Become a Veterinary Video Pro
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so what is a video worth to your veterinary practice?
When it comes to your animal hospital’s social media marketing efforts, video can mean a significantly increased amount of interaction with your posts.
If you’ve scrolled through countless videos in your own Facebook feed lately, you are probably not surprised to hear that video can boost your practice’s exposure. And there’s more good news: video on social media is all about natural, fun content. Video can show clients a lot about your veterinary practice and you don’t need to be an expert to create effective ones.
How can busy veterinarians and vet techs easily incorporate video into their social world? Apps, of course! I’ve compiled a list of my top video apps for veterinary hospitals, along with some ideas of how to utilize them.
Follow these tips and you’ll be describing your practice as video-friendly in no time.
Vine & Instagram
A video posted by The Social DVM (@thesocialdvm) »
Creating video is the first step. After that, you’ll need to use a social platform to get your videos (or “vids” in tech speak) seen by pet owners. Vine and Instagram allow you to complete both steps in easy, mobile-friendly ways.
Both app-based social media options allow you to create short videos within them. After you’ve created your video content, you’re able to share it with other users who follow your account. Be sure to use hashtags when sharing videos on Vine and Instagram, especially ones that have to do with your location. Doing so can get your veterinary hospital more followers. For example, if you’re located near Boston, use the tag #Boston in your videos.
Vine and Instagram are similar but here are the major differences:
Vine is limited to video, but Instagram includes photos
Vine has short, sweet 6 seconds vids while Instagram allows 15 seconds
Vine integrates seamlessly with Twitter, allowing you to link the accounts
Not sure which to choose?
Use Vine if: you are a Twitter addict, either as a practice or as a personal veterinary brand. While I don’t usually recommend linking social media platforms together, Vine + Twitter = Awesome Video Sharing. The Ontario Veterinary College is active on Vine and Twitter (@OntVetCollege) and is definitely worth checking out.
Use Instagram if: you have an established Facebook presence, but you’re looking to add another platform where you can share more photos and videos. As you may have noticed, it can be hard to reach a large audience on your Facebook. Some great examples of Instagram accounts to check out are: @PAW_vet, @JustinRDMV, and @TheSocialDVM.
Hyperlapse
When you are ready to bring your veterinary videos to the next level, there are several apps to help you do that.
Hyperlapse is currently my absolute favorite way to use video to promote my veterinary practice.
This free app, which integrates with both Instagram and Facebook, allows you to make time-lapse videos easily. There’s no sound included, so you can simply make a fun time lapse of a new patient, your waiting room, or the steps of a service. After you shoot the video, I recommend uploading your Hyperlapse videos directly to Facebook to improve the reach you get on your posts. I do this a lot on my hospital’s Facebook page.
It’ s easy to use. Just point and shoot from the app, and you’ll be able to record a simple – but creative – video. See above for @TheSocialDVM‘s interesting Hyperlapse of an exam, which is an awesome way to utilize this app.
Video Filters Apps like Instagram are where filters became popular, but that isn’t where filters end. If
you’ve recorded something on your smartphone or the veterinary clinic’s iPad, the Video Filters app can help you really spiff it up!
Not sure what filters are? Filters allow you to add cool effects, such as making your video black and white.
There are more filters on this app than on Instagram, so I’ve used it to edit videos for my veterinary hospital’s Instagram (@QVVets).
A smartphone or tablet can be a powerful video-creation tool with the right apps. After trying Video Filters, try the filters in other apps such as Vine, Instagram, Hyperlapse, and Videoshop. Check out the plethora of similar apps on your device’s app store, and start bringing your veterinary practice to life with video.
Have you used video to enhance your veterinary practice’s social media? Comment below with your vet vid examples!
Download Video Filters on iOS »
About the Author
Danielle K. Lambert is a social media coach and founder of SNOUTSchool.com, the only social media tutorial site created by a veterinary professional, for veterinary professionals. Danielle bases her coaching on experience gathered as a veterinary practice manager at Quinebaug Valley Veterinary Hospital in Danielson, CT. In her spare time, she enjoys taking too many iPhone photos of her Brussels Griffon, Archer, and screaming at Tom Brady every Sunday. You can find Danielle on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn (Archer, however, prefers Instagram).
