6 Signs That It’s Time to Outsource Your Veterinary Marketing

At first glance, marketing your veterinary practice may seem like a DIY task. By creating your own content and campaigns, you can control your messaging and save money for more urgent needs.

However, this approach can be time-consuming and lead to unclear direction in your advertising, communications, and client engagement. Here are six signs that it’s time to outsource your veterinary marketing.

#1: Your team doesn’t have enough time for in-person duties

Example: You or your team are spending too much time on marketing.

Marketing efforts can be time-consuming and require ongoing attention and management. Outsourcing these tasks allows your team to focus on what they do best—providing exceptional care to your clients and patients—while improving your marketing outcomes. With a dedicated professional marketing team, every aspect of your practice can receive the attention it deserves.

#2: Your practice doesn’t have a marketing strategy

Example: You send occasional emails or promotions throughout the year and only post on social media to share pet pictures and changes to clinic hours. 

If your in-house marketing efforts are sporadic and lack direction, they will also lack results. Infrequent and unclear messaging can leave your marketing directionless, making it difficult to track progress, achieve specific goals, and build lasting client relationships.

Outsourcing your veterinary marketing ensures you’ll have a data-driven plan tailored to your practice’s objectives, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, attracting more clients, or boosting engagement. Outsourcing ensures that every marketing activity is consistent, ties back to a clear, measurable goal, and is aligned with your practice’s brand and long-term vision.

#3: Your practice struggles with client attraction and retention

Example: You send welcome emails to new clients, but the open rate is poor. Your social media channels see little engagement or growth.

Attracting new clients and retaining current ones is essential to your practice’s success. Attempting to address these challenges without the right marketing expertise can be costly. Targeted strategies created by a professional veterinary marketing agency can position your practice as a trusted resource, build a clear brand identity, and foster ongoing engagement with new and existing clients. With regular communication, value-driven content, and targeted promotions, you’ll not only see a steady influx of new clients but also build loyal, lasting relationships with those you’ve worked hard to bring in.

#4: You don’t have a consistent brand voice

Example: Marketing is a shared responsibility in your practice depending on who has time, shows interest in content creation, or knows how to use social media.

If multiple team members are responsible for creating marketing materials, your practice may struggle with establishing a consistent brand voice. When messaging varies from one communication to the next, clients may not understand what your practice stands for or be able to recognize your content versus a competitor’s. This lack of coherence can impact trust, brand awareness, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Outsourcing your digital marketing to professionals ensures that your messaging remains consistent, clear, and on-brand. Veterinary marketing agencies will use information about your practice’s core values to craft and maintain a strong, reliable brand voice across all touchpoints, from your website to social media marketing and email campaigns. This consistency creates familiarity, ensuring that potential and current clients always know what to expect from your practice.

#5: Your clients aren’t engaged

Example: Your content isn’t gaining social media followers, website traffic is down, and no one is opening your emails.

Low engagement across digital platforms is a sure sign that your marketing strategy needs professional help. If your current efforts aren’t resonating with your audience, you’re missing a powerful opportunity to educate, engage, and grow your client base.

Professional veterinary marketing agencies can implement engaging content strategies tailored to your audience’s needs and interests. Whether it’s creating compelling social media marketing campaigns, optimizing your website for conversions, or improving your email campaigns, outsourcing ensures that your content sparks interaction, drives traffic, and keeps clients connected to your practice.

#6: Your practice has outgrown its current marketing strategy

Example: Previously successful campaigns aren’t providing enough reach to match practice growth.

As your veterinary practice grows, your previously effective marketing efforts and skills may struggle to keep up with the increased demand, larger audience, new trends, and expanding scope.

Outsourcing to a professional veterinary marketing agency allows you to scale your marketing efforts by providing the resources, tools, and expertise to support your practice’s growth and manage the increasing demands of a larger client base. Veterinary marketing professionals can ensure your efforts ramp up with your success, instead of slowing it down.

The bottom line

While you could continue to manage your practice marketing in-house, outsourcing it to a professional is a worthwhile investment. Choose one that not only provides a consistent return on the cost but also saves your team time, effort, and energy spent worrying about how to promote your clinic, support your clients, and attract new business.

Another easy way to save time is with veterinary practice management software that streamlines your daily workflow. Founded on the core belief that all veterinarians deserve joy, cloud-based Shepherd Veterinary Software was thoughtfully designed to optimize practice management and help you and your team get home on time. Contact us to schedule your demo.