Use educational content to drive credibility and conversions
Clinical authority isn’t a “nice to have” for companies that provide solutions to veterinary hospitals. Veterinarians value knowledge and need to be comfortable before they make changes to clinical recommendations, workflows, or diagnostic processes.
Regardless of your product category, such as capital equipment, software, services, pharmaceuticals, etc., veterinarians want educational content from you. Clinical education takes effort to produce, but it’s well worth the effort to serve as fuel for your full-funnel marketing strategy.
Before we dive into strategies to get the most value out of your clinical content, here’s a question we hear all the time, so let’s address it up front:
Does all my education need to be CE content?
Getting your content RACE-approved does make it more valuable, but it is not a requirement for a high-performing piece of clinical content. Benefits and considerations for CE approval include:
✅ Increased clinical authority
✅ Improved engagement from veterinarians because they need CE
✅ CE courses can be repurposed for presentations at conferences
💡 The approval process takes longer and requires some expertise. The Clinician’s Brief team can spearhead the CE-approval process so your team can focus on other activities.
💡 Vetting presenters can take longer for CE content.
💡 There is a small cost associated with maintaining CE content.
💡 CE participants must be submitted as part of the CE delivery process.
💡 Your company needs to become an approved CE provider unless you partner with another provider like Clinician’s Brief.
Many companies create webinars, e-books, and other downloadable guides with high clinical authority but no CE approval. The most significant driver of performance is content quality, not CE approval. Don’t let the lack of CE approval stop you from creating the kind of educational content vets actually want.
Activate the Entire Veterinary Team
Our 2025 industry survey revealed that the sole decision maker is becoming a more and more elusive breed. Just 1% of veterinarians in corporate practices report being a solo decision maker for product purchases.
As buying processes have become more complex, more team members have been included. The same survey revealed that 54% of veterinarians view technicians as influencers. If your brand isn’t marketing to veterinary technicians, you’re missing a group that has become increasingly important recently.
Education is a great way to reach the entire veterinary team. The Clinician’s Brief team can help you develop and promote educational programming designed to support every care team member.
Boost Credibility with Key Opinion Leaders
Clinical messaging is always stronger when it comes from a well-respected peer. If your team is new to the industry or has not cultivated strong key opinion leader (KOL) relationships, don’t sweat; the Clinician’s Brief team can help connect you with a clinical expert who can amplify your message.
Check out this blog to take a deep dive into supercharging your message with the credibility of a KOL.
Here are a few ways to partner with KOLs to drive trust:
- Use a KOL as a webinar speaker or moderator. Trusted veterinarians who use and love your product are a great way to increase exposure for your brand.
- Partner with a KOL to write a white paper. This is a powerful tactic for non-standard-of-care and novel products.
- Invite a KOL to contribute a guest blog on a broad topic where your product is placed as part of the solution.
- Work with a KOL to author an eBook or guide.
- Create a video testimonial or how-to video with a KOL to share on your website and social channels that your sales team can use.
Contact the VedMedux team today to implement a KOL strategy.
Beyond Thought Leadership: Use Education to Create a Powerful Lead Generation Engine
Has your company skipped producing thought leadership content because you’re focused on lead generation KPIs? Educational content isn’t just about positioning—it is a powerful fuel for your lead generation engine. Use eBooks, webinars, and downloads as gated content to build a database of interested prospects. Don’t forget to ask them on the download form if they want product information or a demonstration. You’ll be surprised how many say “yes”!
Leads who engage with educational content are often higher-quality leads, especially those willing to sit through a 60-minute webinar. The Clinician’s Brief team can handle your entire lead generation webinar from finding a KOL to hosting and promoting your webinar. Reach out today to get started.
Many brands use educational content as their primary lead generation tactic. Here’s why it works:
- Content that educates on a broad pain point appeals to the mass market and can be effectively promoted across multiple channels, including social media.
- It attracts the right audience of more highly qualified leads because of the time investment required to consume educational content.
- Well-done content fosters positive word-of-mouth and sharing. Veterinarians have a strong peer-to-peer network. Create a piece of content they love, and they’ll share it with all their friends.
- This type of content is often the first time a prospect will engage with your brand. Starting the relationship by providing value puts your brand in a positive and credible light with prospects.
- Continuing to provide educational content to prospects in the middle and bottom of the funnel who have already become customers demonstrates a long-term commitment that veterinarians value.
Full Funnel Fuel: Content That Moves Prospects
Educational content can effectively move prospects through their buying journey and turn them into brand advocates post-sale. Long-format education can be re-packaged into smaller assets that drive engagement, leads, and trust across multiple promotional channels. Here are some types of educational content that can be used at every stage of the funnel:
- Super Top of Funnel
What, you’ve never heard of the “tippy top” of the funnel stage? This is for your ungated content to drive awareness. Think broad reach, hot topic blog posts, and infographics. - Top of Funnel
E-books, guides, checklists, cheat sheets, and self-assessment quizzes are great educational pieces for driving top-of-funnel lead generation. However, these content pieces should be more broadly educational, with your product placed as part of the solution. - Middle of Funnel
This is where you can place your content that requires deeper engagement, such as webinars and clinical case studies. These high-value pieces of content can often be repurposed in your nurturing programs and as tools in your sales team’s toolkit. - Bottom of Funnel
Use KOL how-to videos, testimonials, and solution-oriented content to support your sales team with bottom-of-funnel conversions. - Post Sale
Ongoing education plays a strong role in post-sale customer satisfaction. This crucial content can keep them engaged with your brand long-term, contributing to referrals and future upsell/cross-sell/upgrade opportunities.
Get the Most From Your Educational Content with a Multi-Channel Content Strategy
It’s no secret that clinical content takes time and effort to produce. If you’re producing a webinar and moving on to the next project, you’re missing an opportunity to get more out of this high-value content.
Repackaging content for:
✅ Boosted efficiency
✅ Message consistency
✅ Increased reach
✅ A budget-friendly way to get a lot of content
✅ Improved reach across multiple promotional channels
Today’s veterinary professionals consume content in many different ways: email, blogs, social media, SMS, podcasts, push notifications, quizzes, webinars, downloads, and so on. Repackaging strong KOL content allows you to activate prospects in all those places.
Education as a Subtle Sales Tool
Nobody likes to be “sold,” but most people want to be educated to make an informed decision about a purchase. Use educational content to spotlight your product as part of a bigger solution. This lets veterinarians see how your product fits into their workflow, which has become a critically important topic. Educational content can be a strong sales aid when used effectively.
Here are several educational content forms that work well in the hands of a sales rep:
- KOL video how-tos showing how they use your product in practice
- Implementation guides written by or endorsed by KOLs
- Clinical or practice-building case studies written by KOLs
Remember, when it comes to educational content, keep the balance—help first, sell second.
Teach First, Win Trust—and Business
Have we convinced you that educational content is more than a thought leadership branding play? From giving your brand clinical credibility to filling your pipeline with leads and driving post-sale satisfaction, education is the powerhouse of your marketing stack.
Need help creating educational content that converts? The Clinician’s Brief team is here to help. Our team can help you develop the right strategy, connect you with relevant KOLs, and promote your content to achieve your goals. Contact us today to get started.
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