This is my first post in a series featuring pet businesses I admire. I’m very happy to showcase them as shining examples you can learn from, because they serve as excellent models of pet marketing strategies that work.
The first featured business is Dr. Buzby’s ToeGrips, a unique, powerful and yet very simple solution to the too-common problem of dogs slipping and sliding on smooth floors. Senior dogs, arthritic dogs, dogs with hip dysplasia and dogs recovering from surgery often struggle with standing up and walking on smooth hardwood floors, tile floors, and smooth steps. It’s a heartbreaking thing to watch and live with.
But the good news is, these dogs can have a new lease on life with Dr. Buzby’s ToeGrips.
The best way to explain how ToeGrips work is through stories… which is exactly what Dr. Buzby’s ToeGrips is doing as a marketing strategy. It’s a very new business, but thanks to the stories… it’s making great progress in reaching veterinarians and pet parents eager to find an effective solution.
Using this incredible product as an example, here are three tips about telling stories for pet product sales.
- Feature stories about real customers using your products and enjoying the benefits. Dr. Buzby’s ToeGrips has created a number of authentic videos telling the story of how the ToeGrips are dramatically improving the quality of life for dogs. Check out their Facebook page, which features real-life video stories of dogs using the product. Their videos are proof enough that struggle-free walking can now be achieved, and the pet parents are joyous.
- Provide before-and-after stories that showcase the difference your product(s) can make to a pet, pet parent or pet business. Dr Buzby’s YouTube videos do exactly that. Seeing a dog’s struggle — and the amazing benefits ToeGrips provides him — is extremely powerful. The videos are worth a thousand descriptive words.
- Use all forms of content to tell stories. Videos aren’t the only way to tell stories. Provide case studies, testimonials, articles, blog posts, photo essays and other story versions that deliver compelling proof of how your product can change lives.
People LOVE stories about pets who are thriving, or pet businesses that overcome a major challenge. Use your product as a hero that’s solving a common problem your target audience is dealing with.
And don’t forget to optimize your stories so the content can be found in search engines! In your videos and other story versions, include SEO (search engine optimization) keywords in the content and in tags. This means flow your top keyword or two into the story’s headline, subhead, bullets, internal links, photo or video captions, and meta tags.
Plus be sure to share the stories everywhere — on your site, in social media, on other pet business sites, in local chamber of commerce sites, etc.
If you need help with effective storytelling for pet product sales, or optimizing your pet stories with SEO keywords, just let me know: pam@petcopywriter.com. In the meantime, here’s to a prosperous pet website!
Pam Foster
PetCopywriter.com