What is Visual Content?

Visual content is everywhere in marketing. It’s the videos, photos, graphics, and drawings that go alongside words and social posts, even on adverts. It’s what catches your eye when you’re scrolling, and what helps pet owners recognise your brand from a distance. It can also help explain concepts – at Petlearnia, visual content is used to help explain complex medical topics easily.

Types of visual content for pet businesses marketing

In general, there are three main types of visual content you’ll need for your pet business:

1. Photographs – photos are still fantastic at showing off products and showing a quick peek behind the scenes
2. Graphics – graphics are visually appealing and can help your brand shine through
3. Videos – videos of less than 1 minute are one of the most regularly consumed pieces of content online

Where can I get visual content for my pet business?

Pet businesses have it easier than most – there’s naturally plenty of great visual content that goes with pet businesses. After all, you work with adorable animals every day!

Photographs

The best way to get photographs for pet business marketing is to take them yourself! Get yourself a decent camera, and snap away – a good phone camera will do! Take photos behind-the-scenes, of your favourite pets, of your set-up, of funny moments – this stuff is gold for your marketing! If you need something specific and don’t have it yourself, Unsplash, Pixabay and Canva have free photos available. You can even have a play around with AI image creators, but bear in mind that people can often tell if they’re AI-generated, and you should have a think about whether this fits with your business.

Another option is to hire a professional photographer – this can be a really good option when you’re first starting out and need a lot of photos at once for brochures etc.

Graphics

Undeniably, Canva is one of the best programs out there to make amazing graphics for pet businesses. Whether you are a doggy salon or a cat sitter, Canva has some incredible options for graphic creation, with templates to help you get it looking professional. You can do tons with the free version, but the paid version gives you more images and graphics to play with. If you’re struggling, graphic designers can really help and can often create you a whole bunch of branded content for a fee!

Videos

Again, it’s usually best to take these yourself. Portrait-style, on a phone, is great! As with photos, take videos behind-the-scenes, of your daily life, and of your favourite pets – people really value these insights into your life, so these kind of videos are great for marketing. If you haven’t got the video you need, you can get videos on Canva, but most need paying for. Don’t forget to make sure the videos fit with your pet brand – use of filters and even the way you talk on camera should all feel like part of one cohesive brand.

Staying on-brand

As we’ve said before, it’s essential to stay true to your pet business branding. If you have a light and friendly brand, with bubble writing fonts and generally cheerful tone of voice, don’t take photos in dark rooms with boring backgrounds. Instead, get some good lighting and maybe some wall decals to help you stay on-brand.

On the other hand, if your brand has a serious, trusted image, you don’t want anything too light and airy-fairy – videos of you skipping along walking the dogs might be jarring to your audience. Instead, try videos of you giving advice to camera, or photos of views, or even a video of the dogs all coming when they are called or sitting nicely on command.

Use your new visuals in marketing your pet business

Now it’s time to market your pet business with all your visual content. You can use your new visual content across your social media platforms and in your printed marketing materials. Keep taking new videos and photos – it’s a continual process.

Conclusion

Your pet business marketing strategy should include visual content – it’s eye-catching and can increase trust with your customers. But it does need to be on-brand!

If you enjoyed this article, you might want to read more about pet brand design. Or, if you’re inspired to re-vamp your social media pages, why not read about our writing services for pet businesses?

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The post The Importance of Visual Content in Pet Business Marketing appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

This time we look at LinkedIn vs Facebook, to see which one might best suit you!

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is marketed as a networking site for professionals. It was launched in 2002 and is primarily used by job seekers, employers, and recruitment agencies. Users set up a profile page featuring their employment history and skill sets and use it to ‘link’ with colleagues, other like-minded professionals, and organisations/businesses of interest. LinkedIn has 930 million members, however, we don’t know how many of these are active on a daily or monthly basis. Only 3% of members post more than once a week, but 40 million apply for jobs every week via this platform.

LinkedIn is the most popular social media site used by prospective employers when researching companies, as of March 2022. 

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social media and social networking site, that originally began in 2004 for school and university students. This opened up a couple of years later to anyone over the age of 13 years, allowing it to quickly overtake MySpace to become the most popular social network in the world.

It currently has over three billion monthly active users, and while a whole array of other social media platforms now exist, Facebook still retains its strong appeal. 

Facebook allows users to set up a profile and send ‘friend requests’ to others. They can use their profile to display information about themselves and make posts on their timelines, sharing a variety of media such as photos, videos, and articles. Their friends can see this information and interact with it, commenting or ‘liking’ it. 

Similarly, users can ‘like’ pages of interest to them and start following, which is where businesses come in. When users like the page of a business they automatically become exposed to the information that the company shares, with their posts regularly appearing in their newsfeed. These can be liked, shared and tagged with wider audiences.

Its user-friendly nature is one of the reasons that it is so popular and is accessible to all age groups and other demographics.

So, which is best for pet professionals, LinkedIn or Facebook?

The answer to this question depends on what you need from your social media platform. If you want to communicate with new and potential customers, make posts for likes and shares, and tap into some of the 3 billion active monthly users, then Facebook is best for you. However, if you are looking to network with others, recruit new employees and present your business in a professional-looking manner, then LinkedIn is the site for you. However, as these pages both have something different to offer many pet professionals would consider setting up on both!

The post LinkedIn vs Facebook – which is best for pet professionals? appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social media and social networking site, that originally began in 2004 for school and university students. This opened up a couple of years later to anyone over the age of 13 years, allowing it to quickly overtake MySpace to become the most popular social network in the world.

It currently has over three billion monthly active users, and while a whole array of other social media platforms now exist, Facebook still retains its strong appeal. 

Facebook allows users to set up a profile and send ‘friend requests’ to others. They can use their profile to display information about themselves and make posts on their timelines, sharing a variety of media such as photos, videos, and articles. Their friends can see this information and interact with it, commenting or ‘liking’ it. 

Similarly, users can ‘like’ pages of interest to them and start following, which is where businesses come in. When users like the page of a business they automatically become exposed to the information that the company shares, with their posts regularly appearing in their newsfeed. These can be liked, shared and tagged with wider audiences.

Its user-friendly nature is one of the reasons that it is so popular and is accessible to all age groups and other demographics.

Pros of Facebook for Advertising your Pet Business

• Facebook is still the most popular social media site with billions of active users
• It is a user-friendly platform and appeals to a wide range of ages and demographics, so could put your business in front of a variety of potential customers
• Facebook allows people to share and post all sorts of different things, including videos, photos, music and written information, which makes it very versatile for businesses.
• It is free to set up a Facebook business page, with many tools specifically designed to help you manage it successfully. This includes features such as interactive chat (so clients can message you directly), the option to pay for boosted advertisements and analytics to see how well your page is performing.

Cons of Facebook for Advertising your Pet Business

• Younger social media users may be straying into newer platforms.
• So strong is Facebook’s appeal, that many people are now shying away from it. They are either uninstalling the app or deleting their profile, to reduce the amount of time they spend ‘scrolling.
• Facebook allows users to follow a page but unsubscribe from having posts appear on their timeline, meaning that your audience of 1000 followers may not actually be engaging with your content…
• Negative reviews are possible. With customers being able to interact with your business page, this can sometimes backfire if someone has an axe to grind. You can switch off reviews altogether but this means losing your positive ones too.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is an app used for sharing short videos. It is mainly used on mobile phones, though it is possible to view videos on a web app too. It began with Musicaly.ly in 2014 which was designed for users to share videos of them lip-syncing to songs. However, this app changed hands and became TikTok in 2018 with users primarily posting dance challenges.

This has now evolved into a mixture of informative, cute and funny videos, with video lengths increasing too (now up to ten minutes). Many businesses use a TikTok account to show off their personalities through their videos and inform clients of what they have to offer. However, some businesses just use it for advertising with many TikTok stars being able to earn a living from paid advertisements.

In January 2023 TikTok ranked as the 6th most popular social media platform globally. It has 1.1 billion active monthly users. Age-wise, TikTok is most popular with 18-24-year-olds, with 25-34-year-olds not too far behind. Despite its popularity, the app has come under scrutiny for potential security concerns which threatens its future use in some countries.

Pros of TikTok for Advertising your Pet Business

• People enjoy watching and engaging with visual information.
• If you aren’t keen on making your own videos, advertising on TikTok may be an alternative way of utilising the social media platform for your pet business.
• Short snappy videos keep people interested – although you have 10 minutes to play with, most users prefer something shorter.
• You can use TikTok’s filters and features to help edit your videos, which even work when posting live videos.

Cons of TikTok for Advertising your Pet Business

• Appeals to a younger demographic which may rule out a large sector of people if you only use TikTok for your pet business.
• TikTok has come under fire in the past for inappropriate content. Like most social media platforms there are adult content filters, but TikTok seems to struggle more than most to remove harmful content.
• TikTok only allows videos to be posted, which restricts the type of content you can share with customers on this app.
• The US government is threatening to ban TikTok. At the time of writing, 18 states are backing this with local bans and other countries elsewhere in the world are starting to follow suit. Concerns around security have driven this.

So which is best, Facebook or TikTok?

The clear winner here, in my opinion, is Facebook. Facebook has nearly 3 times more active monthly users than TikTok, and a more certain future at the time of writing. Most pet businesses like the flexibility of being able to post a variety of things including photos, videos, and text. TikTok only allows for short videos, most of which need to be funny or cute to grab users’ attention. TikTok can be a good complimentary site so you should still consider using it but I would stick to Facebook for the bulk of your advertising and communication.

The post Facebook vs TikTok: Which Can I Use to Advertise my Pet Business? appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

This time we look at Facebook vs. Instagram, to see which one might best suit your pet care business.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social media and social networking site, that originally began in 2004 for school and university students. This opened up a couple of years later to anyone over the age of 13 years, allowing it to quickly overtake MySpace to become the most popular social network in the world.

It currently has over three billion monthly active users, and while a whole array of other social media platforms now exist, Facebook still retains its strong appeal. 

Facebook allows users to set up a profile and send ‘friend requests’ to others. They can use their profile to display information about themselves and make posts on their timelines, sharing a variety of media such as photos, videos, and articles. Their friends can see this information and interact with it, commenting or ‘liking’ it. 

Similarly, users can ‘like’ pages of interest to them and start following, which is where businesses come in. When users like the page of a business they automatically become exposed to the information that the company shares, with their posts regularly appearing in their newsfeed. These can be liked, shared and tagged with wider audiences.

Its user-friendly nature is one of the reasons that it is so popular and is accessible to all age groups and other demographics.

What is Instagram?

Instagram (‘Insta’) is a free social media platform that has been around since 2010. Users create a profile that allows them to post and share photos, reels, videos, and stories with friends. It also allows users to follow other people and businesses, liking, sharing, and tagging their posts. 

Instagram has a variety of features to help users display their images in the best way possible, with editing tools and filters to enhance them. This can be useful as a business trying to advertise your brand and what you have to offer. Popular ‘Influencers’ often make use of these features, gaining thousands of ‘followers’ who enjoy seeing the photos and videos they post, as well as the brands that they promote. Many of these influencers make a living out of their social media presence. 

As well as relying heavily on visual content, Instagram still has some of the features found on other social media sites, such as private messaging. This could explain why this social media platform is the second most popular out there, with two billion monthly active users. It seems especially popular in the younger demographic of 18 – 34-year-olds. 

Summary – Facebook is a good choice for a pet care business

Facebook is the standout social media heavyweight. It is reported that half of global marketers selected Facebook as their social media platform of choice in 2022, compared to one quarter who chose Instagram. Facebook gives more versatility, appeals to a wider audience, and has the most active users of any social media site. So, I would always recommend that any pet care business concentrates on a good Facebook presence first. However, Instagram has its place and can be a good complementary site if you have time to run more than one platform.

The post Facebook vs Insta – which social channel does my pet care business need? appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is an app used for sharing short videos. It is mainly used on mobile phones, though it is possible to view videos on a web app too. It began with Musicaly.ly in 2014 which was designed for users to share videos of them lip-syncing to songs. However, this app changed hands and became TikTok in 2018 with users primarily posting dance challenges.

This has now evolved into a mixture of informative, cute and funny videos, with video lengths increasing too (now up to ten minutes). Many businesses use a TikTok account to show off their personalities through their videos and inform clients of what they have to offer. However, some businesses just use it for advertising with many TikTok stars being able to earn a living from paid advertisements.

In January 2023 TikTok ranked as the 6th most popular social media platform globally. It has 1.1 billion active monthly users. Age-wise, TikTok is most popular with 18-24-year-olds, with 25-34-year-olds not too far behind. Despite its popularity, the app has come under scrutiny for potential security concerns which threatens its future use in some countries.

Pros

• People enjoy watching and engaging with visual information.
• If you aren’t keen on making your own videos, advertising on TikTok may be an alternative way of utilising the social media platform for your pet business.
• Short snappy videos keep people interested – although you have 10 minutes to play with, most users prefer something shorter.
• You can use TikTok’s filters and features to help edit your videos, which even work when posting live videos.

Cons

• Appeals to a younger demographic which may rule out a large sector of people if you only use TikTok for your pet business.
• TikTok has come under fire in the past for inappropriate content. Like most social media platforms there are adult content filters, but TikTok seems to struggle more than most to remove harmful content.
• TikTok only allows videos to be posted, which restricts the type of content you can share with customers on this app.
• The US government is threatening to ban TikTok. At the time of writing, 18 states are backing this with local bans and other countries elsewhere in the world are starting to follow suit. Concerns around security have driven this.

What is Threads?

Threads is a recent addition to the social media landscape. This app, developed by Meta and launched in July 2023, is the brainchild of the Instagram team. Threads offers users the ability to create posts containing up to 500 characters, share videos of up to 5 minutes in duration, and also share photos and links. It’s positioned as a companion app to Instagram, necessitating an active Instagram account for access. Considering Instagram’s vast user base of 2 billion monthly active users, Threads appears to hold substantial promise.

However, despite a promising debut, Threads has encountered challenges, notably a decline in user engagement. This trend suggests a potential issue with users spending less time on the app, which poses a challenge for its utility as a digital marketing tool. Daily user numbers dwindled significantly, dropping from 44 million around its July launch to a mere 10 million by August 2023.

Pros     

• Threads is integrated with Instagram meaning a large potential user base – this probably accounted for its initial launch success.
• It may fill the gap that Twitter leaves behind, as it evolves into its rebrand (X)
• Threads could be a good platform for short, snappy posts.
• It also allows other content to be posted – short videos and photos which might be useful when advertising your business.     

Cons

• Is a very new social media app so we don’t yet know how successful it will be longer term.
• Current data points to active users dropping away.
• You have to have an Instagram account in order to use Threads which may put some people off.
• Threads lacks some of the other features found on other social media platforms such as private messaging functions, hashtags and trending stories.

So which is best for pet business social media channels – TikTok or Threads?

TikTok is currently the most popular of the two social media platforms, so intuitively this would seem like the best option for your pet business social media channels. However, with potential bans coming into effect, this may have an impact on active user numbers and in turn, the amount of people you can reach globally. Threads may yet take off, it’s too early to say at the moment. So, in this instance, I would say hedge your bets and dip your toe into both. Alternatively, check out some of the other social media heavyweights out there instead.

The post TikTok vs Threads – pick your pet business social media channels appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

What is X?

X is the rebrand for the successful social media site, Twitter. This means the original Twitter logo (blue bird) has now gone. At the moment X is no different to Twitter, however, things may change over the coming months under CEO Elon Musk. It is thought that X has nearly 400 million monthly active users from its time as Twitter, but it remains to be seen whether these user numbers will stay consistent once Musk makes the proposed changes to the social media platform.

Twitter had always worked on the basis of short snappy posts, no more than 140 characters in length (like birds tweeting backwards and forwards). It rose to popularity on this basis, helped by many celebrities and politicians becoming regular users. It features a vertical timeline with posts displayed in the order in which they were created. But Twitter evolved, with posters being able to share hours of video and other items.

However, Musk has plans to shake things up and make X the new ‘everything app’. Musk says that he will add “comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world” to the X app. Super apps like this are popular in Asia but have yet to be widely adopted by the Western world.

Pros

• X has all the potential of its existing Twitter users (Twitter user’s apps have automatically updated to X).
• It is going to evolve into a revolutionary new style of app (a ‘super app’) which could attract many newer users.
• The thought is that you should be able to do everything via the app that you might normally do online such as access podcasts, shop, watch videos and do banking.
• Super apps are a popular concept in Asia, so with the right development, could have great potential in other countries too.

Cons

• We are yet to see the changes Musk will make to X and how compatible it will be for marketing your business through.
• We don’t yet know how the change from Twitter to X will affect user numbers and age demographics.
• There is concern that users could be confused by the app.
• Advertisers are backing away from X, which may mean users have to pay for some subscription-based content in the future.

What is Threads?

Threads is a relatively new platform and hopes to fill the gap that Twitter might end up leaving behind. It is a new social media app developed by Meta, launched in July 2023. The app was created by the team behind Instagram, and it allows users to make posts up to 500 characters and allows videos of up to 5 minutes in length, as well as photos and links. It has been marketed as an app to use alongside Instagram, which means an active Instagram account is needed to access Threads. However, with 2 billion active Instagram users each month, this means that Threads could have great potential.

After a very successful launch, Threads has encountered some issues with app engagement falling. This indicates a potential issue with people spending less and less time on the app which is obviously a problem when it comes to using it as a digital marketing aid. User numbers went from 44 million daily users around its launch in July to 10 million in August 2023.

Pros               

• Threads is integrated with Instagram meaning a large potential user base – this probably accounted for its initial launch success.
• It may fill the gap that Twitter leaves behind, if people leave due to the rebrand
• Threads could be a good platform for short, snappy posts.
• It also allows other content to be posted – short videos and photos which might be useful when advertising your business.         

Cons

• Is a very new social media app so we don’t yet know how successful it will be longer term.
• Current data points to active users dropping away.
• You have to have an Instagram account in order to use Threads which may put some people off.
• Threads lacks some of the other features found on other social media platforms such as private messaging functions, hashtags and trending stories.

So, which is best – Threads or X?

In my opinion, it is very hard to decide between these two when it comes to social media for pet businesses currently. It is still very early days, with both X and Threads in their infancy, albeit with a source of ready-made users lined up (via Twitter and Instagram). X has the potential to be big, but equally, it could fail if users become confused by the app or if the platform struggles to get advertisers. Threads showed great initial success, due to the vast number of active Instagram users. It could end up filling the gap that Twitter has left behind, but at the moment it appears there is something that users aren’t enjoying, with engagement dropping.

So, if you are looking to advertise your pet business through social media, I would stick to spending your valuable time and money on some of the older apps for now (think Facebook, Instagram or YouTube), at least until we have some more information. Unless of course, you want to experiment!

The post Threads vs X: Choosing Social Media for Pet Businesses appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

Tips for increasing your pet business social media followers:

1.      Optimise your posts and website with SEO

You might think successful social media for businesses is just about posting great quality content, but most social media accounts won’t take off without good search engine optimisation (SEO), even if their content is amazing. SEO involves drilling down to the keywords that are associated with your business, the ones that people will use when talking about your brand and searching for you online. Once identified, it’s important to use these keywords and phrases on your website, in your social media posts, and on any other business profiles that you use. Google will recognise these keywords and associate them with your brand, helping you to rank higher and higher in their search results. Want to know more about how SEO can work for your business? Read Creating a pet brand: SEO and Your Website.

2.      Give value with your content

When planning social media content for your business account, try to ensure it’s valuable. Showcasing your products and services and sharing positive client feedback have their place, but your audience needs to see that your posts hold value for them, rather than just being a means to promote your business. Determine the unique value that your business delivers, be that knowledge and experience or a physical product, and ensure that you are sharing this with your audience in your posts. A great way to do this is to include tips, deal with misinformation, or solve common pet owner problems.

3.      Choose key topics that matter

By now, you’ll have thought about your ideal follower and what matters to them. When designing your content plan, take this a step further by identifying two or three important topics or ‘pain points’ that will resonate with your audience. Try to post about these topics regularly, ideally in a series. Then, even when you pad out your social media schedule with other content, your audience will keep returning for the next instalment.

4.      Know your target follower (and revisit this regularly)

So, you know your target follower and you’ve created a profile of them in your mind, but now it’s been six months and things have changed. Remember, social media is dynamic because people are dynamic, and a lot can change. Make sure that you revisit the concept of your target follower regularly and with curiosity, find out what might have changed for them, and work that into your plan going forward.

5.      Monitor your analytics (and learn from them!)

Each business social media platform has an insights or analytics section. While this might initially seem like a meaningless bunch of green and red numbers and arrows, it’s a really valuable tool. Check-in on your stats regularly and see how your content is performing in terms of reach, engagement, and new followers. It’s not enough to have a look at the information and give yourself a pat on the back (or place your head in your hands in despair), you should also keep a record of topics and post types that are performing well and vice versa. If you’ve also got a website, you can use an analytics tool to see which posts caused people to click your link or even make a purchase. So, set aside time every month or so to visit your analytics page and plan ahead.

6.      Balance sales with information and entertainment

Social media is all about balance – your audience wants value rather than sales, but it’s still important to be bold and tell them what you want them to do. Including links to your products and a call to action that encourages them to find out more or visit your website is a crucial part of using social media to grow your business. However, when planning your social posts, find a pattern that works for your audience and is true to you. You’ll want to include a variety of posts, from those intending to make sales, to light-hearted ones intending to unite your followers and spark their brand loyalty.

7.      Post regularly and consistently

To ensure that your business’s social media profile appears on as many newsfeeds as possible, you need to post regularly and consistently. This is why it’s usually a good idea to focus on one or two social media platforms at first. Predictable and reliable posting is rewarded with better visibility to both followers and non-followers and is a surefire way to increase your audience. Aim to post at least three times a week, but five to seven times is optimal. If you’re struggling to keep up, consider our social media post subscription service.

8.      Interact with your audience

Posting regularly is important, but responding to your followers in the comments and rewarding their engagement will encourage a feeling of community, as well as showing more of your business’s personality. Make sure you check in at least daily to respond to any comments and messages you might have received.

Summary

Social media for pet businesses isn’t an exact science, but there are definite methods for improving the results you see. By following the steps above, you can form the foundation for growing a social media following to be proud of!

The post 8 tips to grow your pet business social media following appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

By the way, if you’re looking to optimise your personal brand on social media and develop your online persona, rather than promoting your business, you can find some tips here.

Which social media platform should you choose?

It might be tempting to throw yourself in at the deep end and set up a social media profile for your business on every platform – after all, surely that will help you reach more people. However, that’s not necessarily the best way, and doing a great job on one or two platforms, especially initially, can be much more effective than spreading yourself across all of the platforms and finding you can’t keep up with the volume and quality of content. So, how do you choose which social platform to start with?

Who is your target audience?

Think about your target audience and their behaviour. What are they looking for when they’re on social media? Do they want to be entertained? Are they looking to learn? Answering these questions will help you decide which platform to focus on first. If it’s professionalism and a service that your target audience is looking for, LinkedIn is probably best suited to your business, while if your target audience probably spends their time watching funny or cute cat and dog content, Instagram might be where they spend most of their screen time. Of course, in reality, no consumer or social media follower falls into just one of these stereotypes, which is why once your first social media platform is up and running with good quality, consistent content, you can expand to include more platforms.

What tone suits your product or service?

Another follower characteristic that you’ll want to explore is what tone of content your ideal consumer is looking for. Are they looking for something casual but informative, or do they want to read something with a more professional, scientific, or research-based tone from someone with more credibility?

It’s also worth considering what tone suits your brand. If your business delivers a professional service, you’ll want a less casual tone that allows you to deliver information that your audience trusts. However, if your pet brand is fun and vibrant, a more casual tone that feels authentic and shows personality might work best. Similarly, if your pet products are high-end luxury, you’ll want a business-like tone that reflects this. In general, LinkedIn is the more formal of the social media platform options, TikTok and Instagram lend themselves to a more fun, casual tone, while Facebook sits somewhere in the middle.

What types of posts do you intend to create?

Different social media platforms suit different types of posts. For instance, TikTok is suited to short, often humorous videos, while Instagram can be used to create scrolling carousels of still images that tell a story. Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook can all be used for both still images and videos, while Twitter and Threads focus on text content. If you see yourself posting still images that showcase your products, or videos that show your product in action, you’ll want to choose the best platform for the job. Don’t forget to be creative – remember that varying your content will keep your audience engaged.

How to stay true to your pet brand on social media

It’s easy to get carried away when your business joins the world of social media – you might see trending posts or content from a rival business that’s gone down well and aim to emulate those. However, while it’s important to be aware of the content that’s trending, it’s important to stay true to your brand and keep an identity that helps you stand out from the crowd. Here are some guidelines to help keep you on-brand:

Use the same key elements in your posts

Your brand design is an important part of developing your business’s social media presence. Once you know your brand’s colours, fonts, and any decorative accents that are regularly used, you can ensure that your social media posts follow the same template. That doesn’t mean posting the same image with different text or images each time, though, as that won’t excite your audience. Instead, create a bank of three to five branded post templates that you can customize with your content. To make sure your content is instantly recognisable, you’ll want some for carousels, still images, quotes, Instagram Stories, Instagram Reel covers, and any other content type you intend to post.

Know and live your values

Knowing your brand’s values, and reminding yourself of them regularly, will help to keep your posts true to your business. Before recreating the latest social media trends, ask yourself whether that type of post is in keeping with your brand’s values, if the answer is no and it can’t be tailored to reflect your business, it’s best to enjoy the trend from the outside, without compromising on your values by participating.

Be authentic

People value authenticity. It might sound clichéd, but the most important thing you can do when creating your business’s social media content is to show who you are. If you blindly follow what you think you should be posting or try to copy the content delivered by your rivals, your audience will see right through it. Without a unique bit of you to latch on to, your pet business or vet practice is no different from the next.

Conclusion

Building a big pet brand social media following is tricky, but the best way to learn is to jump right in. If you need trustworthy pet social media content from our team of professionals, you can contact us for a free quote.

The post Creating your Pet Brand: Social Media appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.

Whether you’re a budding influencer or just starting out on socials, online marketing is becoming essential, and developing an online presence on social media, when done well, will lead to better visibility, a larger client base, and increased revenue for your pet or vet business.

Want to know how the Veterinary Content Company can help? Check out our 3 most effective digital marketing services for pet businesses.

Why should pet businesses and vets use social media?

You might assume your potential clients don’t look online for pet products, information, or veterinary services. However, people are used to quick one-click answers to any problem or question that crops up. If they want to find the best cat food, dog treats, or toys, it’s likely they’ll be searching online. Similarly, if their pet is unwell, pet owners will often do a quick online search for their symptoms, perhaps even before contacting their veterinarian.

It’s not just the people who are in search of answers though, lots of pet lovers also use social media to share pictures of their pets, browse funny animal videos, or get their daily cuteness fix from looking at fluffy kittens or a dog in fancy dress. That’s a whole lot of pet owners browsing social media!

What are the benefits of being active on social media?

Here are some benefits of having an active social media account (or multiple) for your business:

You’ll reach more people

Gone are the days of people shopping on their local high street or using the Yellow Pages to find pet products and services, so without a digital marketing strategy, you risk being invisible as a business. With effective implementation of a varied and consistent social media content plan, you could expect to reach thousands of potential customers without having to leave your office!

You’ll be visible to people looking for your service

Many pet owners will use the internet as their first port of call to find pet products, services, and information. An important aspect of marketing for any business is to make the steps from deciding on a product to making a purchase as easy as possible, and an active social media account will facilitate that because people will already be aware of your business and what it has to offer. Therefore, when people think ‘I want to buy a new dog food’ you can be the first place that comes to mind.

You’ll reach people who didn’t realise they needed your service…until now!

Remember, you don’t only want to target existing customers with your marketing – new clients are essential for growth. Effective use of social media will showcase your brand and services to a wider audience, appearing on the news feeds of your ‘ideal customer’ who has interests that are well aligned with your business.

You can harness the power of word of mouth and multiply it!

Positive feedback, a good reputation, and word of mouth are crucial for growing a brand and a business. After all, when someone buys a product from you and tells a few friends over a cup of tea, who then make purchases, have a good experience, and tell more people, it’s easy to see how business can perpetuate. But what if the client had the power to tell more than a handful of people at a time about the amazing services you offer? Things could get big!

You can establish your brand

Establishing your brand and sharing your values will lead to more credibility and trust, which can translate into an increase in footfall, site visits, purchases, or however you measure success for your business. Choosing colour schemes, fonts, images, and a tone that feels right for you and remaining consistent will help people recognise your business more quickly and increase their subconscious awareness of your brand.

How can you get the most out of your business’s social media?

Okay, so you’re converted to the importance of using social media for your business, but you probably have questions, like ‘how do I promote my pet business on Instagram?’ or ‘how do I get more follows for my business social media accounts?’

Here are some tips to get you going:

Where to start

Decide which social media platforms will be most effective for promoting your business. If your ideal client is a pet owner, you may find TikTok and Instagram are the best places to start, rather than LinkedIn which is more directed at networking among professionals. You might find it easiest to focus on one platform initially, then add in others when you feel confident.

Post consistently

Your posts will have more visibility (or ‘reach’ as is the technical term) if you post consistently from your account. Aim to post a minimum of three times a week, but more often if you can, and engage with any comments regularly. You may find a content planner helpful for scheduling content ahead of time and helping you organise your posts.

Use a variety of content

Your engagement will be highest if you post a variety of post types. After all, people don’t want to see lots of similar-looking posts with different words – you want to catch their attention. Think carousels, reels, face-to-camera videos, and beautiful or cute images.

Get to know what works

Review your analytics regularly so that you know what types of posts get good audience engagement. Perhaps people responded well to a series about types of cat litter, or they really enjoyed a reel you created where you spoke about pet health tips, whatever it is, repeat the style of post or the topic regularly if you’re getting good engagement.

Finally, what’s the most important part of running a social media account for your business?

Finding the voice of your brand and creating unique, authentic, credible content is the most valuable thing you can do for your business’s social media. At the Veterinary Content Company, we’re qualified vets and vet nurses with years of experience in creating on-brand content written by experts in the field. If you think your pet business or vet practice could benefit, why not check out our social media content subscription?

The post Is social media important for pet and vet businesses? appeared first on The Veterinary Content Company.