletters by mail or have given out brochures at a variety of events. you can spend a few hundred dollars easily in postage and print alone. the end result was either a noticeably higher amount of new clients and/or increased revenue for a service area (such as vaccina- tions). often this form of public relations has been seen as “risky” and at times even deemed useless. it is important to know that public relations is not aLL about generat- ing high revenue, it’s about cultivating relationships in a community and with your cli- ents. although, revenue does play a factor and is often expected when a pr expense is involved. thanks to the development of social media and web technologies, public rela- tions has been made easier for us to manage and made extremely affordable. When you reduce expenses by using social media (which we will discuss next) you have to under- stand in exchange you must give time. a majority of social media outlets require you to be... well... social. you have to communicate daily, upload photos, write stories and inter- act. the bond you create after time with clients and the community will greatly exceed any time or paid employee time spent. yes, revenue will increase if you communicate correctly. Do you see your name in lights yet? [...]