The pet care industry is a broad field, including everything from veterinary practices and small grooming salons to major pet supply chains. However, there are a few things the entire industry has in common—a love for animals, a huge target audience, and the need for effective content marketing. If you’re wondering where to begin with online content for your small pet care business, continue reading for an introduction to content marketing.
1. Keep It Entertaining
One advantage that pet care businesses have is that pets are inherently entertaining. Make the most of this advantage by creating and sharing fun and engaging content on your blog and social media profiles. For instance, you can hold a contest on your social media profile asking followers for funny pictures of their pets and offer a discount code for a product or service as the prize. This will not only encourage engagement on your profile, but will also provide your followers with a few laughs, creating a positive impression of your business. Other great options include sharing a daily funny animal picture—there’s no shortage of these online—or posting blogs about why pets actually do the silly things they’re known for, such as dogs yipping in their sleep or cats having a constant fascination with boxes.
2. Engage with Your Clients
You can help boost your company’s reputation and improve your online visibility by taking time to engage with your social media followers. For instance, consider posting a weekly question about your followers’ pets, and then make sure you take the time to respond to each answer. Another great way to engage with your customers and clients is to nominate a pet of the week at your office or store—ask the owner for permission first, and then post a cute picture of the pet along with a short profile. The pet’s owner is likely to share your post with friends, which will provide more visibility for your page and can help you gain new fans and followers—who may soon become customers.
3. Offer Informative Content
While providing fun content to keep your followers entertained is a great way to increase engagement, posting educational content will help to boost your company’s online reputation. Posting high-quality and unique blogs can improve your search engine rankings, helping to ensure that more people see your website. In addition, your readers will be sure to appreciate this type of content, especially if it’s designed to answer common questions among pet owners and help to keep pets safe and healthy. Consider the types of questions customers and clients ask you each day, and then post blog content and social media updates that answer those specific questions. You can also post updates about new products or services so that your readers will always have up-to-date information about everything your business has to offer.
4. Take the Season into Account
When it comes to pet care, many common concerns are seasonal—and you can use your content marketing strategy to address those concerns. You may want to post blog content about springtime canine allergies, the dangers of holiday decorations for pets, or how to keep pets safe in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. By posting seasonal blog content, you can keep your blog relevant to readers, giving them a reason to continue visiting your website. Another way to take advantage of the changing seasons is to advertise seasonal promotions on your social media profiles, encouraging pet owners to make timely appointments.
5. Utilize Different Types of Content
There’s more to content marketing than simply blogging and posting regularly on social media. You can also use other types of content to boost your site’s authority and keep your readers engaged. For instance, creating an eBook on a topic that commonly troubles pet owners, such as the dietary guidelines for dogs or cats, will allow you to offer your customer base a useful content piece and improve your business’ reputation in readers’ eyes. You can offer your eBook for free when people complete a certain task, such as visiting your Instagram profile or subscribing to your email newsletter. Animations are another great content piece, and many of your social media followers will be likely to enjoy and share a fun, informative animation on their own pages.
6. Connect with Your Community
Pet owners often form strong communities in their local areas. Interacting with nearby pet owners will keep your business’ name fresh in potential customers’ minds, boost your reputation among local animal lovers, and help build loyalty among your current clients. Whenever you receive a positive testimonial, share it on your Facebook page so that people who are interested in your products or services can find it easily. Be sure to also attend local events, and let your fans and followers know you will be there ahead of time. Another great strategy is to connect with local influencers and invite them to write a guest post for your blog. Look for well-known individuals in the pet care community who are also your customers—think dog behavior experts, managers of rescue organizations, or even the owner of a pet with its own popular Instagram profile. These influencers will be likely to share the guest blog with their own followers, helping to spread the word about your business.
There is great potential when it comes to content marketing for pet care businesses, but sifting through all of the options and developing a strategy that will work for your company can be time-consuming and confusing. If you want to boost your business’ online visibility, but don’t have the time or manpower to do so yourself, get in touch with Pennington Creative. Content marketing is our specialty, and we can provide everything from daily tweets and Facebook posts to informative and beautifully illustrated eBooks. To find out more, get in touch with us today.
