Aiding Pets Helps A Client

This blog post generated nearly 300 hits in one day. A similar post got 15 hits in more than  two weeks.

Disclaimer

Some of my earlier blog posts have veered away from my stated purpose of providing marketing and communications tips. My blog has literally gone to the dogs … intentionally.

One of my clients sells clothing and accessories primarily to upscale dog owners. She is also the proud owner of several rescue dogs, just as I am. And she, like me, firmly believes that rescue pets make great life-long companions.

Savvy marketers, though, will see the purpose behind each of these posts: informing and educating potential clients while at the same time giving them more reasons for brand loyalty.

Pets are not like members of our family. They are members of our family, at least for some pet owners. Metrics cannot measure the emotional attachment some people have for their pets. Giving people reasons to think of your business in a positive light is always a great idea, especially when your message is trying to help people, not sell them something.

Information Works

As of noon Tuesday, Feb. 19, this post on the Posh Puppy Boutique blog had gotten 295 hits since it was posted one day earlier. It was listed as a public service announcement.

A similar post with a different headline—but the same photos and same essential links to Chihuahua rescue sites—had 15 hits. Key differences are:

• A headline that tugs on the heart strings—“Help Abandoned Chihuahuas Find Forever Homes”—gets more response than the label headline “Chihuahua Rescue Sites.”
• The post is “selling” clients on the idea of adopting and rescuing a pet, not “selling” them a product. However, the Posh Puppy name and logo appear prominently in both blog posts.
• A different, more extensive set of Google Key Words was used with the Posh Puppy piece than with the one appearing on this blog. The list of keywords (i.e., “tags”) and the 10 links to external sites helped boost the Posh Puppy post’s page ranking on Google. This means that more people were likely to see it. 

Blog Posts Are Only Part Of The Process

The Posh Puppy Boutique uses a variety of methods to attract and retain customers. Two blog posts each week, which I write, are only one of the ways this firm promotes itself.

Other methods used frequently—as in several times each day—are comments on Facebook and Twitter. Press releases mentioning the Posh Puppy name are distributed about every 10 days. This time frame is frequent enough to gain attention but not so often the messages get lost in the clutter or become boring.

Posh Puppy’s owner has gotten television coverage both locally in the Sacramento, Calif. region and nationally. Some of her products also grace the pages of national magazines.

Effective promotion takes a willingness to constantly expend money and energy promoting your business. Kudos to the Posh Puppy Boutique for doing just that.