How to Create the Most Compelling Pet Product Videos
The pet industry has never been more competitive. Here’s what you need to know about making pet product videos that engage audiences. It’s hard to understate the affection people have for their pets. According to the American Pet Products Association, the pet industry now averages more than $99 billion annually in sales, and is one of the fastest-growing retail segments. The rate of pet ownership (or “pet parentage”) in the US also continues to climb, as millennials and members of Gen Z adopt or buy pets with greater frequency than older generations. Given these developments, it’s obvious that the pet industry is a massive and lucrative market. Yet it’s also extremely competitive. So how do pet product companies move to the front of the pack and establish a dominant competitive position? Clever use of video — and the help of a skilled third party video production company — can make all the difference. The trick to shooting great pet videos How important is video to a digital marketing strategy these days? Consider this: Mobile video consumption doubles every year, six in ten people prefer online videos to television and online videos will comprise 82% of all Internet traffic by 2022 — an increase of 1,500% since 2017. With numbers like these, you don’t have to be a marketing genius to understand how important video is, both now and in the future. You can’t just slap together any video and watch the conversions roll in, however. The brands that get the most bang for their marketing budgets are those who create the kind of video content that aligns with viewer desires and preferences. Sometimes that can be done internally, but other times it may require help from an agency specializing in pet video marketing services. With that in mind, let’s dive into some tips for making pet product videos that dazzle pet owners. 10 tips for better pet product videos When making a video, don’t forget to create an eye-catching thumbnail. Many readers will click away from an article if the first sentence doesn’t interest them. The thumbnail plays the same role here; if it doesn’t spark interest, the video may get ignored. The same principle applies to the first five seconds of your video, as many people simply lack the patience for a slow build. Many app users have their default setting for videos set to mute. Because of this, it’s essential to anticipate this by incorporating subtitles and visually engaging graphics. Tell a story, but take a fresh angle. Pet parents have in inexhaustible appetite for pet content, yet many of the topics have been well mined at this point. By approaching a familiar narrative at an off-kilter angle, you can spark greater interest. Make sure you create a steady, regular flow of video content. If you want to build an audience, you can’t publish pet videos in fits and starts. You need to be consistent in terms of your schedule. Tailor your videos to the channel or the platform. Instagram, for example, is extremely visual, so there’s less of a need to devote time to copy, and more of a need to consider visual elements. Snapchat, on the other hand, is a great place to release more irreverent or playful videos. On Twitter, it makes sense to integrate more videos into regular tweets. Tweets featuring video are 600% more likely to be re-tweeted than photo tweets. Create dedicated video playlists that group content together. This feature works best on Facebook and YouTube, and helps organize your content for easy accessibility. Tap into the enormous pool of pet bloggers and pet account operators. If you’ve spent any time on major social media platforms, you realize that pet content is everywhere. The pool of potential creators is limitless. By identifying some of the best amateur talent online, you can generate ideas and partner to create promotional content. Make a significant investment in TikTok promotion. This short-form video app continues to take over social media. One of its secret weapons? Funny pet videos. Ignore this platform at your own risk, because it has enormous cachet with younger pet parents and soon-to-be pet parents. Create videos that have an emotional appeal. This applies to almost every product category, but it is especially relevant for pet brands. Pet parents love their animals, while consumers merely like the products they own and (possibly) identify with the brand. Given this emotional investment, the right video can resonate deeply — this famous tear-jerking video is still a topic of cultural conversation 13 years after it was shot. Finally, come up with a great idea and keep it short and simple. That’s a prescription for a video that strikes a chord and is widely shared. Finding the right video marketing agency If you need help with pet marketing services, we encourage you to contact Bigeye. Our team of skilled creatives has the pet industry expertise and the technical skills to do what other video advertising companies can’t. Reach out today and let us help put together your next great pet products campaign.
Don’t Ignore Influencer Marketing for Your Pet Products
Don’t knock influencer marketing when building your strategy for pet products. This type of marketing amplifies word-of-mouth marketing through social media. Do you trust a random TV actor pitching a product? What about a celebrity pitch person — someone you’re familiar with? Would you trust this person more? How about a close personal friend whose opinions you respect? Does their product recommendation carry even greater weight? In most cases, the answer to these questions are all in the affirmative. There is a definite spectrum in terms of whom we trust — that’s one reason why word-of-mouth marketing has historically been so effective. People trust friends, family members and people they respect more than faceless corporations. Influencer content marketing offers many of the same benefits associated with word-of-mouth marketing, and amplifies those benefits by including the reach of social media. Let’s take a closer look at the current state of influencer marketing, how it can specifically be used to sell pet products more effectively, and the benefits of working with an influencer marketing agency. Influencer marketing: a maturing market The growth of influencer marketing has been nothing short of astonishing over the last few years. Just consider these statistics from Influencer Marketing Hub’s “The State of Influencer Marketing in 2020” report: The industry is worth nearly $10 billion, growing from $1.6 billion in 2016. Average earned media value per $1 spent has jumped to more than $5. The number of micro-influencers used by large companies has tripled in three years. 80% of respondents plan to have a dedicated influencer marketing budget in 2020. 91% of respondents believe influencer marketing is an effective tactic for growing a customer base. 2020 Influencer Trends As those statistics show, it’s on a rapid growth trajectory. Yet to get the most out of your influencer marketing campaigns, it’s essential to have your finger on the pulse of evolving trends. eMarketer’s recently published “2018 Influencer Marketing Report” cites the following trends for 2020: 48% of businesses plan on using celebrity (or “macro”) influencers, while 45% will use micro influencers. Instagram is the preferred platform for influencer marketing, with 100% of report respondents using it. 85% use Facebook, 67% reported using YouTube, Snapchat 44% and Twitter 33%. TikTok, which is seeing some of the fastest growth among social platforms, is expected to be a major player in influencer campaigns in 2020. Influencers will continue to cross-over from having niche social media followings to being full-fledged celebrities. While this will give the most prominent macro influencers more leverage with businesses seeking to work with them, it also greatly expands their potential orbit of influence. How can this be applied to pet products? The pet industry is a natural home for influencers. People are devoted to their animals and love to consume and share pet-related content over social media. It’s estimated that one-quarter of all social content is pet-related and that one-fifth of pet owners have created a social media account specifically for their animal. The #dogsofinstagram hashtag alone is closing in on 200 million posts. Social media influencer marketing agencies that are solely dedicated to working with famous animal accounts have sprung up in the last couple of years, attesting to the power of this phenomenon. Companies seeking to sell pet products, therefore, have a powerful advantage relative to businesses in other industries: An army of potential influencers waiting to be leveraged. Pet bloggers and owners of pet social media accounts number in the millions, which means that the pool of available influencer talent is vast. Given that the ability to source influencers is perennially ranked as one of the most difficult challenges for firms engaged in influencer marketing, this is a considerable advantage. There is an obvious parallel to be drawn here: Mommy bloggers. Brands, over the last ten years, profited enormously from their partnership with high-profile mommy bloggers, who were able to build vast and deeply engaged audiences across various social platforms and websites. Parent-focused social media marketing become a core strategy for countless brands, and helped generate billions in new revenue. Pet industry brands have a similar opportunity to leverage pet bloggers in the same way, given their sizable numbers and considerable reach. Pairing this approach with some of the trends we’ve cited above is a winning strategy for 2020 (we especially encourage brands to focus on integrating TikTok into their influencer marketing strategy, as that platform is poised to become perhaps only second to Instagram in terms of cultural cachet and reach). Finding the right influencer marketing agency At Bigeye, we are experts at crafting compelling influencer marketing campaigns rooted in a deep understanding of the latest trends and technologies. If your pet product campaign needs a boost, we encourage you to reach out to us today — and learn what the right influencer marketing campaign can do for your brand.
10 Essential Digital Marketing Tips for Your E-Commerce Store
No matter what you sell from your e-commerce shop, you have a great opportunity to grow your business – follow these steps to gain a competitive edge. Amazon, the world’s e-commerce leader, enjoyed over $280 billion in revenue during 2019, a 20-percent increase from the prior year. Even much smaller, independent digital shops can do very well with the right e-commerce marketing strategy. For instance, Shopify powers over half a million e-commerce stores, with over $40 billion in sales and an average yearly growth rate of 74 percent. New or established, large or small, these e-commerce and Shopify marketing tips will help bring more customers to your virtual front door and keep making purchases once they have found you. Ten effective e-commerce marketing strategies to grow your online business The success of established online stores should offer you encouragement. On the other hand, you should also understand that you’re going to need to compete with other digital vendors for attention and dollars. To do that, you first need to make sure people know what you’re selling and why they should choose your e-commerce shop over another source. Some of you may also offer new or unique products, so you’ll also need to introduce an audience to the value of whatever you’re selling. Once you’ve achieved some brand and product recognition, you will also probably have to keep testing and refining your e-commerce digital marketing to enjoy continued growth. In that way, you should view digital marketing as more of an evolving process than as something you can just set and forget. Good e-commerce marketing can take considerable effort. In the end, your effective marketing strategies will also help you enjoy the competitive edge that will help you stand out, profit, and grow. If you’re just getting started or haven’t enjoyed the success you hoped for, consider trying these 10 e-commerce marketing strategies: 1. Create Buying Guides These days, consumers spend time researching purchases online. You could engage online shoppers with helpful content that helps people find the perfect gift for their dad, which air fryer features are worth the money, or types of swimming suits that flatter various kinds of bodies. Whatever you’re selling, people certainly have questions about it. Position yourself as the expert and make shoppers aware of your store by posting helpful buying guides on your social sites, website, and digital store. Besides buying guides, you might also create useful guides to using or caring for various products. For instance, you might sell heirloom seeds and could offer seasonal planting guides or even recipes. This sort of helpful content can improve your marketing and your customer service. 2. Host Giveaways, Contests, and Quizzes You might think it’s counterintuitive to increase sales by giving things away. At the same time, giveaways give you a chance to spark interest in your brand and hopefully, get some positive feedback from lucky winners. Quizzes, giveaways, and contests can also give you a chance to build your subscription list by capturing names and email address. You can also use quizzes to gather marketing information and target your offers and communications to specific interests. Obviously, you should try to tailor any of these events to the type of audience you hope to attract as customers. 3. Offer Promos, Coupons, and Discounts Offering limited-time promotions for some or all of your products can have a profound psychological effect on consumers, according to Psychology Today. The article mentioned that with newer and weaker brands, shorter and more urgent calls to action more effectively overcome buyer’s resistance. Stronger and more established sellers may profit more by extending their sales longer. As with other marketing, you might need to test your limited-time offers to see which promotions and durations provide you with the best results. Also, you can use these limited-time sales as content to promote on your store, blog, and social media. Be certain to encourage your audience to share your coupons and promo codes with their own social circles. Even if one person isn’t in the market for something, they might think of a friend who is. 4. Convert First-Time Buyers into Repeat Buyers Attracting repeat buyers can help you maximize the returns that you will enjoy from your e-commerce store marketing budget. The sooner you can convert first-time purchasers into loyal customers, the more you can profit. If you offer consumable goods, you might start off by offering a substantial discount or perk for people who take advantage of your offer to send your items by periodic subscriptions. Such consumable items as soap, razor blades, and coffee do very well with this sort of marketing plan. Make certain that you clearly demonstrate the savings that subscription purchasers will enjoy on the order page. 5. Encourage Testimonials and Reviews Plenty of successful online stores encourage reviews and testimonials from their customers. They may even go so far as offering a gift card or special discount code in exchange for posting a review on a product or service page. It’s even more helpful if the review form encourages the reviewer to share their feedback on their own social media pages. Either way, today’s online shoppers do use reviews to help inform purchases and even a mix of great and not-so-great reviews may look more credible than a page with no reviews at all. 6. Practice Enlightened Self Interest By associating your brand with a worthy charity you can help improve your community and your positive brand recognition. Figure out what kinds of causes your audience is likely to value and lend your support. One recent study found that Millennials, for example, are even likely to spend more on purchases when they associate the company with worthy causes that they also support. Also, some charities will help promote their sponsors by mentioning the company on a sponsor page or in a newsletter. Your sponsorship of worthy causes also gives you more content for your social media, blogs, and email or text subscribers. That way, subscribers don’t
DTC vs. Retail: How Brands Win with a Blended Approach
In a world of customized placement, your DTC brand needs to be omni-channel, which is why a proper DTC marketing plan is so critical. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands are riding a sustained growth wave. It’s estimated there are more than 400 significant brands now in this category, while DTC web traffic is growing 100% year over year. This growth is being supported by performance-based DTC marketing plans. Don’t think top retailers haven’t noticed. Nordstrom, Sephora, and other industry heavyweights are working overtime to entice emerging DTC brands into the retail space by offering a range of incentives. One example: Bloomingdale’s Carousel concept, which allows DTC sellers to set up rotating pop-up shops within the storied retailer’s brick and mortar environs. Yet, as DTC brands would be the first to tell you, this kind of relationship doesn’t come without substantial tradeoffs. Winning with a blended approach Wholesale retailers, always eager for trendy, differentiated offerings, have been busy integrating DTC brands at a rapid clip. There’s no question that such relationships offer very real benefits for these brands. A DTC marketing plan that provides proper placement in Nordstrom or Bloomingdale’s can expose DTC products to much wider audiences. Partnering with an esteemed wholesale retailer also gives newer DTC brands instant cachet and credibility. For a largely unknown brand, an association with a retail heavyweight can be extraordinarily valuable. Yet these benefits are also somewhat mitigated by the demands DTC brands are facing. Given their reach and capacity, it’s not surprising that large retailers want to get DTC brands in front of a sizable number of their customers. Yet these brands are often ill-prepared to scale up to accommodate placement at 50 stores. Large retailers also exert a very high degree of control over product strategy and operations. DTC brands that are accustomed to exerting full control over how their products and services are presented and marketed may balk at relinquishing that control. Much of the storytelling, creative messaging or flair associated with DTC brands may be suppressed when these products are presented and marketed by a larger retailer with different sensibilities and prerogatives. So how do DTC brands thread the needle? Many of today’s most successful DTC brands have been squaring this circle by pursuing a blended approach. They make wholesale retailers a part of their omni-channel strategy, but only on their terms. If retailers push DTC brands to scale too early, they resist. If DTC brands believe their messaging is being polluted by clumsy or irrelevant retail marketing, they speak up. Most importantly, these DTC brands don’t cede control over their narrative. They may be hitching a ride on a larger, faster and more visible ship, but they remain the undisputed captain of their fate. Looking for a DTC marketing boost? Attractive and eye-catching product and packaging design is a virtual pre-requisite for successful DTC brands. Luckily for you we’re experts in this field. Whether you need assistance with product design, performance-based advertising and marketing strategies or branding services, we have the necessary expertise to deliver the goods. Contact Bigeye today for more information about how we can help take your DTC marketing plan to the next level.
How to Find Success on Shopify
Shopify, one of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce platforms, is growing at such a rapid rate that it’s projected to overtake eBay as the second-largest e-commerce platform in 2020, according to CNBC. While that kind of growth offers massive opportunity for Shopify retailers, it’s also quickly becoming a much more competitive space. Shopify now has more than 1 million merchants active on its platform, all of whom are working to differentiate themselves and outsell the competition. So what’s the secret to gaining more traction with your Shopify store? Let’s take a closer look at seven key tips for better Shopify store development. 1. Prioritize customer service — and outsource if necessary E-commerce doesn’t have to mean minimal customer service. In fact, it was Jeff Bezos’ famous “customer obsession” that helped Amazon become a global heavyweight. Yet for most people operating Shopify businesses, dealing with customers is an enormous time suck. While keeping your clients happy is critical, most people simply lack the bandwidth for the task. Instead, it makes sense to outsource customer service functions. The international call center business is booming, and you can find qualified customer service freelancers on just about any major Gig Economy marketplace. It’s important to ensure that the workers you contract with have first-class fluency in English. Adding live chat is another element that can really improve the customer experience. 2. Focus on the right design Great design is crucial to the success of any Shopify site. This begins with choosing an appropriate theme. Find one that fits the look and feel of your brand or signature products. The right theme can have a dramatic impact on the visual atmosphere and overall user experience of your site. While Shopify offers some free design templates, you can also choose to pay for some of the premium designs the company offers. Unsurprisingly, the premium templates tend to be more eye-catching, which can help your site stand out with a fresh look. In addition to the look and feel of your site, you’ll also need to consider how design impacts functionality. Do you want larger images? A wider Instagram feed? These small decisions can have a significant impact on how your products are browsed and purchased, so weigh these decisions carefully. Generally speaking, it’s also a smart idea to design with certain principles in mind. Your site should feel clean and uncluttered. An overabundance of design elements or products can confuse or irritate visitors and encourage them to depart without buying. 3. Incorporate and optimize elements stressing your originality Templatized websites run the risk of appearing a bit cookie-cutter, but there are a few steps you can take to make your site appear fresh and original. First, commission striking, original photography and avoid over-reliance on stock imagery. This can go a long way toward giving your site some visual panache that makes it stand out from other e-commerce offerings. Second, create copy that is truly creative and that engages the reader. Too often Shopify copy is bland and boilerplate. By coming up with lively product descriptions and other copy, you can help convert buyers and differentiate your approach. You’ll also want to choose headlines that stand out from the crowd and that are calibrated to resonate with your target demographics. Figure out why people would be interested in your products and use that as a guide for creating catchy headlines. Humor — in the appropriate contexts — is also a big plus. 4. Check out the competition and test your approach Auditing other e-commerce sites is a smart way to evaluate your own approach. You can take what they are doing well and adapt it for your own purposes, while also identifying any deficiencies in their approach and capitalizing on them. Incorporating some simple A/B testing into your site can also help you learn what people are really responding to. These tests allow you to take two versions of a screen, headline or some other element and evaluate how visitors interact with each version. This can be an invaluable tool for learning what converts and what causes people to disengage. 5. Build your social proof There’s no debating it: Reviews are the lifeblood of any e-commerce store. This means it is critical to monitor your reviews and respond in a timely fashion. If there was a legitimate issue, be transparent and forthcoming rather than defensive, and offer to make it right. This will often disarm even the most dissatisfied customers and help turn negative interactions into positive ones. Encourage your customers to leave photo reviews whenever possible. Visitors enjoy these and they often seem more credible than text reviews. The more smiling and happy customers you can showcase on Shopify the stronger your business will be. 6. Tread carefully with shipping costs Excessive shipping costs are one of the most common reasons why customers do not follow through with e-commerce orders. For online retailers, nothing is more frustrating than getting a customer all the way to the checkout page…only to have the product deleted from the cart because of elevated shipping charges. E-commerce consumers have been conditioned to expect low or no-cost shipping by Amazon Prime, so it’s a wise idea to either build the cost of shipping into your products or figure out an alternative method for defraying costs. 7. Use a well-designed SEO and programmatic ad strategy An up to date Search optimization strategy plays an essential role in helping people locate you. Most site owners aren’t experts at search, so it often makes sense to bring a marketing agency or SEO expert into the mix. The rules governing SEO are always evolving, so working with an expert can save you the hassle of trying to master search and remain perennially current on the latest changes to Google’s ranking algorithm. It also makes sense to work with a Shopify agency that specializes in this kind of overall site development. Pay-per-click ad strategies are easier to learn, as you can get a lot of traction by
Starter Children, Fur Babies, and a DTC Success Story
If your fur baby could help lead you to a $250 million DTC subscription service, wouldn’t you want to be set for success? Millennials are delaying child-rearing. Millennials love dogs. Millennials are receptive to DTC subscription services and advertising. What do these three things have in common? They’re a recipe for a $250 million business. Barking up the money tree It’s hardly surprising that younger people are delaying home-purchasing, parenting and other traditional milestones. Student loan debt is at historic levels and wage growth has been flat. While you can’t eliminate the paternal/maternal impulse, you can reroute it. Priced out of parenthood, millennials are turning their thwarted parental impulses toward pets. Call them starter children, fur babies, or absurdly over-indulged animals, the numbers don’t lie: 44% of millennials see their pets as proxy children. Brands in the flourishing pet care space have been quick to capitalize on this sentiment. Yet none are quite so well-positioned as DTC brands, who are firmly in the millennial sweet spot. They offer boutique, cleverly marketed products to a narrow yet hardcore audience; they deliver to your door and they are price competitive. That’s more or less the millennial trifecta, and one of the brands that have been most successful at deploying this strategy is BarkBox. BarkBox is a DTC subscription service that delivers a box of dog treats to your door. Not revolutionary, sure. Yet the idea plays beautifully on several consumer preferences. You don’t have to leave the house and visit a pet store full of poorly-differentiated toys and treats You don’t have to spend time choosing what to buy Your dog treats arrive in a box, curated for your pet’s enjoyment The contents of each box are a mystery, making the process a bit like opening a gift BarkBoxes are sold direct-to-consumer, with the parent company (Bark) largely relying on Facebook for marketing during its early growth phase That’s a winning formula, and not just for pets. Another popular DTC subscription service, Universal Yums, curates boxes of candy and snacks from across the globe and sends a new box from a different country to subscribers each month. BarkBox, which handles its creative in-house, recently tested its first direct response TV ad, then measured the number of new subscriptions gained in the immediate wake of the ad. It’s a strategy that many DTC businesses are following, as they try to do more with less outside the confines of the traditional large agency model. Direct to consumer marketing strategies have a variety of powerful benefits for brands such as Bark: They allow more control over brand messaging, they reduce costs, and they enhance flexibility. Partnering with the right DTC marketing agency can help small businesses unlock these benefits and drive real, tangible results. The takeaway Small DTC businesses often lack the resources to partner with the largest agencies – yet that doesn’t mean they can’t have access to world-class campaigns. At Bigeye, we understand the DTC subscription service and advertising market on a deep level, and we’re nimble enough to help you create compelling direct to consumer marketing campaigns on demand.
Not a Pet, But a Family Member: The Evolution of Pet Marketing
Pets have graduated to full-fledged family members. Here’s what brands need to know to ensure their pet product marketing is keeping pace. Pets aren’t really pets anymore. Today, many people are more likely to regard themselves as “parents” rather than “owners” of their animals — and they want the very best for their children. Pet product marketing needs to reflect this cultural change — and brands that fail to adapt will soon fall out of favor with pet-crazed consumers. Trending towards humanization One stroll through a pet store or a dog park will tell you everything you need to know about how the treatment of pets in society has evolved. A generation or two ago, parents would often purchase or adopt a dog or a cat “for the children” and then provide the animal with the bare minimum level of care and attention. Today’s pets are comparatively lavished with attention, and there are a few reasons for this shift. First, millennials have delayed marriage and child-rearing longer than any previous generation, largely due to economic uncertainty. Pets serve as “proxy children” or “starter children” for many people in this segment. Second, the proliferation of social media has created a situation where everyone wants to document and share their lives – and pets play a major role in this. Open up Instagram, Facebook or any other social app, and you’ll be deluged with animal photos. Pet ownership numbers have also sharply increased, rising from 56% to 68% over the last three decades. As you might expect, younger people are overrepresented in pet ownership, accounting for 62% of all pet owning households. How the pet industry – and pet ownership – are evolving Changing cultural dynamics around pet ownership are reflected in larger trends inside the pet industry. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the most important trends, and how pet product marketing is adapting. Direct to consumer pet boxes Brands have used the DTC subscription box model to great effect, as it allows consumers to feel like they are receiving a gift in the mail each month and doesn’t require driving to a brick and mortar shop. This model has been especially successful in the pet sector; brands such as Bark have experienced fast growth by shipping curated boxes of dog treats and toys direct to consumer doorsteps. Elevated pet food The days of feeding pets undifferentiated food brands of questionable quality are over. Today, pet owners are buying pet food much in the same way they purchase human products — and pet food marketing should reflect this. Witness the recent craze over grain-free dog food, which mimics in some ways the “gluten-free” craze of the last few years. TV for dogs Pet parents are understandably worried about leaving their animals alone for extended periods of time. Dog TV — a new network that creates dog-centric television programming – purports to solve this problem. When you depart for work in the morning, you can position your dog in front of the TV screen, where he can watch hours of programming calibrated to his interest and level of understanding. Dating apps for dog lovers People have famously highlighted pet photos in their Tinder profiles for years, but Dig takes this to the next level. Dig is a dating app for dog lovers that helps set up canine-friendly dates. Unlike other dating apps, women outnumber men by a significant portion on Dig, which gives the app another interesting wrinkle. Finding the right pet care marketing agency Most pet product marketing agencies produce campaigns that are all bark with no bite. Bigeye is different – we’re a team of talented creatives, tech wizards and strategic thinkers, and we all have one thing in common: We love pets, and we’re great at producing high-level pet industry market research. Come visit our website, and we’ll be sure to show you a few tricks to help you catalyze your next pet product marketing campaign.
Direct to Consumer Marketing: Ignore it at Your Peril
Don’t let your business hit rock bottom before considering a DTC marketing agency who can help you achieve your marketing and advertising goals. Direct to consumer advertising and marketing is drawing a wealth of buzz — and for good reason. The DTC model is now a priority for enterprises across the spectrum. And a DTC marketing agency is more of a need. Legacy retailers are selling and marketing directly to consumers to reduce their footprints and expand their digital strategies. Digitally native brands (Warby Parker, Harry’s, etc.) used the DTC model to disrupt the prevailing retail paradigm and ramp up their businesses with impressive speed. All of this maneuvering, of course, is supported by DTC-specific advertising and marketing. Some DTC brands handle it internally; others partner with legacy agencies or more specialized boutique firms. Still more employ a combination of these approaches. One thing, however, remains constant: Brands that get DTC marketing right – regardless of whom they partner with – are in the strongest possible competitive position. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some smart digital strategies that brands can implement with minimal difficulty. Offering personalized content One of the most attractive aspects of DTC is the removal of middlemen. Brands can connect directly with their buyers, with no third party to mediate or filter the experience. DTC brands can use this proximity to gather valuable first-party data that offers thorough, actionable insights into consumer preferences. Brands can use this data to create personalized content presented in the consumer’s preferred medium. When it comes to leveraging data and designing content strategies, smaller DTC brands often need assistance – and the easiest way to get help is by partnering with a nimble DTC marketing agency with a full suite of digital offerings. Developing a mobile app Speaking of DTC marketing agencies with digital expertise, such agencies are the perfect partner for mobile app development. Small to mid-sized brands may believe that a mobile app is solely the province of big players. While that may have been true years ago, that’s not the case today. Mobile apps give brands a direct channel to consumers. They also provide an excellent opportunity to deepen engagement and stay fresh in the minds of consumers. And while mobile apps are being adopted by smaller brands, they are still uncommon enough to serve as a competitive differentiator. Using third parties to sell and market Amazon and other large marketplaces have spawned a massive new opportunity for direct to consumer selling and marketing. By leveraging the vast buyer networks of these third parties, brands can disintermediate retailers and still theoretically reach millions of consumers. This doesn’t mean, of course, that brands can simply list their products and watch sales accumulate. Third party sites have their criteria for how products are marketed to visitors, and these rules govern how products are shown and to whom they are shown. Brands can determine which strategies work best for their products by pursuing continuous testing and making occasional adjustments. The takeaway With our team of media & analytics experts, Bigeye has the strategic savvy and digital chops to help DTC brands achieve their advertising and marketing goals. If you’re not satisfied with the traction your current campaigns are generating, we urge you to visit our website today.
The Latest and Greatest from the Global Pet Expo
The 2019 Global Pet Expo shined a light on some of the most interesting trends in pet ownership and pet care marketing. Here’s what we learned. If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the world of pets, the Global Pet Expo is a required stop. Much as the famed CES shines a spotlight on the latest consumer electronics offerings, this expo offers a window into the newest trends and products within the pet industry. If you’re in the pet business — or the pet care marketing business — it’s a vitally important date on the calendar. So what did we learn from this year’s “petpreneur” extravaganza? Let’s take a look at the latest products and trends about to capture the imagination of pet lovers everywhere. What pet owners will be buying this year and beyond The Global Pet Expo offers an early look at innovative new pet industry products, and this year was no exception. The multi-day expo featured hundreds of new products designed to address lingering problems within the pet care market. Those products included: Leashes that attach to bicycles, allowing dog owners to “walk” their pets while cycling. Portable water bottles custom designed for a dog’s mouth that offer easy drinking during walks and hikes. Licking pads. These pads can be smeared with peanut butter or any other sticky substance and then used to divert a pet while nails are being trimmed or paws cleaned — a boon for anyone who has ever struggled with a pet who hates nail trimming. Recyclable and compostable bags for cleaning up doggy messes. Crash tested car carriers and harnesses (these operate much like a child safety seat). Tick removal devices that function much more effectively than simple tweezers. Catnip-infused crayons. Neon colored kitty litter. Backpacks designed for portable cat carrying. Product displays are always a good barometer of what’s happening in the pet sector, both in terms of consumer offerings and overall trends. Let’s take a closer look at the pet industry developments shaping 2019 and beyond. What pet owners will see more of in the coming years If you want to predict the future of pet care, simply counting booth types inside the Global Pet Expo offers a rough — but fairly accurate — yardstick. As you might expect, at this year’s event pet-focused CBD offerings were thick on the ground, as were boutique/specialty food and treat purveyors. Additionally, the American Pet Products Association (the sponsor organization of the Global Pet Expo) compiled new research examining emerging trends within the pet industry. Among the most prominent trends cited are: Direct to consumer subscription boxes for pet owners. Pet food composed of human-grade ingredients. Ethically sourced and non-GMO pet food. More pets being kept in the classroom. This trend, which allows teachers to keep small pets for students, is being supported by grant money and charitable donations. Continued expansion of the backyard chicken movement. This practice is more widespread than many realize. According to U.S. Census data, 1% of homes raise backyard chickens and an additional 4% plan to begin doing so within four years. By understanding the role new products and trends play within the industry, brands can perform more accurate audience analysis and create deeply compelling marketing messages for today’s pet owners. Partnering with the right pet care marketing agency If you want to get the most out of your pet care marketing, you need to stay current with evolving industry trends. You also need inspiring creative work, deep sector expertise and advanced technological tools. At BIGEYE, we can help you connect with your ideal market. We can also help with package design, branding, TV production and the entire full service marketing stack. Reach out to us today to learn more about what the right pet care marketing agency can do for you.
The Numbers Every Pet Marketer Must Know
Pet food marketing requires more than creativity – you need hard data to inform an audience analysis. Here’s what the stats say about pet marketing in 2019. If you want to sell pet products, you need to know your audience on a fundamental level. That requires hard data — the raw material that facilitates proper audience segmentation. Without it, your pet food marketing campaigns will be scattershot, poorly targeted and irrelevant to most of the people you reach. Fortunately, we’ve collected the data and consumer insights you need to connect with the right pet-owning audience. The pet-owning audience, by the numbers Audience research can provide us with critical insight. It tells us who pet owners are, how they spend their money and the hobbies, interests and priorities that drive them. Armed with this data, it becomes possible to create finely targeted pet food marketing campaigns that resonate with buyers and spur them into action. This market data can be broken down into three primary categories: Commercial data, demographic data and personal interest data. Let’s take a closer look at all three, beginning with commercial data. What commercial pet owner data tells us Examining how pet owners spend their money gives us clear insight into buyer motivation. Unlike with consumers surveys or interviews, there is little open to interpretation here. These are quantifiable numbers, which makes them highly reliable. Consider the following: 84.6% of pet owners in the U.S. are searching for products or services they want to buy. 93.1% of pet owners in the U.S. are visiting online retail sites such as Amazon. 60.1% of pet owners in the U.S. are the main shoppers in their households. 81.9% of pet owners in the U.S. are always looking for the best deals for products they want to buy. Additionally, free delivery, coupons, and discounts increase the likelihood of U.S. pet owners buying a product online; followed next by reviews from other consumers. Pet owners in the U.S. typically discover new brands and products through TV ads and word-of-mouth recommendations. Search engine recommendations and online ads are next in order of importance. What demographic pet owner data tells us Demographic information also plays a critical role in audience analysis by illuminating who owns pets, the kinds of pets they own and their financial attributes. For example: U.S. pet owners are 51.2% female; 48.8% male. 49% of U.S. pet owners are married; the slight majority are childless. Household incomes of pet owners are in the mid-50th percentile. Dogs are the most common pet (71.8%), followed by cats (49.6%). What personal hobby and interest pet owner data tells us By evaluating how pet owners spend their time and gauging their hobbies and interests, it’s possible to create tailored pet food marketing messages designed to resonate with audiences. Package design, product naming and other creative processes are more informed by analyzing this kind of data. Hobby and interest data shows us the following about today’s pet owners:55.4% of pet owners are interested in wildlife/nature; camping and hiking are their next greatest interests (47%) followed by technology (46.6%). FOX, CNN, ESPN, Food Network, History Channel and HGTV are the most-watched networks by pet owners. U.S. pet owners report being fans of the NFL (55.5%), baseball (42.9%), basketball (40.1%), soccer (38.5%) and hockey (25.6%). Pet owners in the U.S. are most likely to participate in the following sports and activities: swimming, exercise classes such as yoga and spinning, basketball, soccer, and golf. U.S. pet owners enjoy cooking, food & drinks, traveling, DIY and home improvement and gardening more than the average person (and, of course, pets and pet care). Choosing the right pet food marketing firm A great marketing agency uses all tools at its disposal: Hard research data, engaging creative work, deeply informed audience analysis and sophisticated technology. At BIGEYE, we have the tool suite to help you create the kind of compelling pet food marketing campaign that truly moves the needle. Contact us today to learn more about pet food package design, logo design, SEO, TV production, and other services.