Merck & Co., Inc., has a long history of providing medical information to health care professionals, beginning in 1899 with the publication of Merck's Manual of the Materia Medica. This small book was meant as an aid to physicians and pharmacists, reminding doctors that "Memory is treacherous." With the ever-important role of all types of animals in our society and the growth of veterinary medicine in the last several decades, Merck extended its commitment of providing medical information to all those involved in animal health and well-being with publication of The Merck Veterinary Manual (MVM). This text is the premier educational resource for veterinary students all over the world and is a household name for those in the veterinary field.
Rather than simply create a MVM brand presence on social media, our objective for social media is to be more than just a Facebook page or Twitter profile. We strive to foster a community of unique animal enthusiasts who can be the voice of animals and their well-being online.
We strive to bring together the veterinary community online to share medical knowledge. To do this we strategically grow our follower base on Facebook and Twitter with refined targeting. To truly be more than just a brand presence, we create a mix of messages designed to help our community refresh their animal health knowledge while having fun as well as provide content that they can share to help their clients care for animals.
In 2016 so far, our community has grown 35% in size and now boasts nearly 275,000 fans and followers. We have successfully activated the small niche audience of passionate veterinary professionals in a very large way on social media. Our educational messages and content promoting the well-being of animals typically garners 1 to 2 million impressions on average every month thanks to an enthusiastic group of professionals who are not only dedicated to animal welfare in the office but also in the off-hours online.
