According to Forbes magazine, pet owners spent a record $53 billion in 2012. Pets and pet related products are a booming industry. So, if you have a pet store, or you sell products related to cats, dogs, fish, geckos, birds, hamsters - or any other type of pet or pet product - how can you use social media to better market your products? How can you connect with your customers online? How can you further keep engaging your clients using social media marketing? In this presentation, I give you 7 platforms and 31 tips to improve your social media marketing for pet stores. (many of these are translatable to other businesses too...) Read more social media tips at: blog.wishpond.com

1. Social Media
Marketing for
Pet Stores

3. Table of Contents
Facebook Marketing1
2 Twitter Marketing
Blog Marketing3
Other Social Sites4

4. Facebook Marketing1

5. Facebook Marketing for Pet Stores
Facebook provides a great
platform for you to connect
with many target markets.
Most people these days are
on Facebook, and many use it
as their number one social
site. It provides a great
platform to connect with
families, young people and
even seniors.
Here are seven tactics you
can use to add to your
Facebook content marketing.

6. 7 Facebook Tips:
1
“Caption this” images
Images are the most shared, liked and
commented on posts on Facebook.
Images of cats (and dogs) are the
iconic most loved images online.
Add this in your social tactics.
Use images in ‘Caption this!’ type
posts.
London Drugs used this on their Facebook
Page - in 28 minutes, the update had
over 35 comments, and over 30 other
interactions.

7. 7 Facebook Tips:
2
Questions about People’s Pets
Get your Facebook Fans talking. Ask
questions that your customers care
about and can relate to.
Questions are a great social media
tactic in general.
Questions begin conversations with
your store, and create a community
with your consumers.
Here are a few questions you could ask, for example:
● What are 3 things you love most about your cat?
● Did you watch Cesar last night? What was your
favourite tip?
● Have you ever had a goldfish? What did you have
in its tank? Example from Petco.com on Facebook

8. 7 Facebook Tips:
3
Embed Short Videos
Share videos with your Facebook Fans.
Videos are becoming an increasingly popular method of sharing stuff on
Facebook.
● Share how-to videos, or videos about your products
● Post videos about tips for feeding a gecko
● Update tips for walking your dog
If you make your own videos, create a Tab on your Page for them. This makes
them easy to find and to watch directly on Facebook.
Additionally, post your videos in a Facebook update. When you post them,
make sure you embed the video (not just the link) - this makes the image the
full size and your Fans can watch it without leaving the site.

9. 7 Facebook Tips
4
Post Images of Your Products -from
your customers.
Deepen your connection with your
customers - by giving them a bit of
fame, and appreciation.
Share their photos (that they let you
use) of their pets and your products.
Amazing way to gain real, authentic
word-of-mouth type marketing.
Wag.com, for example, uses this tactic by
sharing a Fan photo, mentioning her in the
post, and linking the basket product to the
basket’s landing page of their online store.

10. 7 Facebook Tips
4
Post Images of Your Products -from
your customers.
The bit.ly link in
the Wag.com post
leads Fans and
potential
customers to this
page on their
website - just a
few clicks into the
completion of the
sales funnel.

11. 7 Facebook Tips
5
Hashtags
● Facebook now has hashtags.
● Some social media savvy companies
have embraced this, to great
success.
● Hashtags let your posts get seen by
more than just your Fans in their
News Feeds.
● With hashtags, you can get your
posts seen by more people searching
for the word (or words) you have
tagged.
For example, by including the #dogfood in a post about dog
food, your post will come up in a Facebook search.

12. 7 Facebook Tips
6
Exclusive deals
Offer your Fans exclusive Facebook
offers, or group deals.
Group discounts get your posts shared
more.
For example, for your group offers to
be valid, set a minimum number of
participants. Your Fans will be
inclined to share your offer with
their friends (who are likely your
target market too).
This is a great tactic to get more
people to Like your Page.
It’s also a great way to show that you
appreciate your customers that
connect with you online - and get
sales!
Bosley’s Pet Food Stores uses discounts
on Facebook to promote their new store
opening via in-store savings.

13. 7 Facebook Tips
7
Contests
Contests are great ways to create greater engagement with your customers
on Facebook.
Use:
● Photo contests
● Vote contests
● Photo caption contests
● Essay contests
● Video contests
Contests are highly shareable content, and they can generate excitement
around your brand.
Note: As per Facebook rules, you do need a third party app to run contests
on Facebook.
Third party apps, like Wishpond (ok, I’m biased as I work for Wishpond)
are good to use.

14. 7 Facebook Tips
7 For example, host a
photo contest on your
Facebook Page to get the
best photos of kids and
their pet hamsters.
Include a vote element
to choose the winner, so
that the photo with the
most votes wins your
incentive.
If you get permission,
you could even use the
photos for later
promotional purposes.
Contests

15. Twitter Marketing2

16. Twitter Marketing
Twitter provides you with an
amazing way to connect with
your customers quickly, and
personally.
Twitter is much more than a
customer service outlet.
Twitter is frequently accessed
through mobile, too.
Here are seven tips to add to
your pet store Twitter
marketing.

17. 7 Twitter Tips
1
Hashtags
Hashtags are big on Twitter. Hashtags originally started as a way to
create ‘tweettalks’, and provide a way for like-minded people to join
open discussions on Twitter. Nowadays, they are very common, and
almost an essential part of marketing to your niche on Twitter.
@Mention Your Customers
Connect with your customers by sending them tweets directly with
@mentions. If you have a good customer who did something you want to
thank them for, do it publicly through Twitter.
Pro Tip: If you write your tweet starting with @username, include a . in front of it if
you want it to be seen by everyone.
You can use #hashtags in many ways, depending on objectives. 2 main uses:
● Use hashtags that your niche customers are looking for, such as #dogfood, #catclothes or #birdcages
● Use campaign specific hashtags. If you are running a contest, or other marketing campaign - use an
original tag, so that all of your participants can connect through Twitter. For example: #bestpetcontest,
#petsmartwin or #ilovemyfishwin
2

18. 7 Twitter Tips
3
Offer Exclusive Deals to Your Twitter Followers
Like on Facebook, give your Twitter Followers exclusive deals, or
group offers.
Check out how Pet Smart uses this tactic, to give deals on their Twitter feed.
The link is Twitter specific, and it directs the consumer directly to their online
store. They make it a discount by providing a coupon code.
You could do a similar deal, by using group offers on Twitter.
Customers simply have to enter your deal, they get the discount.
When you have a minimum number of people who have to enter to
validate the coupon, it encourages sharing of your deal to friends
too.
Wishpond makes group offers, contests and sweepstakes app to
make your Twitter marketing easier!

19. 7 Twitter Tips
4
For example, you could tweet tips about:
● best fish food
● how to calm a barking dog
● how to cut your cat’s nails
● and much more
5
Tweet Tips about Care of Pets
Tweet short tips on pet care. Link these back to your blog - to further
elaborate, and drive traffic to your website.
Retweet Pet Related Articles
Add a few retweets in your Twitter tactics.
This Pet Smart rewteet is,
well, smart. It is kind of
out of the realm of just
pets. However, they are
appealing to the mother
market, with tips about
recipes and costumes and
such for kids. Kids like
pets, too, after all.
You can, for example, retweet:
● customers who mention you
● leaders in your community (such as
Cesar Millan)
● articles related to pets and pet care

20. 7 Twitter Tips
6
Tweet News about Pets
Twitter is a place for breaking news, and news of all types. Include a
few news headlines that are related to animals.
Dog Time, for example,
tweets about pet and other
animal related news stories.
In this example, they include
an image of the deaf dog and
blind dog that are now in a
unique friendship.
The story pulls at the heart
strings, and this one tweet
has 11 rewteets and 12
favourites.

21. Twitter Tips
Include Contact Info in Your Background Image
7
Example from Wag.com
An often overlooked tactic on
Twitter is using your
background image.
Take the opportunity of this
free space to tell people
where you are, both online
and offline.
Include your contact
information on the left hand
side of your Twitter
background image.
Make sure it’s readable (and
not too big or too small to be
seen).
Your background image is not clickable, but it is a chance to cross-promote
your website, phone number, and other social sites people can connect with
you.

22. Blog Marketing3

23. Blog Marketing
Interactive components on your
website are essential these days.
Why?
● Engagement drives
consumer traffic to your
website.
A basic way to engage on your
site is to include a blog.
● Blogs help your SEO, too.
Use blog posts as content in a
regular e-newsletter to
customers.
Here are seven brief tips to
make your blog more social.

24. 7 Blogging Tips:
1
2
Your customers want to know how
to take care of their pets. You
have this knowledge. Share it with
your consumers in blog posts.
Include Visuals
Like on Facebook, and other social sites, include images in your blog
posts. If you’re writing about dog food, include an image of a dog eating
food.
Example from the Only Natural Pet
blog site. They post about pet care
(and their products). They include
images in the posts too.
Write Articles about Pet Care Tips

25. 7 Blogging Tips:
3 Write Articles about Animal Related Events
If there are events related to dogs, cats, fish, reptiles, or any other
animals you cater to - write about them.
Example from Wag Pet Shop
blog . They wrote about an
upcoming pet training clinic.
For example, if your local
aquarium is hosting a
new tour for kids, you
could write a short blog
post about it.
Emphasize the fish you
sell at your store.

26. 7 Blogging Tips:
4
Run a Contest on Your Blog
To increase visits to your site, run a contest on your blog.
This creates a reason for people to visit your website - not just your social
sites.
You can run a:
● sweepstakes
● vote contest
● photo contest
● photo caption contest
● essay contest
● video contest
And yes, Wishpond apps make it super easy to set up, manage and follow-
up.

27. 7 Blogging Tips:
4
Run a Contest on Your Blog
Here’s an example of a
simple vote contest you
could run on your blog.
A contest like this takes
about 5 minutes to set up.
Cross-promote it through
your social sites, email, and
a few online ads to drive a
lot of traffic to your
website.
Wishpond apps make it super easy to set up, manage and follow-up through
our Social Marketing Suite.

28. 7 Blogging Tips:
5 Include Videos on Your Blog
You don’t have to limit your blog to writing only.
Embed a related video into your articles, to make them more exciting
for your readers.
You could ask questions about the video, to generate engagement
through comments on your site.
Run a video contest to get consumers more interested.
6
Post Articles Regularly
When you have a blog on your website, and you want people to engage
with it, you need to post consistently. (Posting more often also helps
your SEO.)
You could post one article a week, or one article a day.
Make sure you are posting, to keep your subscribers engaged.
Use your blog content to make monthly e-newsletters.

29. 7 Blogging Tips:
7
Make a Monthly List of Topics
When you have lots of other social media marketing to do, you need to
be organized!
● Determine how many posts you’ll do in a month or week
● List our your topics for the month (for example, if you’re having
a sweepstakes, or hosting an event - write about it to promote
it)
● Blog posts don’t HAVE to be really long or extensive
● You could even get your staff to contribute (and appreciate them
by letting them show off their knowledge!)

30. Other Social Sites4

31. Other Good Social Sites for Pet Stores:
1
Instagram
There are tons of ways to use Instagram in your marketing. Tons of your
customers use this photo networking site regularly.
● Run a photo contest, or make
a unique hashtag to get pet
owner Instagrammers to share
their photos in one stream.
● Integrate with Facebook,
with a tab, like Cesar Millan.

32. Other Good Social Sites for Pet Stores:
2
YouTube
● Make your own videos, and upload them to YouTube. Depending on
your resources, and your brand image, you could get professionally
made videos, or make them on a budget.
● Make videos about how healthy your pet clients are.
● Make videos on how-to take care of your dog, cat, or other animals
you serve.
Tumblr
● Tumblr is very popular with people under 25. Use the site to connect
with this demographic.
● It is a very visual site, so post lots of images.
● Use hashtags to connect to group dialogues.
3

33. Other Good Social Sites for Pet Stores:
5
Pinterest
Use Pinterest to engage your market. 79% of Pinterest users are women.
Create boards about lifestyle, and your product.
Include prices, and use hashtags.
Pet Smart on Pinterest

34. More Social Media Marketing Tips:
1 Facebook:
● Facebook ROI for Business Explained
● 21 Ways to Create Amazing Facebook Posts to Promote your Products
● 10 Things to Do Before you Run a Facebook Contest [Checklist]
● 8 Sure-Fire Facebook Post Formulas That Drive Engagement
2
Twitter:
● 52 Methods: How to Get Your Tweets Retweeted
● How to Use Twitter to Drive Traffic to your Blog
● The 9 Most Common Mistakes on Twitter
● How to Run a Twitter Contest
3
Blogging:
● [INFOGRAPHIC] 12 Brilliant Blog Post Ideas for Businesses
● 12 Great Ideas for Blog Posts
● How to Boost your Blog by Using Real Personalities that Connect with
your Customers
● 5 Awesome Tips: How to Make Killer Blog Headlines

35. Thank you for viewing!
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Wishpond makes it easy to run social media
marketing campaigns.
Learn more at Wishpond.com