Nobody loves pets more than the Internet. Countless pet photos and videos have been shared and have gone viral because of their silly antics that their owners happened to capture on camera. New pet owners even turn to the Internet to seek advice on raising their fur babies well. This gave rise to pet stores branching out or setting up shop online.
If only it was so easy to grow a business online as making a page on social media. The Internet is now saturated with businesses of any kind, including pet shops. So how can you make your store memorable? By utilizing effective digital marketing strategies.
Build your brand
More than just a logo, your shop’s brand is the face of your business. It helps greatly with recognition and advertising. Good branding can make you memorable. Customers can associate your shop’s brand either to a good selection of quality products, excellent customer service, a solid advocacy that your shop strives for, or preferably all of the above.
How you go about strategizing your digital marketing and advertising your products also contributes to your brand. You would want to stick in the minds of your target audience so building a brand that is easily marketable is a huge advantage.
Build an online presence
Having an online footprint for your shop is a must in this advanced age. With information right at the tip of their fingers, anyone can look up what they need on the internet. And if what someone needs is a pet shop, then wouldn’t you want your store to be the one they see right away?
It has even become imperative now in the middle of a pandemic to branch out online. Plus, it has a number of benefits. It costs less compared to running a physical store and you’re not limited geographically, meaning customers can access your store anywhere at any time. It is even made more convenient because transactions are fully automated online.
And even if they end up not buying anything, retargeting can bring them back to your shop. How retargeting works is that once someone visits your site, they start seeing your ads on other sites they visit. Basically, the visitor is reminded of your store and what you offer and their chance of going back and being a paying customer would go up.
Creating compelling content
Building an online presence doesn’t stop from just making a page or a website. What makes people engage is the content. For a pet shop business owner, you know more about pet-related items that may be ideal for different kinds of pets. Use this to your advantage by informing your potential customers through blogs or social media posts. With compelling content, you gain credibility, and people who see it are more likely to trust and buy from your shop.
Bow & Wow, a local pet store that features products with all-natural ingredients, have a dedicated blog on their website filled with helpful articles for every aspect in taking care of pets. One such helpful article is Cat Food For Every Life Stage which details the different diets a cat should be given in its life stage. It is both educational and promotional since they suggest products from their shop. Plus, it sticks true to their store’s branding for providing all-natural products.
Social media advertising
With the current pandemic, businesses are making use of social media to not interact with their customers quickly but also as an accessible advertising tool. Stores like Pet Warehouse PH and Bow & Wow use theirs to make announcements on special offers, share pet tips, or in this case of the pandemic, letting customers know that they now offer delivery of their products for the convenience and safety of their patrons.
But word won’t spread out about these deals and offers without a few digital marketing tricks such as retargeting and PPC. PPC stands for pay-per-click, meaning advertisers set up an ad and only pay whenever that particular ad is clicked. This is prevalent on Google but is now widely used in social media platforms as well since that is where people spend most of their online hours on. And these two work very well together in social media spaces. So while your store’s ad follows the user around, the ad is both a reminder and an easy-access button for your store.
Offers and promos on pet products and services
Another good strategy for growing your store’s reach is through promos and offers that are sure to entice your customers into buying. Social media is just one way to get the word out. If you already have an established customer base, why not try email marketing?
With email campaigns, you’re reaching out to an audience that already knows your brand. So it’s much easier to create personalized content that further develops your brand’s relationship with your customers. Plus, email marketing is proven to improve sales, generate leads, and drive traffic to your site via incentivizing customers with special promos that could be exclusive for those that agree to be included in the mailing list.
Holding pet-related events and activities
Direct engagement with your customers is a good way of building trust. Not only that, it builds brand recognition for your shop. And of course, with social media, it is so much easier to reach out.
One good example is National Today holding a National Pet Day competition where they would be giving away a gift box for your pet. Events like this encourage followers to engage more. You could also hold themed weekly photo contests where pet owners feature their pets and your products because what pet owner would pass up the chance to show off their beloved furbabies?
Integrating various digital marketing tactics such as retargeting, PPC, social media advertising and email marketing can make the difference in growing your pet store. Coupled with the cost-effectiveness of said tactics, it truly is a low-budget venture with a big payoff if done right.
Interested in how you can get started? Send us an email at [email protected] so we can help you in growing your online business.
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