9 Simple Marketing Ideas For Pet Service Businesses

Pet service providers are a special breed.

And as such, they have a unique set of marketing challenges. But even though there are plenty of obstacles, pet service providers also have a lot of opportunities retailers don’t have. And if you’re not taking advantage of those opportunities you could be missing out on some serious business growth.

Create Positive Experiences For Pet Parents

From the moment a client walks through the front door, it’s important they feel welcome, perceive an air of professionalism, and aren’t intimidated or turned off by the demeanor of your staff. You want your clients to have a pleasant experience even before you meet them face-to-face. When it happens, they’ll feel comfortable with you and ready to proceed with your services.

Make Automation Personal

Utilize marketing automation to send automated email greeting cards to clients at key points throughout the year. Small tokens, gifts or messages that connect with your clients are a great way to let them know you understand and want to serve them to the best of your ability. These gestures mean so much more than the cost of the gift itself, or the few minutes you spent crafting your message.

Talk With Customers, Not At Them

The way you communicate with clients is crucial! Speak with them in a way that establishes trust and exerts your knowledge and expertise without making them feel inferior. You’re not going to win new business by tossing around industry-specific jargon that only confuses your potential client. Remember to speak with them as individuals who are seeking your help and expertise. So, share it with them in ways they understand and appreciate.

Referrals, Referrals, Referrals

The endorsement of a friend can go a long way toward building your business. So when taking on a new client, be sure to ask if they were referred and, if so, by who. That way you can contact the referring client and thank them. This puts you right back at the forefront of their minds, and they’ll remember you when others need your services in the future. Always be gracious, and never miss an opportunity to thank clients for their business.

It can be pretty expensive to market to new clients. However, with a strong referral program in place the cost to acquire new clients goes down. When you see your referrals multiply, it validates the effort you put forth to create a positive customer experience and establish a trusting relationship.

Get Involved In Your Community

You can participate directly in local events, through sponsorships, or by joining local associations along with your professional associations. Does your business engage in pro-bono work or charitable events? By giving back to the community, you make a real difference in the lives of others while experiencing the joy and satisfaction that come with it. It’s important to highlight the charitable works you’re doing. Don’t be shy about sharing your good intentions and donated hours on your newsletter, website, and social media.

Create Special Exclusives

For many people, receiving a special offer is more important than the offer itself. The simple fact that they were included in an exclusive invitation can be a pretty big deal. It makes people feel special. Plus, people who weren’t included, but hear about it, will want to be included—and fast! That’s why exclusive offers, involvement in contests, and giveaways are an excellent ways to get more fans, clients and customers.

Get More Out Of Social Media

Some service providers are using their social media influence to create more fans through contests, trivia, photo contests and more. When a Facebook friend or Twitter follower sees a friend like or or retweet something, this generates curiosity. If the service provider’s message is strong and engaging enough, the likelihood of gaining more qualified fans and followers is higher. Making special offers to fans and clients makes it enticing for non-fans to take action. When a service provider clearly states that the recipient must be a fan to be eligible for tickets to the next big game, people are more likely to engage.

Get Personal

A great idea for business-to-business (B2B) marketing is to be more personal. Allow other service providers to know your staff and culture. Keep it casual and friendly, not overly professional or stuffy. Think of it as a handshake with another service provider, not a catalogue of your business assets or other typical selling points for prospects. That type of information is better suited for potential customers who are specifically seeking your services.

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Work Towards Automation

By creating a marketing message system, then setting it up just once with automation software, you’ll cut down on duplicate tasks, saving you an enormous amount of time. Plus, your emails can reach a much larger audience.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software makes it really easy to keep track of contacts. It also lets you segment the email list for different types of customers and prospects. This is a smart way to be sure your emails are delivered, opened, read and followed up. It also prevents mistakes in the messaging sequence. You don’t want to send an introductory offer to your long-time customers, for example. They would be far more receptive to a thank you email or loyalty offer. By segmenting your list, you can target your customers and potential customers with personalized messages that are relevant to them. Relevancy and timing can make all the difference in the world for them, and for your business.

6 thoughts on “9 Simple Marketing Ideas For Pet Service Businesses

  1. Pingback: Are You And Your Business Drifting Apart? - Pet Industry Marketing Services by Black Dog Marketing

  2. I am finding that marketing a service seems a little harder then a product. I own a small family run dog training & Pet Services business. We always give a little goody bag when pup/dogs graduate that has a referral card for a percentage off their next service or class. We also leave a little goody bag at the end of a pet sitting job or dog walking venture. It shows our appreciation. The bags do include useful products for the human as well. We just started the referral program. I do ask for an honest review left on our Facebook page as it is a lot easier then our website. I probably need a better host service then what I am utilizing. It can be overwhelming when you are very small to get all these tasks done.

  3. Outside of referral or word of mouth marketing, finding the time to properly market a store online is tough. We found a new software for pet stores that seems really valuable for the pet community. If you haven’t seen them yet, they are at https://nextpaw.com and what they do really works. We’ve seen a powerful bump in new business.

  4. Pingback: Crisis Management: Pet Care Businesses During COVID-19 - Digital Marketing Services by Black Dog Marketing

  5. Pingback: Revisiting Your Pet Care Business Plan: 4 Tips to End 2020 - Petsitter 365

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