Veterinary marketing: how to get more clients for your practice

Seven steps, in order of cost: the cheapest are free and often the most effective. A new client is worth hundreds of dollars a year: AVMA data for 2026 put average veterinary spending at $595 per dog-owning household and $426 per cat-owning household (AVMA).

1. 1Complete your Google Business Profile, with every service you offer and accurate hours.
2. 2Turn on online booking, so owners can book from Google or your website.
3. 3Ask every client for a review, with a direct link.
4. 4Send reminders for vaccines, dental checks and annual exams, so existing clients come back.
5. 5Make your website answer the questions new owners ask: services, prices, hours, emergencies, location.
6. 6Build referral relationships with groomers, boarding kennels, trainers and shelters in your area.
7. 7Answer every call, including the ones that come in while the front desk is busy.

The last step is the one most practices underrate. Marketing makes the phone ring; it only pays if someone answers.

Advertising is ethical when it contains no false, deceptive or misleading statements or claims, according to the AVMA's Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics (AVMA).

• Testimonials and endorsements count as advertising. The AVMA says veterinarians should limit their use and only permit representations that are readily subject to verification.
• Veterinarians should comply with applicable law and guidelines, such as the Federal Trade Commission's rules on endorsements and testimonials.
• A veterinarian who endorses a commercial product should publicly disclose any compensation or ownership interest.
• Fee-splitting, paying or receiving a financial incentive solely for referring a patient, is something the principles say a veterinarian should not do.

Your state veterinary board may have its own advertising rules on top of these, so check them before running claims about prices, specialties or outcomes.

Reminders are the cheapest marketing a practice has, because they go to people who already trust you. Get consent right: the FCC says commercial texts require written consent, while consent for informational texts may be oral (FCC).

• Appointment confirmations and vaccine or exam reminders are generally informational.
• Promotions, discounts and new-service announcements are commercial, so get written consent first, for example a checkbox on your new-client form.
• Recipients can opt out of any robotext at any time, in any reasonable manner, even after giving consent (FCC). Honor STOP replies straight away.

Most practice management systems can send reminders automatically. The marketing win is in the follow-up: a reminder that lets the owner book with one tap, or one call that gets answered.

Ask every client after their visit with a direct Google review link, and never offer anything in return. Google's policy bars incentivized reviews and selectively asking only happy customers (Google), and the FTC's rule on consumer reviews bars incentives conditioned on a review of a particular sentiment (16 CFR Part 465).

Get your link or QR code from your Business Profile on a computer: Read reviews, then Get more reviews (Google Business Profile Help). Put the QR code at the front desk and the link in your visit-summary email. Reply to reviews briefly and never share a client's or pet's details in a reply.

List every service, keep hours accurate, and turn on bookings. Google says services may be highlighted when local customers search for them (Google Business Profile Help), and you can connect a booking provider or add your own booking link (Google Business Profile Help).

• Add services one by one: wellness exams, vaccinations, dental cleaning, spay and neuter, microchipping, and any species you see beyond dogs and cats.
• Set accurate hours, including holiday hours, and say clearly whether you see emergencies.
• Add photos of the practice, the team and the waiting room.

The answers to the questions a new owner calls about, so they can choose you before they pick up the phone.

• Services, by species, and whether you're taking new clients.
• Prices for common services, or at least for an exam and core vaccines.
• Hours, and what to do in an emergency after hours, with the address and phone number of your on-call vet or the nearest emergency hospital.
• How to book: online, by phone, or both.
• Your team, with photos.
• Directions and parking.
• What to bring to a first visit, including previous records.

The AVMA principles say that when a veterinarian is not available, they should make a good faith effort to give clients readily accessible information for getting emergency services (AVMA). Your website and phone greeting are the obvious places to do that.

They decide in that call whether to book with you. A new owner is often calling several practices from a list, so the first one that answers, has availability and gives a clear price for a first exam usually wins.

• Answer in the practice name and ask whether it's an emergency.
• Take the owner's name, phone number, the pet's name, species, breed and age.
• Ask the reason for the visit.
• Offer the next available appointment, and give the exam fee if you publish it.
• Ask them to send previous records before the visit.
• Ask how they heard about you, so you know which marketing works.

When the front desk is busy with check-ins, those calls go to voicemail and many new owners call the next practice instead. Our guide to the veterinary front desk cost shows what extra cover costs.

Ringzel is an AI receptionist for veterinary practices that answers every call 24/7 from $99 a month, so the new clients your marketing brings in reach someone.

It answers in your practice's name, takes the owner's and pet's details and the reason for the call, and can ask how they heard about you. It is set up never to give veterinary advice and follows your emergency instructions. On Professional and Premium, it can book appointments into your calendar and transfer urgent calls to your team.

Plans are $99, $179 or $299 a month, with a 14-day free trial and no card to start.