How to Market Your Pet Store During COVID-19

We’re not wanting to get too deep into the weeds about COVID-19 and waxing lyrical about how different life and business are right now than it was even two months ago. Hopefully, it suffices to say that during such unprecedented times, it’s common to lose that steady framework that made business and financial decisions so much simpler. Some of the many questions our pet store marketing community members and clients are pondering right now are:

• Is now a good time to advertise or promote my pet store?

• How much, if any, money or effort should I spend on marketing right now?

• What kind of content should my pet store be putting out for my audience? What does my pet store audience want to hear?

• What is the best way to position my brand right now?

• What are the best products to promote?

If any of these questions sound familiar, you’re going to get a lot from this Insider post. Here are a few more resources for you from us before we start answering those ponderings.

6 Pet Store Social Media
Tips for eCommerce

If your pet store has switched to any type of eCommerce or online-ordering offers, check out this resource.

Pet Store Social Media
Sharing Guide

Over 40 different types and formats of content for your pet store to choose from for social media.

Adapting to Crisis: Pet Store Social Media

This piece examines the new roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for pet store social media during COVID-19.

Last and certainly not least, if you’re benefitting from these articles, give us a follow, join THE Free Community for Marketing Help for Pet Businesses, and subscribe to our monthly newsletter for resources delivered straight to your inbox.

How to Market Your Pet Store
During COVID-19

Let’s just tackle these questions one by one, and of course, we’ll make some data-backed claims to support our opinions here for when it comes to pet store marketing.

Is now a good time to advertise or promote my pet store?

In general, it depends on your pet store’s cash flow. As a general rule, a healthy business should spend between 5% and 10% of its revenue on marketing and revenue-generating services and activities. In times like these, you can probably throw “general rules” out the window.

If your pet store is still bringing in money, which many are because they’ve been deemed essential businesses and their pets have to eat, then we think it is a good idea to spend some money promoting your pet store. There are some pet stores that are struggling more than most or missing large revenue streams due to grooming being closed, and in those instances, it would be more of a case-by-case decision.

However, for many of our pet store marketing clients and community members, there is a significant amount of opportunity for pet stores right now that are doing things the right way (curbside pickup, ordering online, taking precautions, etc). People don’t know if the packages that are being shipped into their homes are disinfected, whereas if your pet store is promoting content on the measures you’re taking to protect people, that’s an opportunity to build trust and loyalty in current customers, and even bring in new business.

How much, if any, money or effort should I spend on marketing right now?

Chances are, your revenue is down and, unfortunately, our country hasn’t deemed it a necessity to put a moratorium on regular expenses like rent. Therefore, we can understand and expect a decrease in marketing spend right now.

What you DON’T WANT is to completely go dark. If you’re not putting money behind your online advertising, then at least go organic and maintain your communication via website, social media, or email marketing. More than ever, your customers and potential customers need to know that you’re open and taking orders.

The good news? Your money is working more efficiently on social media now than it has been in recent times, almost twice as well in fact (Source: SocialBakers). So, if your cash flow is hurting right now, that’s understandable, you should reduce your online spend. But spending $25-$50 per week on boosted posts isn’t going to bankrupt you.

If you need assistance on the content or social media spend, we recommend scheduling a free consultation with our pet store marketing experts to get some personalized insight. Book a time at your own convenience!

What kind of content should my pet store be putting out for my audience?
What does my pet store audience want to hear?

As we mentioned above, simply letting your audience know about the precautions you’re taking (images are better than text!), the new standards and practices you have put in place for their health and protection, and the new offers or discounts you’ve rolled out all make for good content right now.

According to a study in March 2020 by Unruly, 96% of consumers say brands should change their content to address the situation. They want brands to deliver advertising that shows how companies are supporting their staff and customers (22% cite this as the best way to address the situation), provides informative messaging about COVID-19 (21%), creates a positive or funny distraction (17%), provides a sense of continuity and normality (17%), and highlights how they are supporting good causes (5%) (Source: Unruly).

So, simply apply these results to your pet store marketing and pet store social media strategies. Just because the world is in turmoil doesn’t mean you can’t use your platform to spread some joy, some humor, some cuteness. It will resonate (and perform) better if it’s relevant!

What is the best way to position my Pet Store right now?

Use the data above and your own expertise to continue to position your pet store’s brand in response to the pandemic. You remain an expert in your field, as well as an essential business with life-supporting products for American households. Here are the pillars we recommend for pet store marketing right now:

• Stay Calm.

• Stay Informative.

• Stay Helpful.

• Stay Open.

• Stay Transparent.

In general, loyal pet store customers shop at your pet store because of the human aspect behind the business. They understand that you, like them, are going through tough times right now, whether it’s a downturn or onslaught of business and adaptation to new ways of business. Everybody is making some concessions right now, and it’s okay to admit that. Nobody is expecting perfection.

What are the best products to Promote?

For those of you with eCommerce solutions, take a look at some recent data on the hottest new eCommerce categories in March 2020 - dog food is climbing, along with home gym equipment, while golf clubs and classroom furniture are down (Source: Stackline).

So, what can you promote for your customers?

• Feeds of all types for all the pets you service.

• Boredom busters and engagement activities for pets.

• Healthy bones and treats for those pets that are eating more in quarantine.

• Products that help your customers and their pets adapt to their new work-from-home lifestyle.

• Items that Chewy or Amazon are struggling to deliver quickly due to increased demand.

Get creative with it! There’s some great free content that’s begin provided by distributors, manufacturers, and online communities like PETS+ Magazine right now to take advantage of.

How to Market Your Pet Store
During COVID-19
Conclusion

In this Insider article we’ve tried to cover some of the basics on the how, where, why, and what for pet store marketing during COVID-19. For the TL,DR: yes, it’s a good time to advertise or promote your store if you can afford it and if you ensure that your messaging is hitting the appropriate notes.

If you’ve found some value in this, please hit the follow or share buttons as our goal at Pet Engine Marketing is to help as many pet stores as we can. Feedback is always appreciated! Stay safe out there.