4 Marketing Strategies Pet Care Businesses Must Implement to See Growth
The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.
The pet care industry is on a meteoric growth curve. More frequently than ever, human beings are bringing furry friends into their lives and discovering how quickly they become family. The pet care business doesn't stop once someone stops by the shelter or pet store and comes home with a cute puppy. It's much more complex than that, so it stands to reason that marketers should approach pet parents in a complex way.
A common marketing trend in the pet care industry is to throw everyone in the market and see what sticks. But, like in any other industry, understanding your customer and their needs is paramount. You'll miss the big catch if you cast your net too wide.
Sharpen your focus with four specific strategies and you'll soon see your pet care business grow:
1. PersonalizationUnderstanding the customer personality that each of your products serves and shaping your brand to match those customer profiles is key to reaching the right pet parents. Your customer may be a cat, but is their feline friend a kitten or a senior? Do they have long fur that needs grooming or a short coat that's easy to manage? Indoor only, or do they have access to a garden? Going deeper into the needs of your customers is undoubtedly the best way to transform your marketing strategy.
Related: Are You Giving Your Customers Personalized Experiences? Here's why you can't afford to ignore it anymore.
2. Understand the animal's life cyclePuppies and kittens are wonderful, but this time represents a very short period of the full life cycle of our pets. If your pet care business only markets up to this point, you are missing out on an entire segment of the market.
As animals grow, their needs change. Their food needs are different and they interact with different toys. Dogs may attend training classes and teenage cats may need scratching posts when they begin to flex their claws. Senior pets, in particular, have very specific needs. Older pets have no use for training toys or clickers; the focus is on keeping this animal pain free and relaxed in its old age. If necessary, consult a veterinarian to understand the life cycle of the different types of pets you are marketing. Especially if you're focusing on exotic pets that may have a much shorter or longer life cycle than an average dog or cat.
3. Follow like a dogThe pet care industry is quite unique, but one thing it has in common with all other industries is the need for accurate attribution. Understanding how each pet owner became your customer, what channels they used, and what marketing action moved them through the sales funnel is key.
It's also important to avoid making assumptions about your customers based on their last known interactions with your business. Carefully monitor their movements and reactions to your campaigns to understand what motivates them.
If there's one aspect of attribution that's almost always overlooked, it's phone calls. Pet parents have questions. They want to be 100% sure that what they buy for Tiger or Fido is right for them. And you can be assured that a large majority of those customers will want to speak to a human being to make sure. Phone calls are an essential part of the sales process, whether the person on the phone asks or complains. If you're not tracking phone calls, you're missing an entire stage of your customer's journey.
Related: Man's Best Friend - And Investing: The Booming Pet Franchise Industry
4. Be creativeThere is no single marketing campaign in the pet care industry. What resonates deeply with one pet parent may mean nothing to another, so getting creative with your campaigns is key.
Like human parenting, there are parts of the pet parenting journey that often go unaddressed. You might be surprised how many customers will resonate with a campaign focusing on less-discussed issues, like separation anxiety or bladder leakage.
The end of the tailWhile these marketing strategies are particularly useful for the pet care industry, they apply to most industries with a few slight modifications.
By implementing these marketing strategies, you can dramatically increase your return on investment and put your marketing budget...
The opinions expressed by entrepreneurs contributors are their own.
The pet care industry is on a meteoric growth curve. More frequently than ever, human beings are bringing furry friends into their lives and discovering how quickly they become family. The pet care business doesn't stop once someone stops by the shelter or pet store and comes home with a cute puppy. It's much more complex than that, so it stands to reason that marketers should approach pet parents in a complex way.
A common marketing trend in the pet care industry is to throw everyone in the market and see what sticks. But, like in any other industry, understanding your customer and their needs is paramount. You'll miss the big catch if you cast your net too wide.
Sharpen your focus with four specific strategies and you'll soon see your pet care business grow:
1. PersonalizationUnderstanding the customer personality that each of your products serves and shaping your brand to match those customer profiles is key to reaching the right pet parents. Your customer may be a cat, but is their feline friend a kitten or a senior? Do they have long fur that needs grooming or a short coat that's easy to manage? Indoor only, or do they have access to a garden? Going deeper into the needs of your customers is undoubtedly the best way to transform your marketing strategy.
Related: Are You Giving Your Customers Personalized Experiences? Here's why you can't afford to ignore it anymore.
2. Understand the animal's life cyclePuppies and kittens are wonderful, but this time represents a very short period of the full life cycle of our pets. If your pet care business only markets up to this point, you are missing out on an entire segment of the market.
As animals grow, their needs change. Their food needs are different and they interact with different toys. Dogs may attend training classes and teenage cats may need scratching posts when they begin to flex their claws. Senior pets, in particular, have very specific needs. Older pets have no use for training toys or clickers; the focus is on keeping this animal pain free and relaxed in its old age. If necessary, consult a veterinarian to understand the life cycle of the different types of pets you are marketing. Especially if you're focusing on exotic pets that may have a much shorter or longer life cycle than an average dog or cat.
3. Follow like a dogThe pet care industry is quite unique, but one thing it has in common with all other industries is the need for accurate attribution. Understanding how each pet owner became your customer, what channels they used, and what marketing action moved them through the sales funnel is key.
It's also important to avoid making assumptions about your customers based on their last known interactions with your business. Carefully monitor their movements and reactions to your campaigns to understand what motivates them.
If there's one aspect of attribution that's almost always overlooked, it's phone calls. Pet parents have questions. They want to be 100% sure that what they buy for Tiger or Fido is right for them. And you can be assured that a large majority of those customers will want to speak to a human being to make sure. Phone calls are an essential part of the sales process, whether the person on the phone asks or complains. If you're not tracking phone calls, you're missing an entire stage of your customer's journey.
Related: Man's Best Friend - And Investing: The Booming Pet Franchise Industry
4. Be creativeThere is no single marketing campaign in the pet care industry. What resonates deeply with one pet parent may mean nothing to another, so getting creative with your campaigns is key.
Like human parenting, there are parts of the pet parenting journey that often go unaddressed. You might be surprised how many customers will resonate with a campaign focusing on less-discussed issues, like separation anxiety or bladder leakage.
The end of the tailWhile these marketing strategies are particularly useful for the pet care industry, they apply to most industries with a few slight modifications.
By implementing these marketing strategies, you can dramatically increase your return on investment and put your marketing budget...
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