As marketers in the pet industry, we want to help brands be successful and meet their objectives to the best of our abilities. To do this, it is important that we understand the journey that our customers take when deciding to purchase our product or service. These steps include identifying that they have a need, searching for the information on options that will satisfy that need, evaluating the alternatives based on their requirements, deciding on which brand’s products meet their needs best and making the purchase, and then evaluating their satisfaction level with that purchase and hopefully giving the brand feedback that allows them to make improvements if needed. These five steps sometimes take customers minutes; other times, they may take days, weeks, or longer, depending on many factors. As a brand, we can market to our target customers with a focus on these different steps in ways that help customers feel more confident with choosing our brand over alternatives. Allowing them to have a positive experience increases brand loyalty and conversions and hopefully keeps them coming back for all their future pet needs.
Need Recognition
This is the first step of the buyer decision process and is the most important for the consumer. We often don’t know that we need things until we are out of the product, or the pet has chewed the bed for the 20th time, and we realize maybe we need to buy that indestructible bed next time. In the pet industry, emotional triggers can play a huge role in this step of the process. Whether the pet owner sees a health problem with their pet and wants to get them medication or wants to spoil their new puppy that has joined the family, the fact that more and more pets are being treated as family members in today’s market allows for us as business owners and marketing professionals in the industry to realize this opportunity and point out solutions of how we can help consumers fulfill their pet’s needs. Blue Buffalo uses educational content about pet nutrition and health benefits to help pet owners recognize the need for high-quality, natural pet food.
Information Search
Now that the consumer recognized that they have a need, they will move on to researching where they can obtain the products or services that they need for their pet. Often, word of mouth from family, friends, or neighbors with pets can mean more than an online review. However, a quick Google search for product options and seeing a large number of 5-star reviews may be sufficient for some. When it comes to health care products, pet parents may ask their veterinarian for recommendations because they generally want high-quality, reliable products that they know will be safe and beneficial for their pets. In this step, marketers need to create positive attitudes toward their brand. One way that we could do this is by providing content on specific pet care topics and products to get the attention of pet parents and move them toward the products that our brand offers. A company that does this well is BarkBox, whose website features a wide variety of content, including FAQs, product details, and subscription options making it easy for customers to find the information they need.
Evaluation of Alternatives
Now that we have made the potential customer aware of our brand options that can fulfill their need, we have to ensure that our brand’s products stand out as the best option. Sometimes, pet parents are looking for the best price; other times, it’s the best quality, and there is no price too high for their beloved pet. This is where knowing our target audience is important. Our brand may not always want to be the “best priced” if we know we have top-quality products worth the premium pricing. In this step, pet parents will evaluate several different products that may all meet the needs they discovered in step 1, and they will decide on the criteria that pushes them to make the final decision of purchasing. Brands can share comparison guides or even offer free samples to help guide potential customers to choose their brand over competitors. The Farmer’s Dog offers a quiz on their website to personalize recommendations, making it easier for customers to evaluate the best optiosn for their pets.
Purchase Decision
Now that the customer has found and evaluated their options for the products that satisfy their need, they have narrowed the options to the one they are ready to buy. Based on the customer, this may be based on the promotions that were offered, a loyalty program that allows them to gain rewards for the current and future purchases of the product, or the fact that the closest pet supply store has it in stock, allowing for the convenience of obtaining the product the same day. Marketers need to optimize any promotions or discounts with this knowledge and make an offer that aligns with business objectives and, at the same time, appeals to the customer. Online pet supply brands can also retarget customers who visited their website but abandoned the cart. This will remind the customer who thought about buying the indestructible dog bed and even added it to their cart but maybe got sidetracked cleaning up the most recent bed that was destroyed to return and make that purchase. As a brand, providing excellent customer support during this step is important to help increase brand loyalty and keep the customer coming back for other needs they may discover for their pet during their lifetime. Chewy is a brand that offers various promotions, discounts, and a subscription service for recurring orders to encourage purchases. Their website is easy to use and provides a positive buying process for pet parents.
Post-Purchase Evaluation
In this step, the customer assesses their satisfaction with the product or service. This might depend upon whether their pet liked the food, how the new bed was holding up to their super chewer, or how easy it was to administer the purchased medication. Suppose the customer had a great experience with your brand’s product, and the customer support they received was positive. In that case, they may even leave a review for the brand to help future customers decide to purchase from it as well. Great experiences lead to a higher chance of brand loyalty and repeat purchases from these customers. Bad experiences could result in bad reviews or the customer choosing another brand in the future, so it is very important that, as marketers, we make sure to follow up post-purchase. This can be done by creating an email campaign that asks how the customer’s experience was, and to go one step further, we could even offer a discount on future purchases to increase the chances of them returning for their future needs. Knowing how a customer disposes of a product will help marketers understand how that purchase will influence their next. Did they use the food up entirely or give it away because their pet did not like it? Did the bed last longer than expected, or did it barely survive the first 24 hours? Did the medications relieve the pet’s ailments, or did the customer return the medication when seeing no improvement? Following up post-purchase helps marketers receive feedback that can be turned into data that can help improve the products in the future.
Developing our marketing strategies for our customers at each step of the buyer decision process will allow our brands to show that we are committed to serving pet parents and their pets with knowledge, care, and reliability. Every touchpoint should be meaningful and impactful and lead to long-lasting relationships with these customers. We should always do our best to keep our customers and their pets at the heart of everything we do in the pet industry. So, how will you motivate your potential customers to choose your brand over others in the future?
Did you enjoy this post? Read about visualizing pet health data and the power of data visualization in my last post!”
