Scaling Multi-Location Healthcare Marketing the Right Way

Announcer: Welcome to the Ignite Podcast, the only healthcare marketing podcast that digs into the digital strategies and tactics that help you accelerate growth. Each week, Cardinals experts explore innovative ways to build your digital presence and attract more patients. Buckle up for another episode of Ignite.

Ashley Petrochenko: Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Ignite Healthcare Marketing Podcast. My name is Ashley Petrochenko. I’m the VP of Brand Marketing here at Cardinal. I’m filling in for Alex Membrillo today as host. Joining me today is Kim Craven, the Director of Field Marketing at Ethos Veterinary Health. Kim, welcome to Ignite.

Kim Craven: Thank you for having me.

Ashley: Before we dig into the conversation, I thought we could share a little bit about your background and the work that you do at Ethos.

Kim: Absolutely, yes. I am the Director of Field Marketing at Ethos. In my role, I lead the marketing strategy for our portfolio of veterinary hospitals across 140 hospitals, just making sure that each location shows up strongly in the community. That we are driving those visits, and making sure that we’re optimizing their brand in the local community.

Ashley: Great. You’ve been in the veterinarian space for a while now, but you also have a history in publishing, I thought, too. I thought that was really interesting. You can tell everyone a little bit about that transition and how you found yourself here today.

Kim: I do. I’ve been in the veterinary health space for about six years now. Most of my career has been in publishing, both commercial publishing and academic publishing. I just really, like a lot of people do, needed a change at that time, a few years ago, and was really interested in the vet space. A position opened up at a company called Compassion-First Pet Hospitals. It was local and seemed like something interesting and fun, and here we are. I joined a new space, and I really love it.

Ashley: Love it.

Kim: Not as different as people might think. Managing a couple thousand authors a year and marketing for a few hundred veterinary hospitals is actually more similar than you might think.

Ashley: You’re chasing cats anywhere, right? I love that. Marketing so much about communication and understanding your audience. It’s very much, I can see the parallels of what you were doing then, how that informs how you connect to pet owners today, so that’s really cool.

Kim: Absolutely. When you’re working with authors, you’re really working with their individual works. You’re working with them as a brand. It’s very similar to working with one of our veterinary hospitals. We are part of a larger company, but we’re working with them as their local brand and working to make sure that we are really promoting them within their community and their market. Same as we would do with any author.

Ashley: That’s so cool. Let’s talk about that a little bit. Ethos has over 140 locations across the US. Maybe you can share a little bit about the brand architecture model. There’s a national brand, there is a local brand. How are you sorting that all out and going to market?

Kim: Ethos is our national brand. That is mostly what we would consider a B2B brand at this point. Mostly around candidates, around the industry space on the local level because we really did start with an M&A model. We do retain the local branding of all of our locations. They had great, strong, reliable brands in the market, so we didn’t want to change that. They really had a connection, all of those hospitals, with their community. We wanted to continue to grow that connection within their community and not change that up too much since they had strong brands. We do manage quite a few. It’s a little under 140 different brands within the market across the US and Canada.

Ashley: Yes, that’s a lot. That’s something most of our listeners are coming from the healthcare space, and they deal with similar challenges. When you have these roll-ups, you have all of these different local brands. While we’re talking about animal health here, a lot of these, there’s a lot of parallels between the two, the same challenges. We’re going to dig into that next. You have 140 different brands that you’re managing. That’s a lot. How does that trickle down into your digital strategy, your Google Ads, your SEO, your websites? You maybe want to give a picture of what that looks like in reality.

Kim: It’s definitely a challenge, but there are benefits to it. Every hospital really has unique services. They have a unique competitive landscape. They’re in a unique market. We do develop a strategy and shape that plan based on their market, their priorities, and what’s going to work best for that particular hospital. We really optimize everything for the local market. The benefit is, though, that we roll up to 140 locations, so we internally have a lot of learnings. We can benefit from that scale. We know it’s working in one market and are able to quickly pivot and test in another.

I think a lot of our locations really do benefit from the best of both worlds. That they have that hyper-local optimization, but we are really learning from other markets pretty quickly and understanding what works and what doesn’t work so that we can do the best we can for all of our 140 locations.

Ashley: Let’s talk about the team a little bit. I do know you have a very large team because I think all of them signed up for scaling up, which I was like, “Oh my gosh, another one from Ethos,” and we were really happy. I love the desire to learn that you’re cultivating at Ethos. That was fantastic. Talk about when you’re trying to operationalize across all of these locations, how does the team structure support that, and how are you just making it possible efficiently?

Kim: It really is about balancing the central versus the local, or regional in our case. We do have marketing managers that are assigned to various regional locations and portfolios. We have groups of field marketing managers who are working one-to-one with all of their hospitals to really understand their market in depth, understand their priorities, and understand what’s going to work for them and what they need to do to grow.

At the same time, we have a central team. We have design and digital at a central team so that we have those subject matter experts that can help those on the ground so we really can come together and put together strong plans that are going to drive the business. Each of our marketing managers are working, like I said, closely with our hospitals. They’re creating a strategy and putting together a plan that’s going to work for that particular location, but they have the benefit of tapping into our centralized teams to understand what is best practice here.

Say, I want to grow visits in ER. They then are going to work with our digital team to understand, okay, these are the channels we need to be in. Here’s the spend that we need to have for each of these locations, and here’s what we’re going to do for our go-forward. Then they can supplement that understanding on the ground. “Hey, what are the community events that are going on? What are the things that we can do to get our name out into the community?”

Ashley: That national team’s really helping to share those learnings that they are finding in one region and helping to make sure that it’s trickling across all of the different regional locations and sharing it with those on-site managers?

Kim: Absolutely. Those subject matter experts in the center are looking at all the data to say, “Hey, we know what’s working here. This ad is really performing really well. Here’s where we need to maybe invest a little bit more. Here’s where we need to optimize our bids a bit more. Here’s what works or doesn’t work with creatives. Here’s what the audience looks like.” They’re able to look at that and provide those recommendations pretty quickly back to the site and to the marketer.

Ashley: AI is what everyone has talked about all of 2025. Are there learnings that you’re seeing that you got across the board starting to adapt towards and try to get the recommendation on AI?

Kim: Absolutely. Definitely something that is on our 2026 focus list is optimizing for AI. Obviously, we know that is the way things are going. Many of our sites are actually set up for success when we look at AI optimization online, especially for AEO, because we do have a lot of content on our websites. We know people are googling symptoms. They’re, “My cat is throwing up. What do I do? My dog is limping. Where do I go?” Our content on our sites is already set up in a good way to take advantage of a lot of that. Really, our focus in ’26 is to continue to optimize that and take advantage of that across all of our locations.

Ashley: With the rise of AI, consumers aren’t sure if what they’re reading is true or not. We’re seeing that what wins in the AI world is authentic content, content that is coming directly from doctors, veterinarians. Can you tell us a little bit, how are you working with your teams to create that content to capture that authentic voice?

Kim: What performs best is content coming from the local sites. Things like patient stories, case studies, those are the things that, for us, perform best and are really what are going to highlight the local hospital themselves, so we want that authenticity. Obviously, we use AI to help us along creating some of our educational content as a starting point and to help refine what’s been written, but it’s really important for those local locations that they are authentic in their voice. We really work with the doctors to have particular case studies. Patient stories are gold for us, both across social media, online, and even in traditional media stories as well, because that one telling the story, that’s so important. It’s to tell the story and not just tell people, “Hey, we’re the best,” but show them what we can do and show them those patient outcomes.

Ashley: Anyone could say they’re the best. Anyone could say, “I’m the best. I do all the things. I’m the best. Come to us,” but you have to back it up with real proof and nothing beats a [unintelligible 00:08:22].

Kim: Absolutely, those patient stories, it shows it, but people can relate to that too. It’s a lot harder to see a list of what we do and know when you’re going to need it. But when you see that patient story and you see that positive outcome, one, you help gain that trust, but you can also see yourself as a pet parent in that same situation. You can actually relate to it a lot more. It’s really important that we have that. Again, the authenticity of that local content. Every market is a little bit different and timing is a little bit different for everything. We do need to make sure that even as we are creating content for locations, we’re keeping in mind seasonality in different markets.

Heat stroke is going to come at a different time in Texas than it is in Maine. Those are things that we need to keep in mind in some of those stories and what are the potential things that pet parents may have to face. For example, rattlesnake bites in certain markets is something really big, so we really want to optimize for those particular regions and locations that are going to be dealing with that. Again, not just push out that content or patient stories in areas where that’s just not relevant at all.

Ashley: Yes, you have the national brand and resources, but you have to have that local nuance. Otherwise, you’re just going to be ignored and very confused. The audience is going to be very confused, like, “Rattlesnakes?”

Kim: Absolutely. What’s great is, again, to your point of working with the local doctors and a local team is we have that resource. We have folks that are working in-market in those communities and are part of those communities and can speak authentically to that. Where we can take advantage of that, absolutely, we should, and amplify their voices.

Ashley: Beyond the acquisitions, you also are launching new facilities across the US. Can you talk a little bit about that strategy and how you are positioning them in the market?

Kim: Absolutely. We do launch new locations and have relocated some of our hospitals. Organic growth is really important and- -we have a lot of locations that are just continuing to grow and continue to outgrow their spaces. We’ve had about seven so far this year of relocations or new locations that have opened up. Anytime that we go into a market, we really look at what do we need to really launch effectively in that market, what’s different about that community, and what are the things that we need to really think about from naming to how we’re going to go-to market in that community, I should say.

Our go-to market is everything from making sure that we have those connections on the ground, so making sure that we’re working with the local Chamber of Commerce, that we’re partnering with local businesses, with the local referral community. But then also from a digital perspective, making sure that they have a website that is live and ready to go before they actually open up, and making sure that we are talking about the location on social, digital, web, to start getting people excited that it’s coming.

Ashley: You’re doing that weeks, months in advance to build up that momentum?

Kim: Absolutely. We usually have about a six to nine-month plan to launch going into market. That’s really getting together what does that brand look like? What is the strategy in that particular market? Then starting to set up and seed that marketing several months out, emails out to the referral community, setting up that social media presence, and making sure that we’re gaining that following. Then also just letting them know that this is coming and the benefits, lots of behind-the-scenes photos, videos, when we can let them see the progress of that particular space being built, but also what’s behind the scenes.

I think one of the things that we hear a lot about from pet parents is part of their anxiety is they can’t see what’s behind those doors. They hand their pet over and they don’t necessarily see what’s behind the double doors a lot of times as they go back with the veterinarians. We do try to provide some view of what’s behind those doors, and show them the space, and show them how well their pet will be taken care of, and what that space looks like to put them at ease.

Ashley: That is like understanding the anxiety. This is a completely different pivot of digging into your pet owner personas. What are the anxieties, the motivations, and how are you finding them? What kind of market research are you doing? How do you extract that info to inform your marketing and regional strategies?

Kim: Absolutely. I think there are a couple of things that we do. One is we do have some market research to understand what pet parents are looking for. We’re seeing that shift. We do see a generational shift. We do see a shift in just how people think about their pets. We know that now more and more pets are family. Thinking about that experience not as just, “I’m handing my pet over to a veterinarian, a pet is just a thing,” but your pet is really a family member. For a lot of people, you’re taking your child to the doctor, you’re taking your pet to the doctor.

Ashley: I have fur babies. I have no babies. I just have my fur baby. [chuckles]

Kim: It really is. There is that anxiety, especially when people can’t see behind the scenes and really know what’s going on. We really do want to put people at ease, especially since we’re in the emergency and specialty space. There’s definitely a lot of emotion and anxiety a lot when a pet parent has come into one of our hospitals because a lot of times it’s in an emergency situation or it’s in a situation where they’re very ill or have had an accident. They don’t know what the outcome is going to be, and they don’t know what the path forward is going to be. Then there’s also the financial concerns around it as well. Unlike human healthcare, pet insurance acts a little bit differently than the healthcare that we all have, so there’s a financial aspect in the unknown there that people are always a little bit concerned about.

Our job is to be able to tell that story and put people a little bit at ease, again, through some of that storytelling, those patient stories, and give people as much information as we can upfront as they’re going to make a decision before they walk through those doors. Then really working with our local hospital teams who are, they’re the ones on the front lines. They’re the ones that are really doing a great job of putting those pet parents at ease when they walk through the doors. Our job is to get them to the door there, but they’re the ones who are doing that hard work and putting them at ease.

Ashley: I think there’s so much, the parallels between the human health and pet health is the unknown is scary. How can we as marketers alleviate that through the very early touch points when they’re on search, and googling, and going to Reddit, and reading comments and stories, and trying to figure out. If you can show up sooner and be that resource that someone can trust, you’re going to be the preferred brand. You’re going to be what they go to when they actually have an emergency. This is who took care of me when I was spiraling and scrolling in my bed trying to figure out what’s going on. That’s the same thing for human health. Being that trusted resource is so important. I love that.

Kim: Absolutely. Engaging in reviews and feedback is so important as well. We know that people are googling. They’re googling symptoms. They’re going to Google to find out should they go to an emergency vet? Where is the nearest emergency vet? Not only do we want to show up first, but we want to make sure they’re going to look at those reviews. They’re going to look at that Google score. Making sure that we’re working with the location and we have a score and we have reflected there all of the great work that we do. Even responding to those reviews is just so key for us in engaging in them to continue to improve our business.

Ashley: If you ignore them, it’s just going to be all of the negative fancies and we do not want that. Let’s talk about that digital front door a little bit. How are you optimizing it so that when they are going to Google, they get to your Google business profile? How are you optimizing it so there is the least amount of friction possible so that they can get the information that they need, they can get into the appointment? What’s that look like for you?

Kim: One of the things that’s obviously most important for us is ensuring that all of our sites are mobile-friendly and mobile-optimized with that call button really on that site very, very visibly. We know that people are starting with Google. Some of them are going to pop over to the site. From an emergency perspective, we want to make sure they don’t have to dig through a whole bunch of different pages to try to find those directions or to try to call and get more information. That’s obviously first and foremost. Also, making sure that we have robust Google profiles. Search is incredibly important for us, paid search as well as organic search. Making sure that we’re showing up atop of in all of those searches.

Online booking is a little bit new for the specialty and emergency space, but definitely something that we’re testing and I think is something that’s going to be the way forward eventually. A lot of our current communication is via phone call. We’re also testing with chat in a lot of locations as well, but I think chat and online booking are definitely a way that we see forward to ease that a bit.

Ashley: Right now, is there a central call contact center or is it going to each location? Is it handled through appointmenting?

Kim: Yes, it does go to each location. Locations are handling that locally. We do work with them to make sure that– I wouldn’t say that everybody has the same script, that they have the talking points and really understand and have training to understand how to handle some of those calls and make sure that they’re getting to the right place as quickly as possible. If somebody’s calling in with an emergency, making sure they know where to go.

In some cases, taking some of their information on the phone while they’re calling and they’re on their way so when they get to that front door, they don’t have to worry about filling out a ton of paperwork and really, their pet will be seen and triaged right away. Making sure that they’re at ease about that and putting them at ease about the emergency experience from that first touch point is really important.

Ashley: We’ll wrap up now with looking ahead and then also I’d like to do a hot take. Is there anything like a hot take or just mistakes or things that you wish people would stop doing? Okay, Kim, let’s wrap this up now. I have two more questions for you. One, let’s start with what is something that you just wish marketers would stop doing in 2026? Something that does not work and that you’d recommend everyone just moves on from?

Kim: I think in terms of something that they would just stop doing. I have to say, I think it is starting with the foundation, starting with building that foundation and not chasing every shiny new toy. That can be one of my pet peeves. I think it’s great to test and pilot and innovate and we absolutely should, but doing that before you’ve actually built a really good foundation for your marketing planning, for your site, for everything is just a recipe for disaster. Doing it without a plan is also a recipe for disaster. Building that foundation and then testing, trying, and innovating as opposed to doing it the other way and chasing that shiny new toy.

Ashley: Yes, because a shiny toy is like a cat’s toy. I’m obviously a cat mom here, but I definitely think people are chasing it in the wrong direction. If you forget about the foundations, you’re just going to be always playing catch up, always chasing. I love that.

Kim: Absolutely. Yes, so you definitely don’t want to be chasing that shiny new toy, but keep your eye on it because it’s something that we’re probably going to want to pilot and innovate, but make sure that you have a strong foundation in place before you go off chasing that shiny new toy.

Ashley: On the tail end of that, what is one thing that you are watching and you want to focus on in 2026?

Kim: I think in 2026, one we already touched on a little bit is AI and how we really optimize for AI because I think that’s incredibly important and is really going to help separate us as we go forward. I think it’s just going to be so important for 2026 and beyond. Then attribution. I think that is something that everybody is looking at every year, but really making sure that we are able to have a good attribution model in place and make sure that we continue to optimize our attribution. Again, that’s so important, both from our understanding what’s working, what’s not working, and scaling as well.

Ashley: Across the board, that’s what we’ve been hearing, the understanding ROI, what marketing’s impact, that’s how that contribute is everyone’s focus on in 2026 across healthcare. The economy has been tough this past couple of years, and I think we’re all feeling the squeeze. I’m trying to figure out building that foundation of data that you can actually make those decisions and understanding is where everyone’s going next by year.

Kim: Yes, absolutely. We all know that budgets are not infinite. The only way that we’re really going to be able to work with what we have is to understand what is working, what isn’t working. If we don’t have good attribution models in place, we’re flying blind so [unintelligible 00:19:16] is for us.

Ashley: Yes, and we don’t want to fly blind. That’s awesome. This has been a great conversation, Kim. Thank you so much for joining Ignite. If our listeners want to connect with you, where can they find you? They can find me on LinkedIn, Kimberly Craven.

Ashley: Great. Thank you again for joining us, and everyone have a great day. Bye.

Kim: Thank you so much.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to this episode of Ignite. Interested in keeping up with the latest trends in healthcare marketing? Subscribe to our podcast and leave a rating and review. For more healthcare marketing tips, visit our blog at cardinaldigitalmarketing.com.