You can always find me rooting for the underdog, or the “little guy”. That’s probably why I enjoy social media for small business owners so much. Faced with small budgets and squeezed by growing competition, it’s more challenging than ever to get noticed in today’s world. That’s where I believe social media comes into play.
The HTC team has been trekking all over the country this year with our Social Media for Veterinary Professionals Workshop tour. It has been a way for us to teach veterinary practice managers, owners, and team members how to regain control of their online presences while connecting with their communities. We love it when we hear success stories from our students! This week, we wanted to share this “turbo-charged Twitter” story with everyone.
Amy Birk is the practice manager at The Downtown Veterinarian in Indianapolis, IN. She attended our Louisville workshop in June and went back to Indy with a new strategy for Twitter. Within three weeks, she had connected with her local news media when they contacted her to do a feature story on a puppy her practice was fostering. “I did what you said to do on Twitter, and I’m meeting with a news crew tomorrow”, she told me in an email. Less than a month after employing her social media strategy, Ms. Birk had landed her practice on the local news!
Yesterday, Amy sent me another message that began with: “The Today Show just called….”, and her story about a tiny pup named Turbo has gone viral. The Downtown Veterinarian has seen a 500% increase in engagement on social media platforms in the first month, according to Ms. Birk. “I am amazed at how easy the changes were to implement into what I was already doing and it has paid off!” In this case, the “little guy” really is the winner. The story landed Turbo a new “set of wheels”, compliments of Zore’s Towing in Indianapolis, and more than a few families have expressed an interest in adopting him.
Congratulations to Amy Birk for making social media work for her practice! Do you have a social media success story to share? Drop us an email, as we’d love to share your inspiring stories.