“We’ve tried social media. It didn’t work.”

It’s something Julie South hears often from clinics that have already put time and effort into posting, sharing, and trying to build some form of presence online.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, she continues the Where Vet Clinics Get Stuck series by looking at why social media so often disappoints — even when clinics are doing what they’ve been told to do.

Posting regularly.
Sharing updates.
Trying to show a bit of team life.

Because the issue isn’t usually effort.

It’s what that effort is being asked to do.

A vet or nurse doesn’t decide to apply because of a post in isolation.

They’re trying to answer a bigger question.

And when they go looking for that answer, what they find — or don’t find — matters far more than the post that first caught their attention.

This episode looks at four distinct reasons social media keeps falling short — from what candidates actually see, to how algorithms filter content, to why disconnected posts don’t build trust over time, and why many clinics are investing effort into the wrong platform entirely.

Stay to the end for a question about what your social media activity is really being asked to do.

In This Episode

00:57 – “We’ve tried social media. It didn’t work”
01:57 – The first problem: what vets and nurses actually find
03:54 – The second problem: algorithm filtering and reach
05:43 – The third problem: sound bites vs serial stories
06:26 – The fourth problem: platform (Facebook vs LinkedIn)
07:34 – What clinics can and can’t control
08:20 – A question about what people find when they look you up

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

“We’ll just update our careers page.”

It’s a common response when recruitment isn’t working.

It feels like progress.
It’s visible.
It can be done in an afternoon.

BUT! A careers page sits inside a website built for a completely different audience.

Pet owners.

Not vets or nurses who are trying to decide whether your clinic is worth the risk of leaving where they are now.

That’s a different decision.

They’re not looking for polished claims.

They’re trying to work out:

What’s the team really like?
What happens on a hard day?
Are these my kind of people?

If they don’t find that, they don’t stay.
They keep scrolling. Looking.

In this episode Julie South looks at why updating a careers page rarely changes that — and what’s missing when someone lands there.

In This Episode

01:32 – “We’ll just update our careers page”
02:26 – Who your website is actually built for
05:03 – What vets and nurses are trying to work out
06:00 – What happens when there’s nothing to stay for
06:56 – Why updating a careers page feels like progress
09:45 – The difference between a door and a destination
10:41 – Two questions about what your careers page is really saying

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs

“But isn’t this just employer branding, Julie…?”

It’s a question that comes up when clinics start looking beyond job ads and into how they’re seen as a place to work.

In this episode of Veterinary Voices, Julie South answers that question directly.

Because while employer brand marketing and what she’s describing can sound similar, they’re designed for different situations.

Employer brand marketing comes from large organisations — built to manage perception across multiple locations, roles, and audiences.

Veterinary hiring decisions don’t usually happen there.

They happen at clinic level.

A specific team.
A specific place.
A particular way of working — on an ordinary day.

Julie explains why that difference matters, and what clinics risk missing when they reach for a solution that wasn’t designed for how hiring actually happens in their world.

Including something less obvious:

What changes inside a clinic when its own people start telling its stories.

Stay to the end for two questions about what someone actually finds when they look up your clinic.

In This Episode

01:33 – “But isn’t this just employer branding, Julie?”
03:59 – What employer brand marketing is designed to do
06:22 – Where hiring decisions actually happen
08:12 – Why one approach can’t replace the other
09:06 – What changes inside a clinic when stories are told
10:16 – Two questions about what vets and nurses find when they look you up

Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.

The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs