Case study · 90-day engagement
An independent Raleigh veterinary practice had been operating for 14 years. They had a loyal client base. Two corporate vet chains had opened locations within 6 miles of the practice in the last 18 months and the new client pipeline had been steadily declining ever since. The owner-veterinarian was working harder for fewer customers and could see where the curve was heading.
The challenge
Independent veterinary practices have one durable advantage over corporate chains: the same vet sees your pet every visit, knows the family, and remembers the medical history. That advantage is invisible to a customer searching for "vet near me." Without intentional marketing, the corporate chains win on convenience and apparent price, even though the actual cost over a pet lifetime is usually similar.
Audit findings:
The plan
Built a single-purpose new-patient page covering: what to expect on the first visit, the same-vet promise (we keep the same vet on your pet for life unless you ask), the new-patient special ($59 first visit including exam), accepted insurance plans, and same-week appointment availability. Calendar embed for self-booking.
Built dedicated pages for: puppy wellness, senior wellness, dental health, and annual wellness. Each covers the medical case for the program, the actual cost, the savings vs paying per visit, and a sign-up flow. Wellness plan conversion runs at 23% on new patients.
Built 9 service-area pages for the surrounding suburbs: Apex, Cary, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Garner, Knightdale, Morrisville, Fuquay-Varina, and Clayton. Each page has driving-time honest content, neighborhood-relevant pet care notes, and real photos.
SMS bot that fires the day after each appointment with a personalized "how was your visit" prompt. Review velocity climbed from 3 to 14 per month within 6 weeks. Map pack rank moved from #6 to #2 in Raleigh.
SMS at the 11-month mark of each annual wellness reminder: "Time for Bella\u2019s annual? Reply YES and we will get you scheduled." 67% of recipients book within 7 days. First-year retention is at 92% which is well above the regional benchmark.
AI tools we used
We do not pretend the work happens by hand. Three of our internal tools are the reason this engagement moved as fast as it did. Each of them replaces what used to be days of human time.
Real-time slot availability widget that shows actual practice openings for the next 21 days. Replaces the multi-step contact form with a 3-tap booking.
Multi-step form that helps pet owners pick the right wellness tier based on pet age, breed, and history. Caused 23% of new patients to convert to wellness plans on first visit.
Personalized post-visit SMS asking for a Google review. Lifted review velocity from 3/mo to 14/mo, moved map rank from #6 to #2.
The execution
| Week | What we shipped | What moved |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | New-patient landing page + calendar embed live | First booked new patient by day 6 |
| Week 2-3 | Three wellness plan landing pages shipped | Wellness conversion climbing toward 20% |
| Week 3-7 | 9 service-area pages built one per week | Long-tail organic traffic +84% MoM |
| Week 4 | Review request SMS bot deployed | Review velocity 3 → 9 in first 30 days |
| Week 6 | Retention SMS engine for annual reminders | 67% of 11-month reminders book |
| Week 9 | Map pack rank check | From #6 to #2 in Raleigh |
| Week 12 | Quarterly review | Stable at 66 new patients/mo, 92% retention |
The numbers
The lift in new patients came from:
The corporate chains still have a bigger marketing budget. The practice no longer needs a bigger one. The advantages of being independent (same vet, real relationship, real medical continuity) are now visible at the moment a new pet owner searches.
I cannot beat the corporate chains on advertising spend. I can beat them on what we actually do. ActionScale figured out how to make that visible to people before they walked in. That is the whole battle.
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