Are you ready to start live streaming at your practice, but not sure what you should be filming? Live streaming for the first time can be an intimidating experience, especially if you’re not sure what to share. The good news is, as a veterinary clinic, there are plenty of options available to you. In fact, we’ve come up with a wide range of ideas so you can scan through them and choose one you’re confident about so you’ll be 100% comfortable during your first live video.
Still on the fence about live streaming?
In our last blog post, we discussed live streaming on social media and whether or not it’s a good idea for your practice. If you haven’t read that post, and you’re on the fence about live streaming, I strongly recommend going back and reading it. If you have read it, hopefully, we’ve convinced you that trying out live streaming could be a great way to spice up your Facebook or Twitter accounts! Ready to go live but not sure where to start? Here are some ideas to get you up and running:
13 Live Stream Ideas for Veterinary Practices
Show off newborns. This is one is a gimme. It’s specific to your industry and you can do it without having to be on camera yourself. Just like a zoo might set up a livestream to their new panda cubs, set up a camera and live stream any litters of newborn or young pets. It offers a daily dose of cuteness to your followers, and all you have to do is set up a camera and keep it running while you walk away to take care of your other work.
Host a Q&A. Your clinic is full of knowledgeable experts, and your followers would love the chance to pick your brains on their pet questions. Choose a specific topic (e.g., pet grooming, pet behaviors, etc.) to avoid being asked to diagnose a pet over live stream. If you or the person hosting the Q&A is nervous about unforeseen questions, you can ask your followers to submit them ahead of time and then just live stream your responses. That can give you some aspect of control over the stream and the questions, while still encouraging engagement from your followers
Host a clinic tour. Live stream yourself walking through the clinic, introducing areas to the viewers, and giving them a secret behind-the-scenes peek at places they wouldn’t normally see during a visit, such as the staff break room or the operating room.
Go behind the scenes. Speaking of behind-the-scenes, live stream something your clients don’t get to see, like your staff doing lab work, prepping for surgery, or tending to a recovering patient. By showing your clients something that’s usually hidden, you can both pique their interest and instill a sense of trust in the caring and abilities of your staff.
Provide a haircut on camera. Have you ever watched a video of someone getting a haircut? There’s a certain level of suspense and interest to see the result. If you’re giving a grooming to a particularly shaggy dog, consider live streaming the results of their hair cut (with permission, of course!).
Invite people to attend your events online. Is your practice having an open house or a photo with Santa Claus day? Stream the event on Facebook. This gives your followers a chance to feel like they are getting in on the action, and creates a sense of your practice being welcoming and exciting.
Ask for audience input on something – like the name of your new office cat. Your viewers can comment in real time on your video, so why not throw up a live stream of whatever you’re asking for feedback on, and then encourage people to weigh in or vote. You could even make it a live stream of yourself writing names on a whiteboard, and tallying the points as people vote in the comments.
Show off an unusual patient – Treating a skunk, llama, or goat today? Sharing photos of these unusual patients is always interesting, but why not take it up a notch with a live stream? Most of your followers don’t get to interact with these unusual creatures, so getting to see them live and up close is a cool experience – one they might want to share with their Facebook friends!
Conduct live tutorials. Your staff has the training to perform pet care tasks that your clients might consider difficult or even mystifying. So why not show them – in real time – how to take better care of their pets. Throw up a live demo of how to clip a cat’s claws, give medication to a reluctant pet, effectively groom a dog, or brush their pet’s teeth. It doesn’t have to be exceptionally difficult or interesting. It just has to be something clients should or want to know.
Interview a member of your team. Each of you has some nuggets of wisdom to share with your followers, as well as unique personalities that contribute to your practice’s team. So sit down with a member of your team and interview them about their role at your clinic, their favorite animal/superhero, what they do on their days off – whatever you and the person being interviewed are comfortable with sharing.
How does it work? Remember how scary the equipment looked the first time you visited the eye doctor? Chances are, your clinic also contains some machinery and strange tools that people can see but don’t understand. Give a live demo of how it works, so clients find it less intimidating when you need use it on their furbaby.
Share breaking news and amp it beforehand. Got big news to share about your clinic? Prepare a live video to announce it, and share posts ahead of time hyping it up. Telling people to tune in ahead of time can help boost your viewership and get people even more excited about what you have to say.
Do something crazy – and embrace it. This idea might not work for every practice, but it could be the right choice for yours. Depending on what kind of a practice personality you want to project to your clients, you may want to live stream members of your practice doing something unusual or interesting, like sledding with dogs or turning your hallways into a slide. It’s all about thinking outside the box. If you want your clinic to project a sense of fun and friendliness, this might work for you. But if your clinic’s personality is more formal and serious, then leave this idea in the suggestion pile and go for something else.There you have it! An extensive list of ideas for live streaming to your clients. Armed with these ideas, you’re all ready to set up your camera and press play. You’ll never be stumped for ideas of what to live stream again.
