We talk a lot about buyer’s journeys at Digital Empathy. The buyer’s journey is the path that a prospective client takes to find their veterinarian. Buyer’s journeys change – ten years ago (and beyond), they usually involved referrals from friends, paper directories, etc. But the internet has disrupted that – nowadays the buyer’s journey runs chiefly through your website. And so today, you are going to learn how to leverage your website to be the most powerful marketing tool that your practice has ever had.
We believe the purpose of your veterinary practice’s website is to convert as many website visits into practice visits as possible. To do that, you need to understand what the prospective visitor is looking for when they are on your website. This is where most veterinary practices make a significant mistake.
Most veterinary practices create their website to be helpful and informative for the prospective client. They organize the site around a central question that the prospect wants answered: who are you, what do you do, where do you do it? So here’s the thing… that IS the conscious question that they have come to your website looking to answer. But the mistake is that there is also an UNCONSCIOUS question that they are looking to answer too.
Can I trust you?
I think you know this already. It’s been evident over all your years of practicing medicine and dealing with clients and patients. Trust is the bedrock of any relationship. It determines our comfort in a relationship, and our willingness to take the next step. But this idea has not yet been applied to the new way that clients find their veterinarians. That needs to change now if you want to discover what your real potential as a practice is.
The most valuable thing we can do for you here is to show you a website that really knocks this task out of the park. So for the next 5 minutes, dedicate yourself to looking through this website: http://southwestvetaustin.com/
There are likely to be multiple key differences between this website and the website that was built for your practice. We’re going to unpack them here to give you a roadmap of sorts that you can use to help your practice unlock its potential.
The First Impression
First, this website leverages modern software techniques to immediately create an immersive and memorable experience (make sure to check out the website on a smartphone AND a desktop). Why’s this important? Simple. We are all wired to create an unconscious first impression whenever we engage with a person (or a brand!) for the first time. Most websites have high “bounce” rates because they try to present as much information to the visitor as quickly as possible. But this typically does the opposite of the desired effect – they just leave! You need to engage your visitor so that they are motivated to learn more about you, and so that you can build trust at every turn.
Media instead of text
As you go through the website, you’ll notice that everything is video and image driven. The high level of professionalism in design builds trust (as this is their only exposure to you), and it also allows the user to digest the information in the way we are wired to do so. We process imagery about 50,000 times FASTER than we process text. It’s just the world we’re designed for. When choosing pictures and video for your website, it’s important to choose media that showcases the bond between humans and animals. Sharing values is a large signal for trust.
Social Proof
“Social proof” is leveraged by sharing their most amazing client testimonials early in the experience. This is helpful because we are wired to trust someone when our community trusts them. You’ll want to gather a dozen or so of your most prized testimonials to use throughout your website.
We realize that this is a large undertaking, but it is oh so worth it. Also, if you need help, it IS exactly what we do, so be sure to contact us and let us know how we can help!
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