Vet Holidays 2022: The Ultimate List for Marketing Campaigns
Conducting marketing campaigns is a must these days for modern veterinary practices, but it can sometimes be difficult to come up with ideas. This is where vet holidays come in. Leveraging veterinary holidays to create engaging content for marketing campaigns is a sure-fire way to keep your audience captivated.
You can post on social media celebrating these holidays, hold contests, and of course, ask for photos as a way to interact with pet owners via social media. Aside from that, you can communicate special discounts, offers, or competitions via email and host them on your website.
To help you get started, we've compiled a list of some of the most popular vet holidays that you can take advantage of in 2022 (or any year for that matter) with a simple marketing campaign idea for each month.
Free eBook: Digital Marketing for Veterinary Practices
January Vet Holidays
Monthly:
National Train Your Dog Month
Adopt a Rescued Bird Month
Unchain a Dog Month
Walk Your Dog Month
💡 Encourage your followers to get out with their pooches by sharing maps of routes for daily walks or host a “walk with the docs” event where the public is invited to bring their dog and walk with veterinarians from your clinic.
Daily:
1st: New Year's Day
2nd: National Pet Travel Safety Day
2nd: Happy Mew Years for Cats Day
5th: National Bird Day
14th: Dress Up Your Pet Day
20th: Penguin Awareness Day
21st: Squirrel Appreciation Day
21st: National Hug Day
22nd: National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day
24th: Change a Pet’s Life Day
24th: National Compliment Day
29th: Seeing-Eye Guide Dog Anniversary
February Vet Holidays
Monthly:
National Cat Health Month
Dog Training Education Month
Responsible Pet Owners Month
Spay & Neuter Awareness Month
Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month
Pet Dental Health Month
💡 February offers a significant opportunity to raise awareness around dental problems in pets, including treatments, and preventative care for pets' knashers. You can also run a promotion on dental this month.
Weekly:
7th - 14th: Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week
21st - 28th: National Justice for Animals Week
Daily:
14th: Pet Theft Awareness Day
17th: Random Acts of Kindness Day
20th: Love Your Pet Day
22nd: National Walk Your Dog Day
23rd: Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day
23rd: Spay Day USA
25th: World Spay Day
March Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Poison Prevention Awareness Month
Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month
Weekly:
7th - 13th: Professional Pet Sitters Week
21st - 27th: Poison Prevention Week
💡 Post a different household poison every week of this month. Especially things that pet owners might not know are poisonous. You can also talk about correct storage to prevent accidental poisonings.
Daily:
1st: Pig Day
3rd: World Wild Life Day
3rd: If Pets Had Thumbs Day
8th: International Women's Day
14th: National Save a Spider Day
17th: St. Patrick’s Day
23rd: National Puppy Day
23rd: Cuddly Kitten Day
28th: Respect Your Cat Day
April Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month
National Heartworm Awareness Month
Prevent Lyme Disease in Dogs Month
Pet First Aid Awareness Month
💡 April is not short of veterinary holidays. For this month, get your vets to write quick tips and guidelines for pet owners to provide first aid to their pets. Consider including ways to stop bleeding, initially treat bug bites or stings, toxic substance ingestion, etc. You could even post a list of items to put in a pet first aid kit. You can even name the campaign "Vet Advice."
Weekly:
1st - 7th: International Pooper Scooper Week
10th - 17th: National Wildlife Week
11th - 17th: Dog Bite Prevention Week
11th - 17th: National Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week
17th - 23rd: National Pet ID Week
18th - 24th: Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week
Daily:
2nd: National Ferret Day & Good Friday
5th: Easter Monday
6th: National Siamese Cat Day
7th: World Health Day
8th: National Zoo Lover’s Day
10th: National Hug Your Dog Day
10th: National Farm Animals Day
11th: National Pet Day and Celebrate Shelter Pets Day
11th: Dog Therapy Appreciation Day
18th: Pet Owners Independence Day
19th: National Cat Lady Day
23rd: National Lost Dog Awareness Day
24th: World Veterinary Day
25th: National Pet Parent’s Day
25th: World Penguin Day
28th: International Guide Dogs Day
30th: Adopt a Shelter Pet Day
30th: Therapy Animal Day
May Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Chip Your Pet Month
Pet Cancer Awareness Month
National Pet Month
Lyme Disease Prevention Month
National Service Dog Eye Examination Month
Weekly:
2nd - 8th: Be Kind to Animals Week
2nd - 8th: National Pet Week
💡 You can ask clients to submit their pet stories a few weeks ahead of time and then share them on your marketing channels during this week to help reinforce the positive aspects of pet ownership and spotlight some of your clients and patients. If you have enough stories, consider sharing them throughout the whole month.
3rd - 9th: Puppy Mill Action Week
Daily:
1st: National Purebred Dog Day
3rd: National Specially-abled Pets Day
4th: Bird Day
8th: Animal Disaster Preparedness Day
20th: National Rescue Dog Day
23rd: World Turtle Day
June Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month
National Pet Preparedness Month
National Microchipping Month
Social Pet-working Month
Weekly:
6th - 12th: Pet Appreciation Week
21st - 25th: Take Your Pet to Work Week
Daily:
4th: National Hug Your Cat Day
10th: World Pet Memorial Day
💡 Encourage your followers to share pictures or stories of their favorite gone-but-not-forgotten pets. With their consent you can share them on your marketing channels to pay your tributes.
18th: Ugliest Dog Day
21st: Take Your Cat to Work Day
21st: National Dog Party Day
24th: Cat World Domination Day
25th: Take Your Dog to Work Day
July Vet Holidays
Monthly:
National Doghouse Repairs Month
Pet Hydration Awareness Month
Lost Pet Prevention Month
💡 We're halfway through our list of vet holidays, but we still have more to come! For the month of July, try launching an email campaign with a list of ways to identify pets, including collars, microchips, photo ID websites, etc.
Weekly:
18th - 24th: National Zookeeper Week
27th - Aug 3rd: Feed a Rescue Pet Week
Daily:
10th: National Kitten Day
11th: All-American Pet Photo Day
13th: Cow Appreciation Day
15th: National Pet Fire Safety Day
15th: I Love Horses Day
16th: World Snake Day
21st: No Pet Store Puppies Day
26th: Dog Photography Day
31st: Mutt’s Day
August Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Itchy Pet Awareness Month
Immunization Awareness Month
💡 You can print out a guidance sheet for pet owners with a list factors to consider when vaccinating their pets and offer it at your reception area.
Weekly:
1st - 7th: International Assistance Dog Week
Daily:
1st: Universal Birthday for Shelter Dogs
8th: International Cat Day
10th: National Spoil Your Dog Day
10th: National Lazy Day
17th: National Black Cat Appreciation Day
22nd: National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day
26th: International Dog Day
30th: National Holistic Pet Day
September Vet Holidays
Monthly:
National Disaster Preparedness Month
Pet Sitter Education Month
Happy Healthy Cat Month
Service Dog Month
Pet Insurance Month
Animal Pain Awareness Month
💡 Provide audience with an animal pain scale so they can best evaluate when their furry friend is uncomfortable. You may also choose to have veterinarians write brief descriptions of how to tell if animals are in pain.
Weekly:
13th - 19th: Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week
19th - 25th: National Dog Week
19th - 25th: Deaf Dog Awareness Week
Daily:
1st: Ginger Cat Appreciation Day
4th: National Wildlife Day
8th: Dog Walker Appreciation Day
12th: National Pet Memorial Day
18th: Puppy Mill Awareness Day
18th: Responsible Dog Ownership Day
25th: International Rabbit Day
28th: World Rabies Day
October Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Adopt a Pet Month
Animal Safety and Protection Month
Pet Wellness Month
Weekly:
1st - 7th: National Walk Your Dog Week
3rd - 9th: Animal Health Week
17th - 23rd: Veterinary Technician Week
Daily:
4th: World Animal Day
13th: National Pet Obesity Awareness Day
💡 Use a Hills Treat Translator share to show pet parents how even small amounts of human food can add up to one plump pet.
17th: National Fetch Day
29th: National Cat Day
November Vet Holidays
Monthly:
Adopt a Senior Pet Month
Pet Diabetes Month
National Pet Cancer Awareness Month
National Senior Pet Month
Weekly:
7th - 13th: Animal Shelter Appreciation Week
💡 You can launch an animal rescue fundraising project and request your pet owner clients to contribute. Here's a blog that will give you 17 Effective Animal Shelter Fundraising Ideas.
Daily:
1st: International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day
1st: National Cook for Your Pets Day
7th: National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day
December Vet Holidays
Monthly:
National Cat Lovers’ Month
💡 A quick and easy campaign idea would be to compile a short video or collage with pictures of your cat patients with their loving pet owners, thanking them for doing a good job of taking care of their cats.
Daily:
2nd: Mutt Day
10th: International Animal Rights Day
15th: National Cat Herder’s Day
24th: Christmas Eve
25th: Christmas Day
27th: Visit The Zoo Day
31st: New Year's Eve
New Employee Round-up: June 2021
As more veterinary practices join the Vetstoria community, our team has grown to help our customers worldwide!
We added 9 new members to our Vetstoria family across multiple regions (the UK, USA, and APAC) in June. We wanted to take a moment to welcome and introduce them to you.
Latischa Jones
Client Services Associate, United States
Latischa is the latest member of our Client Services team in the US. She was a military kid who spent her childhood traveling around the US and Europe.
Latischa has worked in the veterinary industry since 2003. When she is free, she enjoys cooking amazing seafood dishes. 🍤
Diluka Karunathilake
Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, Sri Lanka
We expanded our product quality assurance team further in June to make sure you get the best experience using Vetstoria. Diluka is our newest member working out of our Sri Lankan office.
He loves to play futsal when he is free, and his love for running has seen him take part in the 2018 Singapore marathon and a few others in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 🏃♂️
Diluka also likes to read books and travel whenever he gets the chance.
Dilan Jayamanne
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
We are happy to have Dilan join our software engineering team, where we provide a totally immersive environment for all of them.
He is very passionate about software development and electronics, so he even has a Youtube channel covering these topics! There you go, we have a YouTuber in Vetstoria 😜 (don’t forget to subscribe to his channel: Dilan_JT). 🎥
Furthermore, Dilan volunteers teaching children how they too can build a career in IT.
Hasvin Gunasekara
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
Hasvin is also a new member of our product development team, and we are excited to have him on board.
His interests are in researching and building machine learning programs. He also enjoys learning about new technologies and vehicles. 🚙
Suhith Nanayakkara
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
Suhith is the third new member of our ever-growing and evolving engineering team based in Sri Lanka.
His passion strongly lies in software development, and he is very keen on exploring new technologies, stepping out of his comfort zone. Suhith loves playing cricket, traveling and recently discovered his interest in cooking delicious Sri Lankan cuisine. 🍛
Paul Zedek
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
Paul is a great guitarist, adores music so much, and even has a YouTube page with amazing guitar videos. Make sure you subscribe to his channel too 😉: Paul Melchi Zedek. 🎸
He is always up for challenges involving work as he thinks it helps him step out of his comfort zone. Paul also loves to travel and hike whenever he gets the chance to relax and have some peace of mind.
Gibran Kasif
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
What can be better than having a Minecraft game expert joining your product team? The skills he learned mastering such a complex game translate perfectly into his new role at Vetstoria.
He is very passionate about full-stack development and is keen to explore more to enhance his knowledge.
Pamudu Bandara
Trainee Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
For as long as Pamudu can remember, he wanted to become a Software Engineer, and this June, he made it happen. Cheers to dreams coming true!
He enjoys swimming and competing in karate and has taken part in several championships. 🏊♂️
Kasun Samarasinghe
Manager - Finance, Sri Lanka
Our new Finance Manager has had a wealth of global experience in a wide variety of industries.
He loves nature and traveling around Sri Lanka, his favorite being the hillsides. His connection to nature has led him to grow and maintain his very own garden. In fact, he dreams of running his very own farm after he is finished up with his illustrious career. 🌳
Employee Spotlight - Daniel Reilly
Welcome to our employee spotlight series, where we introduce a member of the Vetstoria family to you all. This month we interviewed our brilliant Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Reilly.
Q: Could you give us an introduction to yourself?
I'm Dan, a startup guy since 2010 and a sales guy since birth, as I have always loved the art of persuasion! I was born in Queens, New York, and went to school upstate. When I graduated, I had no clue how "real life" worked, so a friend's father got me an interview at a brokerage in the city, and I was lucky enough to get the job. I spent 6 years as a broker before moving to Spain (the first time leaving the USA - what could go wrong! 😆) to study for an MBA at IESE. I've worked for successful companies like Groupon and Cardlytics, a few modest successes, and one failure (my own venture) before joining Vetstoria. I was introduced to Julien by a mutual acquaintance and one of the investors in Vetstoria, so it shows you that relationships are essential in life!
On a personal level, I've got a great partner and a cat. I enjoy the European lifestyle and am a keen music fan. Now, this starts to sound like a dating app advert, so I'll stop there. 😜
Q: How long have you worked with Vetstoria, and what is your role in the company?
I've been with Vetstoria since October 2020, so I'm still new. I'm the CRO, so I look after Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success. It's an exciting challenge working across departments and time zones, and it keeps me busy and stimulated. The culture here is excellent, and so is the product, so it's pretty easy to keep myself motivated.
Q: What is one thing you are proud of achieving at Vetstoria?
I haven't done much yet, but I'm proud of bringing a few excellent people into the organization and absolutely enjoy working with the fantastic talent we already have at Vetstoria. If I can lighten the load of the existing team and help push the numbers, I'll feel like I've done a good job.
Q: What do you consider to be the best part of your daily role at Vetstoria?
I love to hear the news of onboarding a new veterinary clinic. The best part of my day is when I get a notification that we’ve partnered with a new clinic that will soon be benefiting from our excellent product. It’s been happening more frequently lately, and I’m looking forward to it being a daily occurrence. 😜
Q: What does working within the veterinary industry mean to you?
We bring simplicity, automation, and a better customer experience to an industry that does a challenging and vital job. It’s a satisfaction to help them reduce stress and have a smooth working experience as they continue to help pets that need medical attention.
My cat relieves my stress. I hope my product can help provide better lives to those who keep my cat healthy!
Q: What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
I love to spend time with my partner and catch up with friends, talking about music, current events, what the future holds, and more. Additionally, I do a bit of reading, hiking, golfing, cooking, and, of course, a city break or two never hurts.
Q: How have you been coping with the recent COVID situation, and do you have any words of advice for your fellow veterinary industry professionals who are struggling with it?
Being locked down, not seeing friends and family, no local community - it has been tough! I'm a non-digital-native, so I prefer the physical to the virtual world, though I did buy a VR headset, and that's been entertaining. 😀
In terms of advice, the classics work well - keep calm and carry on. It's not easy, but it'll get better, and of course, get your exercise in and limit the wine intake. 😜
Q: In your view, what’s the most important thing someone should master when working remotely?
Discipline to stay off the sofa and Youtube! I've worked remotely for a while now and have learned that staying self-motivated is critical. I firmly believe that our tasks won't take care of themselves. Even if you've had an unproductive day, week, or even month, the future is full of potential, so you've got to keep increasing your pace and effort, closing the gap you created for yourself.
Additionally, going for a walk creating a bit of separation from your workstation will refresh you and clear your thinking for the next task! Even having a chat with a friend will help you put a little Intense-Relaxed mix into your day.
Q: If you could take only one animal with you to a desert island, what would it be?
Lira - she's a moggy that we adopted last year, and she's the best cat around! I didn't even know I liked cats, but this one's the top!
p.s. We didn't name her after the old unit of Italian currency - it's Spanish for harp. 😉
Q: Words of advice for your fellow Vetstorians?
Look back every 12 months and assess how far you’ve come, and check if it's up to your expectations. If not, take the initiative to do something about it.
Q: What future developments are you excited about at Vetstoria?
Really keen to see how our nascent partnerships approach scales - we're a part of an ecosystem, and leveraging the other members in it will hopefully continue to drive growth and success for our clients and us. Love seeing the wins continue to pile up as well - go revenue! 📈
6 of the Most Popular Veterinary Influencers on Instagram
Veterinary influencers on Instagram have the power to persuade their followers to choose one veterinary practice over another based on their recommendation or affiliation. They have this power because they’ve built trust with their audiences over time.
If you’re looking for ways to grow your practice and get more pet owners through the doors, we highly recommend developing solid relationships with influencers. This blog will help you get started with influencer marketing for your practice and list 5 of the most popular influencers you can consider today!
Veterinary Marketing Strategy: Read the Ultimate Guide for Veterinary Clinic Growth
Getting started with veterinary influencer marketing
🟣 Identify your main goal for influencer marketing - like promoting your services, increasing brand awareness, or acquiring new clients
🟣 Define the characteristics of a suitable influencer profile to achieve your goals - the type of audience, number of followers, their profile, quality of content
🟣 Discover the potential influencers - you can do this with the help of tools like BuzzSumo, LinkedIn, and Ninja Outreach or consult an agency to deliver sponsored imagery, branded content, and social influencer services
🟣 Decide on the rewards you want to offer the influencer in exchange for the publicity - financial rewards or free services from your clinic are common
🟣 Mutually agree on what the influencer would be highlighting - you can let the influencer visit your practice and experience your services by themselves
🟣 Measure the results acquired from the program - measure metrics like the number of new clients, ROI, or additional followers gained as a result of this campaign
6 of the most popular veterinary influencers you can find today:
1. Dr Evan Antin
Instagram Handle: @dr.evanantin
Followers: 1.3 million
Location: Colorado, United States
Dr Evan Antin is currently an Exotic, Small, and Wildlife Vet at Conejo Valley Veterinary Hospital based in Colorado, United States. What's more exciting is that Dr Evan has authored a book on the topic "World Wild Vet," which affirms his experience and knowledge in the veterinary field 👏. Furthermore, his Instagram page has over 1.3 million followers and has exciting content centered around wildlife and small animals. He currently has over 1,500 posts, and one of his latest posts received over 34.5K likes and 112 comments proving how engaged his audience is.
2. Chris Brown
Instagram Handle: @drchrisbrown
Followers: 628K
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Veterinarian and TV Host Chris Brown is hugely famous on Instagram with a total follower count of 628,500. If your clinic is based in New South Wales, Australia, he is precisely the influencer you should get in touch with. Dr Brown also generously takes part in and conducts campaigns that help animals in need. For example, he recently produced pet tips or ways to help animals affected by bushfires. His posts with animals are incredibly adorable, and he gets an average of 19-21K likes followed by around 400 comments. I bet you won't want to stop scrolling through his profile, and here's one of our favorites:
3. Dr Jan Pol
Instagram Handle: @thedrpol
Followers: 445K
Location: Weidman, Michigan, United States
If you’re anywhere near Michigan, United States, you should consider partnering with Dr Jan Pol. He is a highly influential and knowledgeable Veterinarian with around 50 years of experience in veterinary medicine. Dr Pol recently posted a series of Instagram videos (IGTV), covering a range of exciting topics, and is pretty active on his daily Instagram stories. Dr Pol's posts get an average of 25k likes and over 550 comments showing you how much reach it can give your practice if you partnered with him. Apart from endorsing your practice, his experience can be an excellent source of knowledge.
4. André Santos
Instagram Handle: @andresantosvet
Followers: 379K
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Dr. Santos is a very active veterinarian at Veterinary Hospital Restelo, who constantly updates his Instagram feed with his daily vet life💉🏋🏻♂️ and clinical cases, which you can find on his saved highlights.
Furthermore, he has 379K followers on his Instagram and over 1300 adorable posts with his patients. We see an average of 42K likes on his posts and around 650 comments. You can reach Dr Santos on his email address in his bio or directly message him if you want to get in touch.
5. Dr Lauren Thielen
Instagram Handle: @dr.laurenthielen
Followers: 59.7K
Location: Texas, United States
Another impressive veterinary influencer is Dr Lauren Thielen, who is an exotic animal veterinarian at ABVP diplomate - Avian Practice. Dr Thielen, from Texas, US, has over 59K followers on her Instagram and gets an average of 6k likes on her regular posts. Her pictures are undoubtedly amongst the most adorable ones you’ll find on social media, and looking at them will make your day. By posting the variety of species she consults, Lauren showcases that she is the right influencer if you want to reach parents of exotic pets. Here's a picture of her with a Ring-ailed Lemur:
6. Dr Michael Lazaris
Instagram Handle: @drlazaris_vet
Followers: 53.9K
Location: London, UK
A special mention for Dr Michael Lazaris who is not only a wonderful Instagrammer but also a forward-thinking entrepreneur. Together with co-founder Ellie Cavale, they opened the only independent veterinary practice in Clapham, South London after working many years as a vet globally.
Vets on The Common launched in Oct 2021, with Vetstoria online booking and triage already in place to save admin time. We are seeing this fast adoption of technology more and more with independent practices opening up post-COVD. It’s wonderful to see the resurgence of independent practices and how they have embraced online booking. All the best Michael! Sending love to everyone at Vets on the Common.
Final thoughts
Veterinary Influencers are an essential part of marketing a veterinary practice today, as millennials are now the largest segment of pet owners, with Gen Z ownership rising (most of whom are on Instagram day and night 😋).
We believe they are well worth the investment. You can quickly reach all their active followers if you choose the right influencer with your targeted audience. Additionally, working with the right veterinary influencer will drive traffic to your site and increase your veterinary brand equity.
The 6 Influencers in this blog may not be right for your practice, but it should give you a good idea of the potential out there! Give it a try.
New Employee Round-up: May 2021
As more veterinary practices join the Vetstoria community, our team has grown to help our customers worldwide!
We added 9 new members to our Vetstoria family across multiple regions (the UK, USA, and APAC) last month. We wanted to take a moment to welcome and introduce them to you.
Ishara Naotunna
Head of Product Marketing, Sri Lanka
Ishara joined our team in Sri Lanka as the Head of Product Marketing last month. She made various career moves previously, holding interesting titles like radio presenter and public relations officer.
Ishara has the three most adorable dogs, whom she calls Nickey Minaaaaj, Cookie, and Snowy. She's passionate about pets (as you can see) and has a strong interest in books, Dave Grohl, obscure music, and sketch comedies.
Thuvarakesh Velrajah
Junior Cyber Security Engineer, Sri Lanka
Thuvarakesh is also a new addition to our Sri Lankan cybersecurity team, helping us plan, implement, monitor, and upgrade security measures to protect Vetstoria's data, systems, and networks.
He loves everything about cricket! Playing, watching, and even just talking about it gets him excited! 🏏
Thamali Fernando
Human Resources Executive, Sri Lanka
Thamali joined our Human Resources team as the Junior Human Resources Executive. She comes with experience working in a bank and a telecommunication company in Sri Lanka.
Thamali loves Netball! So much so, she even got to play for her school and university🏀. She also loves spicy food and enjoys taking up any new challenges which might come her way.
Chathuranga Suriyaarachchi
Application Support Engineer, Sri Lanka
Chathuranga is an Application Support Engineer who joined our Implementation and Support team in Sri Lanka, helping us expand the support to our veterinary customers. He comes with experience working in multinational companies, and we are thrilled to have him on board.
Chathuranga enjoys working on Arduino projects and spends his spare time mostly working out and playing video games. 🎮
Antoinette Baddiley
Client Services Associate, UK
Vetstoria gives prominence to providing great client services, and that's why our client services team keeps expanding. Antoinette is another addition, and she joins us as a Client Services Associate in the UK. She has 20 years of experience working in independent and large corporate veterinary practices. She was a registered veterinary nurse in Kent, South East England, before joining Vetstoria.
She is an animal lover and has worked as an animal keeper at a British Wildlife Park, where she hand-reared a wolf cub, an Arctic fox, and a few other small mammals. 🦝
Kathryn Lamont
Customer Success Agent, UK
Kate also joined our UK team as a Customer Success Agent to keep our customers out of trouble 😜. She held various positions in different industries in both the UK and Australia before joining Vetstoria.
Our multi-talented Kate has certifications in Conflict Management, Psychology in workspaces, Health & Safety and hazards awareness, and Salesforce. She loves traveling and has spent the year before the pandemic exploring Australia and parts of Asia. 🌎
Shabthika Jeyamanoharan
Junior Data Engineer, Sri Lanka
Shabthika joined us as a Junior Data Engineer last month, and she comes with experience in Integration Development and education on Computer Science.
She considers herself as someone who values people and loves building new friendships. Outside of work, Shabthika enjoys spending her time reading books and solving complex problems. 📗
Summer Lauzon
Business Development Manager, US
Summer joined our US team as the Business Development Manager. She started her career as a Veterinary Technician and then found her passion for business & sales.
When Summer is not working, she loves to go bowling and spend time outside. As of late, Summer has a newfound passion for epoxy resin art, which she spent a lot of time doing during the pandemic. 🎳
Ravindu Ranasinghe
Associate Software Engineer, Sri Lanka
Ravindu is our new Associate Software Engineer, and we are glad to have him on our engineering team, where we provide a totally immersive environment for all of them.
Multi-talented Ravindu loves singing whenever he is free. He is also a talented guitarist and a pianist. It sounds like he has music covered. 🎸🎹
Employee Spotlight - Kathryn Powell
Welcome to our new employee spotlight series, where we introduce a member of the Vetstoria family to you all. This month we interviewed the amazing Client Support Representative, Kathryn Powell.
Q: Could you give us an introduction to yourself?
Hi, I’m Kate 😃 I started working in veterinary clinics 12 years ago in Central and South Texas as a receptionist and eventually moved up to assistant hospital manager before joining Vetstoria. I love the veterinary field and its people! Though I don’t work in a clinic anymore, I’m so grateful to impact this industry by helping clinics find ways to improve their practice efficiency through technology. It’s a long time coming in this industry, and I’m happy to see more clinics embrace what we can do. On a personal note, I’m happily married and have an amazing five-year-old son that keeps us busy at home.
Q: How long have you worked with Vetstoria, and what is your role in the company?
I started in September of 2020, so I’ve been working with Vetstoria now for eight months. I am a Client Support Representative. Most of my focus starts after veterinary clinics sign up with us, which is the onboarding process and supporting clinics that use our services.
Q: What is one thing you are proud of achieving at Vetstoria?
I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone a bit at Vetstoria, which has been the best thing for me. Coming from a background of being in a clinic, learning the ropes of a “tech company” has been filled with exciting new challenges. Honestly, I’m proud of myself for embracing this opportunity to grow in a new direction instead of just staying where I was comfortable.
Q: What do you consider to be the best part of your daily role at Vetstoria?
I love the moments when I'm helping a clinic with the back-end setup of their online booking tool, and then the "why didn't we do this sooner" tone comes over the conversation. The excitement that this will help a clinic function more efficiently and take some stress out of people's lives (that I know are already stressed enough) motivates me.
Q: What does working within the veterinary industry mean to you?
The veterinary industry is full of caring and compassionate people. We work hard and give all of ourselves to care for pets because we know they give us the unconditional love we need - especially now. I think it’s common for people in the veterinary industry sometimes to care and give too much. My goal is to help them find ways to take back some of their time, hoping that this might correlate to a bit of time to take care of themselves.
Q: What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
Well, as I mentioned before, I am a mom to a five-year-old boy. I don’t find much time beyond being with him, but he’s the best thing that could’ve happened to my husband and me. He’s energetic, passionate, curious, and very funny. In my eyes, he’s a natural scientist, and I really enjoy it. He likes to ask questions and have conversations about things he observes, and seeing the world through his eyes is always a humbling experience.
Apart from being a mom, when I find free time, I enjoy movies - particularly Sci-Fi (Star Wars is basically my life), music, and PC gaming. I also have an old lady dachshund and a super squishy blind cat that likes to photobomb my Zoom calls when he can.
Q: How have you been coping with the recent COVID situation, and do you have any words of advice for your fellow veterinary industry professionals who are struggling with it?
COVID lockdowns began about six months before I joined Vetstoria. My previous clinic went to curbside as many did - and are still, which has been a harrowing experience. I’ve tried to find the silver linings where I can. Being forced to spend more time at home with my family has been a blessing and has helped me re-evaluate what really matters. I think my advice for industry professionals would be to hold tight and focus on giving yourself some grace. None of this could have ever been expected or planned for, and we’re all doing the best we can to safely deliver the same quality of care that we always have.
Q: In your view, what’s the most important thing someone should master when working remotely?
I think finding ways to stay organized is essential. I’m a bit notorious for my spiral notebooks that never leave my side. Ensuring that you make time for breaks and to step away from work occasionally is vital as well. Working from home can make it a little too easy to work non-stop. Scheduling breaks when you can and sticking to them is important!
Q: If you could take only one animal with you to a desert island, what would it be?
This is a tough one! I always say my spirit animal is a sloth because if I could just lay in a hammock under a tree all day I’d be happy. A sloth wouldn’t be very useful on a desert island though!
Q: Words of advice for your fellow Vetstorians?
Honestly, I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing! Team collaboration at Vetstoria is phenomenal! I count myself lucky to be working with a team that is as open, welcoming, and supportive as we are.
Q: What future developments are you excited about at Vetstoria?
I love that most of our innovations and improvements come from feedback or recommendations from the clinics that we work with. I’d say I’m most excited about the upcoming integrations with additional PIMs. I look forward to being able to reach and help even more clinics in the future!
Manage your vaccination backlog more efficiently with Vetstoria + iRecall®
Vaccination reminders with SmartLinks and iRecall®
Veterinary practices that use Vetstoria and iRecall® can now control the availability that pet owners see when booking appointments online based on their pet's vaccination due date within iRecall®.
With the new integration, practices can define custom availability rules, based on how overdue a vaccination is, within Vetstoria using the SmartLinks feature. This allows your practice to automatically prioritise the most overdue patients to be seen soonest when the vaccination is most critical.
For example, you can decide that pet owners who are 90+ days overdue for vaccinations would see appointments available this week, whereas owners of pets that are only a week or two overdue will see availability three-weeks from now.
This allows your practice to ensure that the most overdue patients are seen the earliest.
What is a Vetstoria SmartLink and how does it work with iRecall® reminders?
Vetstoria SmartLinks are unique auto-generated links that are embeddable in any digital communication sent to clients (email and SMS reminders for example).
With the new Vetstoria and iRecall® integration, Vetstoria SmartLinks can be embedded within your iRecall® vaccination reminders.
When an email or SMS reminder is sent to a pet owner, and they click on the link in the reminder, it will pass information about them, their pet, and vaccination due date to the Vetstoria online booking widget. The pet owner will then see appointment availability based on the vaccination due date and the availability rules you set.
Want to enable smart vaccination reminders?
If you already use Vetstoria and iRecall® and you want to start managing your vaccination backlog more efficiently, contact support and we'll help you get up and running!
If you're not yet a Vetstoria customer and want to see how this feature, as well as many others, can help your practice operate more efficiently, book a quick demo with one of our friendly product specialists today.
More about iRecall® Vaccination Reminders
iRecall® provides your practice with the tools to remind 100% of your clients, 100% of the time with timely prompts to book online at a time that suits the client. With SMS, email, and post reminders, you can be sure to reach all your clients with important reminders. SMARTdelivery provides you with complete visibility of which clients have received messages and most importantly means you'll have the best odds of reaching every client, every time, fully automatically.
Get in touch with iRecall® to learn more
5 Simple Veterinary Social Media Tips For Your Practice
Are you really harnessing the power of your social media platforms?
Social media has become the most-used channel by Millennials, who are also the largest segment of pet parents, with 76% of them owning pets, accounting for 31% of total ownership. And let's not forget the emerging Gen-Z's, the 18-24-year-olds, who account for 11% of total ownership - they live on social!
Despite this, a number of veterinary teams neglect their social channels, seeing them as a burden, or merely a marketing tool that is only required when in need of new business. However, If used in the correct way, social media can also save you and your team hours of valuable time every week and help you develop stronger relationships with your customers.
To help you get more from social, we've shared 5 easy-to-implement tips that will make your customers (and team) happier.
Free eBook: Digital Marketing for Veterinary Practices
1. Show 'behind the scenes'
Sharing images of your team or patients within the practice environment is a great way to show the personality and caring nature of your team. Pets are precious and any parent would appreciate getting a glimpse of the care their loved one would receive should they visit your practice.
The same goes for existing customers. A familiar face popping up on their social media feed helps them feel part of your practice family, and keeps your practice top of mind when it comes to booking their next preventative treatment.
These posts don't need to be complex - a simple shot of a happy 'tail-waggin' patient after treatment or a selfie of your friendly receptionist goes a long way!
2. Ensure you're easy to find
Since social media is the preferred channel for many pet owners to interact with veterinary practices, helping them find your page and interact with you quickly and easily is essential.
Start with your profile name and keeping it simple. The exact name of your practice is usually the best way to go. Use your logo as the profile photo and add a cover photo that helps pet owners easily identify your brand.
It's important to include as much detail as possible in the about section - you can use this to display opening times and appointment types that you currently offer, as well as your contact details and website URL.
Remember, this is one of the first places pet owners will check if they want to contact you, and if populated with the right information, can reduce the number of phone calls you receive asking "what time do you open" or "which species do you treat", saving precious time for your team.
3. Share user-generated content
User-generated content (UGC) is any content - text, videos, images, reviews, etc. -created by people, rather than brands.
Sharing UGC is a powerful tactic for veterinary practices because consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by a business. This offers practices an important credibility boost that builds trust with potential customers and promotes loyalty with existing ones.
Here are a couple ideas to get you started:
- Scroll through your reviews on platforms like Google or Yelp. Select the best ones and add them to a pre-designed social media image template (using a free tool such as Canva). Post the image of the quote with a caption thanking the customer.
- Encourage customers to use brand-specific hashtags, and use search streams to find user-generated content you might have missed. By using a social listening tool, you can keep an eye out for all mentions of your practice on social media. If you find a post you’d like to share with your audience, get in touch with the content creator and ask permission.
4. Use social media as a communication channel
Most social media platforms have their own direct messaging or live chat feature, which is excellent. Although it may seem like an extra duty for your front desk to manage within an already hectic schedule, monitoring communication via social media may actually save more time for your team.
By being responsive on such platforms, you can quickly reduce phone calls for unnecessary inquiries and questions. In cases where you need more time to respond to messages, some platforms give you the option to add automated responses, which will keep the customer engaged.
You can further automate the potential questions based on what's asked most and serve automated responses to each, as shown in the screenshot below:
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide excellent opportunities for veterinary clinics to reach and engage with their target audience. By creating a business page on these platforms, clinics can share informative and engaging content that showcases their expertise and services, while also building relationships with pet owners in the community. These platforms allow clinics to post photos and videos of their facilities, staff, and patients, as well as share pet health tips, news, and promotions. Additionally, paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram can help clinics reach even more potential clients and drive traffic to their website. Overall, incorporating Facebook and Instagram into a veterinary marketing strategy can be an effective way to connect with pet owners, increase brand awareness, and attract new business.
To learn more about how you can you use Facebook and Instagram to promote your veterinary clinic here for Instagram and click here for Facebook.
5. Conduct giveaway campaigns
Pet owners love to share, comment on, and like social media posts, even if they don't involve them. Most of all, they enjoy receiving free giveaways for themselves or their fur babies.
Giveaway campaigns usually work very well on social media. You will be asking pet owners to follow some steps to be in with winning themselves a prize. This can also be done by partnering with another vendor such as a pet toy or food supplier, making it more exciting and increasing the reach of the campaign.
By doing this, you can grow your followership and generate brand awareness, as well as promoting more advocacy among your existing customer base. Below is an excellent example of such a campaign carried out on Instagram:
Check out 5 Easy Ways To Start Promoting Your Practice.
Final thoughts
There are plenty of creative ways to use social media to save precious time for your team and making customers happier, whilst also driving practice growth.
If you haven't already, give some of the above methods a try! Your team and pet owners will appreciate it 😊
5 Veterinary Time-Saving Tips That Will Boost Productivity
There are only so many hours in a workday and always plenty to get done. How you utilize those hours will go a long way in determining the happiness of employees in your practice, productivity, and overall well-being. Instead of hoping you had more hours in the day, search for ways to save time without cutting corners.
Initiating some of the below veterinary time-saving tips help increase the productivity of you and your team members. They can also help reduce stress in the workplace. The less stressed we all feel, the better care we can provide our patients.
Free Download: 5 Veterinary Time-Saving Checklists
1. Dedicate specific times for tasks
Schedule in time during the day for you or your team to tie up those loose ends that can quickly unravel. This means paperwork, callbacks, ordering products, and other administrative duties. Try to avoid cramming tasks into lunch breaks or other scheduled breaks; try to ensure they take place at their dedicated times.
Not only will this allow you the time to complete tasks with no need to burn the midnight oil, but it can also make clients and team members happier. Clients will appreciate a quicker return time for callbacks and fewer mistakes on billing than when you’ve done a rush job of charting. And your team will appreciate a more reliable flow in their daily activities.
2. Spread the workload
Veterinary employees of different roles have a lot to take up: treating patients and providing customer service, payroll, equipment maintenance, managing inventory, and ensuring the smooth running of the practice, to name a few.
It isn't realistic for each employee to execute everything without overwhelming them. That's where delegation comes in. Splitting the work across individuals and roles leads to efficiency improvements.
Assigning specific tasks to each team member will lead to more accountability and increase work satisfaction. It also leads to time-saving, as it provides an opportunity to delegates certain tasks to those who are best or most efficient at performing them.
The practice manager may do a better job at managing payroll, while your lead technician may be in charge of equipment maintenance and issues. An associate vet can handle the inventory needs, while a receptionist may be best to deal with difficult customers. Find the strengths of your team and embrace them.
3. Upskill your team
Investing time in training for your team members may be the most worthwhile time saver that there is. While training may initially cost more time and potentially money, employees that are well trained and know their jobs will work more efficiently.
Not only will this allow your practice more opportunity to help more patients in less time, but it will also improve the level of service offered drastically. Highly trained team members are also more likely to feel satisfied with their job, being more invested and less likely to look elsewhere.
4. Focus on communication
Nothing can slow down progress more than having to repeat instructions or plans to each person individually. Having team meetings, message boards, or communication apps in which you can outline plans with your team members quickly and efficiently will be a big time saver.
Communication with clients is also a critical veterinary time saver. The more knowledge and understanding of procedures, illnesses, and preventatives that you can instill in your clients, the fewer phone calls, unnecessary rechecks, and emergency appointments you’ll have to undertake.
Make sure your entire team communicates the same message with the clients. You can do this by writing up instructions for surgery discharge, medications, vaccinations, and have your team follow these guides so that clients get the same instructions every time.
5. Stay organized with tools
Organization plays a huge role when it comes to saving time. However, being organized doesn't come naturally to all of us. This is where the smart usage of tools comes in.
One of these tools that can help you get more organized and save time are checklists. You can use them to manage recurring tasks. Imagine a morning opening checklist for receptionists, including tasks such as turning on computers, sending out appointment reminders, and flagging urgent emails. Following this will ensure everything's covered.
Similarly, a checklist for running lab tests, shipping specimens, preparing for surgeries, and closing out the day could be used by veterinary surgeons or technicians.
Just as creating your own checklists help you stay organized, repurposing pre-made templates from a similar clinic will help you save time that you may otherwise have to spend on creating your own. There are plenty of easily accessible templates on the internet that you can either use straight away or customize to meet your needs. In fact, we've created 5 Veterinary Time-Saving Checklists that you can download and use for free.
Another category of tools that facilitates organization is software. Implementing software that automates repetitive tasks such as online booking, taking payments, or sending reminders is a sure-fire way to staying organized and on top of everything.
Check out 5 veterinary software tools that will boost your team’s productivity.
Final thoughts
Make more time for yourself and your team by implementing the five veterinary time-saving tips mentioned above. You'll notice productivity improvements and increased happiness across the practice.
If you want to measure the levels of happiness among your team, feel free to download our veterinary employee happiness survey template - it's an easy way to measure employee happiness!
Take the proactive step towards a more streamlined practice and enhanced well-being. Book a demo today to explore these tips further and witness the positive impact on your veterinary team's productivity and happiness.
How Veterinary Checklists Can Save You Hours Every Week
Whether it comes as second nature to you or is something you need to work on, being organized within your veterinary practice has many benefits. One of the most comfortable and effective changes you can make to your routine is using veterinary checklists.
The small amount of time and effort it takes to put these checklists in place on your own or even browsing the internet for freely available checklists will help you become more efficient and have you reaping the rewards for years to come.
Research with 7,688 human patients in eight hospitals worldwide shows a drop in death rates to 0.8% after using checklists from 1.5%. Furthermore, serious complication rates in New Delhi, Tanzania, Ifakara, and Seattle dropped from 11% to 7%.
A checklist may seem like a somewhat dull tool to have in your practice management toolbox, but it is far from it! The humble checklist not only prevents you from making errors; it can save you precious time every single day. Your co-workers will be amazed at what a well-oiled machine your practice becomes once you are routinely using checklists.
Free Download: 5 Veterinary Time-Saving Checklists
Veterinary checklists for multiple purposes
Checklists can be used in various areas; they are wonderfully versatile. Some of the more common checklists used in veterinary clinics include:
- Veterinary Triage Checklists (to attend to emergency patients)
- Inpatient Checklists
- The ‘Weekly’ Veterinary Housekeeping Checklist (this may include bathroom cleaning, shelf stocking, and checking sell-by dates)
- COVID-19 safety checklist (relevant especially in the current climate)
When we have a comprehensive checklist in front of us, we can complete each task in record time.
Offers the perfect fail-safe method
Having a checklist that includes all of your critical weekly tasks is paramount. It prevents disasters from occurring and keeps staff and pet owners happy. For example, you may put ‘pay staff wages’ on your list. While this may be an obvious thing you would rarely forget to do, a checklist means you have a dependable safety net. You certainly don’t want to wake up in a sweat on Friday night, realizing you have forgotten.
Drives practice staff productivity
Using your veterinary checklists will soon become a streamlined activity and will naturally mean you have more time. By having an efficient system in place, your productivity is sure to increase. Your ‘brain space’ will be freed up to work on more crucial tasks and spend more time with your staff. The benefits will be felt across the practice as a whole, resulting in improved client satisfaction and practice growth.
Helps ensure safer pet care
Working in the veterinary industry, you know how important safety is when it comes to pet patients. Owners sometimes ask about your safety record when it comes to anesthesia and surgery. By ensuring veterinarians use a ‘Surgical Safety’ Veterinary Checklist for every procedure that involves anesthetic, we prevent errors from occurring. Amazingly, a Swedish study in the International Journal of Surgery demonstrated a 10% reduction in post-op complications when a checklist was implemented.
When we prevent errors before they have occurred, we don’t have to spend time cleaning up the mess’. Those client conversations about mistakes and complications can be the most challenging and draining and are best avoided where possible.
Spreads out responsibilities
Insisting that one person is responsible for each checklist is a good idea. To lessen the burden, consider giving each team member a different checklist. For example, surgical checklists being owned by nurses or technicians, housekeeping checklists being owned by practice managers, and new patient onboarding checklists being owned by receptionists.
The above will help prevent errors from occurring and bring to light those team members who may need more training in certain areas. Checklists can be rotated between individuals if preferred.
Increases pet owner confidence
Not only will your staff be happy working in an organized clinic, but using checklists will also gain pet owners’ trust. Did you know that 93% of people surveyed in one study said they would prefer if their surgeon used a surgical checklist?
This statistic should not be ignored! The impression that it gives is of a slick and modern practice that is keen to maintain high standards. Checklists take mere minutes to fill in, but the benefits are long-lasting.
Makes delegation easier
We all appreciate that delegating in a veterinary practice can get awkward and uncomfortable at times. Individual employees dislike being directly told what to do. We may put off delegating in the hope that the task gets done in its own time.
However, working like this creates unnecessary anxiety and reduces productivity and efficiency. Instead, we can use a checklist that delegates specific tasks to individual staff members. This fair and straightforward approach avoids confrontation and prevents time-wasting. No longer will you have to spend your valuable minutes seeking staff out and directly telling them what they have to do; they will already know!
Motivates team members
Veterinary checklists can be used for a multitude of purposes. They can be put up around the practice, be pinned to your computer (or tablet) home screen, or kept on a bulletin board. Ticking off each ‘completed’ task helps keep staff motivated. There’s also something profoundly satisfying about filling in that last tick!
Implementing checklists in your practice
The benefits of veterinary checklists are vast, and they inevitably result in a more efficient and well-organized practice - resulting in hours saved every week. If you haven’t started to use them yet, ask yourself why?
You can easily create a spreadsheet to manage this, search Veterinary Checklists in Google for inspiration, or download one of our free 5 Time-Saving Veterinary Checklists here. Trust us, you won't look back!
