Its time to film videos, veterinarians

Marketers throw around the phrase, “Content is king,” and they're desperate for articles, pictures, videos and more that they can feature on social media and in ongoing campaigns. Do you know who has a ready treasure-trove of emotional, amazing, inspiring moments and desperately needed knowledge to share? Yeah, you, veterinary professional.

You're living “the swashbuckling adventure of saving lives,” says Dr. Dave Nicol in his Fetch dvm360 Baltimore session on digital marketing and content creation. “You've got chance after chance of collecting amazing content.”

‘But what will I talk about?'

Dr. Dave Nicol and a room of veterinarians, managers and team members came up with this hot list for content topics in five minutes:

• Grain-free diets

• Puppy jumping up or fighting

• Feline inappropriate elimination

• Anesthesia concerns

• Itching

• Lyme disease and ticks

• Anti-vaxxers

• CBD oil

• “What happens in ‘the back'?”

• “How will I know when it's time?”

The need to show up on social media, on video and in e-newsletters out in the digital world is almost a moral imperative for veterinarians by this point, says Dr. Nicol: “When we don't show up to the conversation in digital media, the crazy people are left. And when they're left, anything goes.”

Stop complaining about Dr. Google, he says: “Google is our bestie, if we can start creating content.”

Film a video on a smartphone. Answer pet owners' questions about a hot topic. (See “But what will I talk about?” above right.) Get Rev.com to transcribe it at $1/minute. Have your marketing-minded manager or team member edit the transcript into a blog. Don't have someone like that? Get some freelancers to bid for the job on Fiverr.com. You can use Fiverr.com as well for crafting an e-newsletter or something else to go out to pet owners-with your final approval of course.

Now, you have a video and a blog. Take some snaps from the video or around the practice and drop some quotes on them to make social media pieces.

“That one piece of content can have a lot of value for you,” says Dr. Nicol.

It's time to make friends with Google-or Facebook or Twitter or Instagram.