There are so many marketing communication channels available today that it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to use, and which work best for your company’s marketing objectives. Not too long ago, traditional communication channels were more limited, and everything tied closely together to push the customer. TV, out-of-home, and print were the popular options at that time. With new communications, there are many options, and companies can take advantage of as many as they choose. The key to successful marketing communications in today’s market is to figure out what industry trends show are the most popular channels and observing which channels your target audience uses so you can reach them in the right places.
When I Started My Pet Care Business – Initial Channels
When I first started my professional pet care company, Aussie Mom Pet Sitting LLC, almost a decade ago, I remember paying for ad space in a local restaurant menu, making sure I had a website to guide clients on how to reach us, and having a Facebook for social media posts. I bought some shirts with our company information printed on them and started attending all the local pet events in my area. This is what I considered at the time to be the bare minimum to start on my small business journey with minimal costs. From the beginning, we have always asked new clients how they have heard about us. Through this method, we realized the ad space in the restaurant menu was a waste of time, so we did not renew that subscription. Most said they found us through Google, Yelp, or word of mouth. Very few of these new clients told us they found us through Facebook.
Integrating My Brand Into The Community – Reaching My Target Audience
Once we started listening to our customers about where they found us, we realized we needed to make some changes. One of our communication channels that worked well for marketing efforts was wrapping our work vehicle so that we could promote our company while we drove to and from appointments. I did some market research and decided to see what my competitors were using to promote their brands and where my clients felt they were finding the best pet content when it came to digital channels. This time, I realized many pet parents and pet businesses in the pet industry were on Instagram way more than Facebook, and even occasionally enjoyed watching pet videos on TikTok in their downtime. Customers responded that they usually watched cute pet videos or informative videos about foods, toys, care or other services for their pets. With this knowledge, we decided to partner with other business owners around the state and post an informative series on YouTube for our customers. We also started sharing more of our brand’s content on Instagram and TikTokrather than Facebook and made sure to send email campaigns to our clients from our CRM system so that they can stay up to date with business changes. We also promoted our brand at local events, having a tent that allowed pet owners to see the faces behind our brand and ask questions face-to-face. We began asking customers to leave reviews on Yelp or Facebook to help us out, and they were more than happy to! This allowed us to gain more traction with the new communication channels, and our number of clients grew exponentially from there.
Success Through Great Communication – Achieving Goals
Before we knew it, our team of two was serving over 400 families, and we were being recognized as one of the best of central FL businesses in the pet industry. We were asked by a local magazine to be interviewed and photographed for a spread in their pet edition and share with the community that we were a superior pet care provider in the area. More clients were coming in through our digital channels or the interactions they had with us at events. The feedback we received from clients about the informative series we posted was all positive and pet parents were excited to see more content from us on YouTube in the future.
If we share our brand’s image, message, and content cohesively across the channels where our target audience frequently views their content, our brand will be more successful in optimizing marketing efforts. This will also allow your brand to get a better return on investment when increased awareness turns into increased acquisition.
Did you enjoy this post? Read about pricing strategies in the pet industry in my last post!”
