AAEP session frames social media as a client communication tool

A new EquiManagement report from the 2025 AAEP Convention puts social media squarely in the client communication toolkit for equine veterinary practices. In the March 13, 2026 piece, Amy L. Grice, VMD, MBA, summarized Mike Pownall’s message to veterinarians: social platforms should be used deliberately to build client loyalty, reinforce brand identity, and support practice goals, with each post tailored to a specific audience, purpose, platform, and timing. (equimanagement.com)

The advice came out of AAEP’s 71st Annual Convention, where Pownall’s session, “The Effective Use of Social Media for Client Communication in Equine Veterinary Practice,” was listed in the official program alongside other practice-life and technology topics. That context matters. Social media is no longer being treated as a side issue for veterinary teams; it’s being discussed in the same professional forums that cover legal, ethical, operational, and technology questions affecting practice sustainability. Pownall has also been a visible voice in equine practice management and telemedicine, including prior AAEP resources emphasizing that digital communication must still operate within a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship and applicable state law. (convention.aaep.org)

In the EquiManagement article, Pownall framed effective posting around the “four Es”: educate, entertain, engage, and evangelize. He argued that practices should think first about desired outcomes and what horse owners value or worry about most. He also highlighted several practical realities of the current platform environment: algorithms change frequently, storytelling tends to outperform static institutional messaging, video now dominates many feeds, and user-generated material tends to perform better than reposted content. The article further reported his August 2025 platform-use figures for adults, with YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok all playing significant roles, and his warning that unpaid posts may reach less than 10% of an audience, making paid boosts part of a realistic marketing budget. (equimanagement.com)

That message lines up with broader veterinary guidance. AAHA has published social media resources aimed at helping practices use digital channels more strategically, and more recent AAHA commentary has warned against overreliance on any single platform because algorithm changes can quickly erode reach. AVMA, meanwhile, has built out a reputation management toolkit to help veterinarians respond to cyberbullying and negative online incidents, including advice on when and how to answer reviews. An AVMA PLIT article also notes that many businesses still lack a formal social media policy, a gap that can leave teams exposed when personal and professional posting overlap. (aaha.org)

Industry commentary increasingly connects social media strategy with misinformation risk. AAHA has promoted training focused on using digital communication to address misinformation while protecting practice reputation, and Oklahoma State University’s veterinary college has cautioned that specific medical advice delivered over social media can raise licensure and practice-act concerns if it crosses into diagnosis or treatment without an appropriate professional relationship. In other words, the same channels that help practices educate pet parents can also create legal, ethical, and reputational exposure if boundaries aren’t clear. (aaha.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this story sits at the intersection of communication, client retention, and misinformation. A well-run practice account can preempt confusion, reinforce evidence-based messages, and give pet parents a reliable place to hear from their veterinary team before rumors or low-quality advice fill the gap. That’s particularly relevant in equine practice, where access, urgency, and long-standing client relationships can make digital touchpoints especially influential. But the operational burden is real: practices need policies for consent, comments, reviews, after-hours messages, crisis response, and the line between general education and case-specific advice. The larger lesson from Pownall’s session is that social media works best when it’s managed like any other clinical-adjacent communication system, with goals, guardrails, and metrics. (equimanagement.com)

What to watch: The next phase is likely to be less about whether practices should use social media and more about how formally they govern it, including paid distribution, staff training, misinformation response, and integration with broader client communication workflows. As veterinary groups continue producing guidance and convention programming on digital communication, expect more emphasis on measurable outcomes and clearer professional boundaries. (aaha.org)