What to Look For
Veterinary clients are pet owners, so marketing looks more like consumer services than human healthcare. Retention, reminders and trust drive most of the value, and emergency and specialty hospitals have their own patterns.
- Reminder and retention programs: Vaccine, wellness and dental reminders integrated with your practice management system, plus wellness plan promotion.
- Local search for each hospital: Google Business Profiles, accurate after-hours information and service pages for general, urgent and emergency care.
- Referral vet relations: For specialty and emergency hospitals, communication programs for referring veterinarians.
- Online pharmacy and store promotion: Campaigns for your online store, kept within platform rules and your state’s prescribing requirements.
- Recruiting: Employer branding and job campaigns for veterinarians and technicians.
Compliance and Advertising Rules
Professional ethics set the baseline. The AVMA’s Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics say advertising is ethical only when it contains no false, deceptive or misleading statements, that testimonials count as advertising and should be limited to verifiable representations, and that paid endorsements must be disclosed. The term “specialist” should be reserved for veterinarians who are currently board certified, and “board eligible” or “board qualified” are described as misleading. State veterinary boards set their own advertising rules as well. If you promote accreditation, such as AAHA accreditation, keep the claim current and accurate.
Privacy works differently than in human medicine. HIPAA protects human health information, but the AVMA principles say veterinary medical records are confidential and should be released only as law allows or with client consent, under state and federal standards. Treat client and pet data carefully in marketing tools and check your state’s record confidentiality rules.
Platform and review rules still apply. Google’s restricted drug terms policy excludes medications intended only for animal use that are not prone to human abuse, which gives veterinary pharmacies more room than human pharmacies for those products. The FTC’s 2024 rule on consumer reviews and testimonials bans fake reviews, reviews bought on the condition they are positive and undisclosed insider reviews.
How Engagements Usually Work
Engagements typically cover local SEO, website, reviews, social and reminder campaigns on monthly retainers, with ad spend billed separately. Corporate groups often centralize brand and paid media while local teams handle community content.
Ask for reporting on new clients, appointment bookings, reminder compliance and wellness plan sign-ups. Emergency and specialty hospitals should also track referring veterinarian volume by clinic. Confirm ownership of client email lists, the website and social accounts, and check whether the agency serves competing hospitals nearby.
Red Flags
- “Specialist” for non-boarded vets: AVMA ethics reserve the term for board-certified veterinarians.
- Bought or gated reviews: These carry FTC risk.
- Emergency claims you cannot staff: Advertising 24/7 care must match actual coverage.
- No reminder integration: Retention is where most practice value sits.
