Revenue may be down right now for practices, but according to Morgan Stanley, “The pet industry has plenty of lives left.”
“Spending growth in the pet industry could reach 7% annually by 2030,” writes Morgan Stanley in its July 2024 report. While this number includes the whole of the pet industry, “vet services, in particular,” adds the report, “will likely experience a surge in demand,” and other forecasts agree. Bloomberg Intelligence projects global spending by pet owners will reach $500 billion by 2030, and growth will include “pet-related healthcare—including veterinary care.”
Why such projections and how does your website factor into it all?
The first part involves a blend of factors:
- Pet owners (particularly young pet owners) largely view pets as family members. This means, just like people want to ensure optimal health for their children, most pet owners want to ensure the same for their furry family members. They may be avoiding or delaying appointments right now because of inflation, but inflation hasn’t changed how they feel about their pets. Many may simply be in a financial holding pattern until economic pressures ease.
- Annual household spending on pets is projected to increase. Despite inflation and holding patterns, annual U.S. household spending (per Morgan Stanley) is projected to reach “$1,455 per animal by 2026 and $1,733 by 2030.” Though the company doesn’t mention why they expect the increase, inflation has begun to cool, and the U.S. financial firm Morningstar recently projected that consumer prices will begin to fall in 2025.
- Pet ownership will likely increase. As part of its report, Morgan Stanley found just over a third of surveyed pet owners (34%) intend to get a pet in the future (up from 28% in 2022), which reflects general pet ownership trend in the U.S. (and around the world). Pet owner numbers may fluctuate from time to time based on economic winds and other factors, but pet ownership numbers have generally climbed since 1988.
In short, indicators point to a brighter road ahead for veterinary practices. Yet generational shifts are happening—and this is where the importance of modernizing your website enters the equation.
The New Generation of Pet Owners Have Different Website Expectations
Pet owners naturally comprise all age groups, from Baby Boomers (24% of U.S. pet owners) to Millennials (the largest group at 33%). All are naturally important as veterinary clients, and most (if not all) value modern practice websites that provide a seamless pet owner experience rooted in service and convenience. Yet much like Health for Animals recently cited Gen Z as a pet owner demographic to watch, Morgan Stanley equally speaks to practices about the importance of Gen Z (anyone currently aged 12 to 27).
After writing “Generational shifts will increasingly factor into growth,” Morgan Stanley notes that of the 34% of respondents who said they intend to get a pet, those aged 18 to 34 were particularly intent on pet ownership, which helps explain why practices are being advised to keep Gen Z in their sights.
- Two short years ago, Gen Z comprised 14% of U.S. pet owners.
- Today, Gen Z makes up 16% of U.S. pet owners.
- There’s little reason to believe this number won’t grow.
Gen Z pet owners also share some unique characteristics that factor into future planning, practice growth, and why they’re called a demographic to watch:
- They’re far more likely than other pet owner groups to have a variety of pets. This effectively means that Gen Z pet owners represent higher potential lifetime value as clients.
- They’re devoted to their pets. (Really devoted.) A recent Zillow survey found nearly one quarter of Gen Z pet owners (22%) would consider moving if their home was no longer working for their pet. Only 12% would consider the same if their home was no longer working for their partner.
- They’re willing to spend on their pets. According to YouGov, Gen Z pet owners spend roughly $257 per month on average on pet care, coming in third after Millennial pet owners ($357 per month) and Gen X ($282 per month).
In other words, as a dedicated and motivated group for whom pet care is a top priority, they’re going to increasingly seek the kind of veterinary services that your practice provides. When they do, they’re going to search online, and their first impression of your practice website is going to have a huge impact on whether they choose to become a client. This means your website must be ready.
What Website-Ready Means
A modern website design that instantly conveys trust and credibility is certainly a top priority when it comes to attracting any new client because you have less than a second to make a good first impression. Per ResearchGate, people form opinions about websites in about 50 milliseconds, and 94% of first website impressions (per Stanford University) are design-related.
After this, functionality and content become everything to engage pet owners and keep them coming back, market your practice more effectively, and save time for your staff in the process.
Key to all this:
- Mobile optimization: People are increasingly using their smartphones as their primary or sole device for accessing the internet. Mobile optimization is also a Google ranking factor.
- Online appointment booking: Most pet owners prefer this convenience, which is why the AVMA recently wrote, “Online scheduling systems support maximum fill of available slots.” Plus, online booking reduces admin time for staff.
- Online ordering: Just like pet owners prefer the convenience of online booking, they equally prefer the convenience of online forms to order pet food, pet medications, and other things.
- Trusted pet health content: By providing clients with 24/7 access to expert-written pet health content on your website, you position your practice as a trusted go-to source of information and support pet owners as active, informed participants in their pet’s best health.
- Live Chat: People may not like chatbots, but they enjoy Live Chat because they get to connect with a real live human for quick, convenient answers. Live Chat has been shown to help improve productivity and efficiency for businesses.
Ultimately, your practice website comes down to this: The design, content, and functionality of your website determines its value and appeal to existing and potential clients. So, to attract and retain more clients, a modern website fully built for optimal client service isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have to serve and attract clients better, now and in the future.
The Gen Z view underscores this imperative.
Other pet owner demographics prefer the conveniences of modern websites because they grew up with websites that didn’t offer a streamlined client experience. Yet Gen Z grew up in the modern digital landscape. They can’t remember a time before seamless technology experiences. So, a modern website isn’t a preference so much as it’s an expectation. Or as veterinary author Steve Dale (CABC) writes in a recent article for Today’s Veterinary Business, “Younger generations want a modern experience from their veterinarian and are willing to search for it.”
To appear in more searches and maintain optimal online visibility, the final piece of the puzzle involves essential website and marketing strategies to increase traffic, including:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) to rank your website higher in Google search results.
- Social media management to maintain a consistent social presence.
- Pay-per-click advertising to strategically put your website in front of local pet owners looking for the services your practice offers.
Putting it all in place also involves time, so you’ll need to factor this in, and if time isn’t on your side, PSIvet members can take advantage of a 10% discount on LifeLearn Animal Health’s new WebDVM marketing bundles.
Forward designed for practice growth, all bundles include a custom WebDVM website to provide seamless client experiences, plus ClientEd, the client education resource designed to empower pet owners and support optimal pet health. From here, you have choices:
- Get in front of more pet owners with the Get Ready Bundle, which includes branded, done-for-you Social Media Management and Live Chat to reduce admin load for your staff.
- Turn up the marketing volume with the Get Started Bundle, which includes everything in the Get Ready Bundle plus SEO and an updated Google Business Profile.
- Hone a sharper marketing edge with the Competitive Edge Bundle, which builds on the previous bundles with strategies to strengthen client trust and increase SEO and online visibility.
- Take your marketing to the next level with the Market Leader Bundle, which ensures the accuracy of your contact info in up to 75 directories so that you never miss a client opportunity.
- Grow your practice quickly with the Market Owner Bundle, which includes everything in the previous bundles, plus PPC advertising so pet owners see your practice first in search results.
All bundles include the LifeLearn Live! Dashboard to remove the guesswork from ROI, and LifeLearn’s success team manages setup and provides ongoing support, because you have a practice to run.