Convincing a pet parent to trust a brand and to try a new product is going to take a lot of work. After all, people are hardly ever willing to take any risks when their fur babies are involved. This is one of the biggest challenges a pet brand faces. So, you need to showcase your brand’s authenticity from the get-go. You need to consistently let your customers know that you know pets and that you care for them. Remember, animal lovers connect easily with animal lovers. So, your ads should reflect your love for animals and the strong brand purpose that drives your business. 

There are several such nuances that can differentiate your pet brand from the others in the industry and give customers a reason to trust your brand and try it. Before we talk about the nitty-gritty of pet brand marketing let’s first look at a few industry trends. These will help you understand the importance of strong marketing strategies for a pet business. 

A few quick facts about pet brand marketing and the pet industry 

The number of pet parents around the world has been steadily increasing. Not to forget, the pandemic puppy trend. Over 23 million American households brought home a pet during the pandemic. All of these mean that the scope for growth has been steadily expanding for the pet industry. Good marketing ensures that you take a strong stance in this rapidly-growing industry. 

Pet parents in the U.S. spend about $1480 on their dogs and $902 on their cats, on an annual basis. In short, there is a huge variety of recurring expenses and steady spending from pet parents. Naturally, in a segment where they spend such a huge sum of money regularly, consumers are extra cautious in their buying decisions. So, you need to establish a clear brand personality to distinguish yourself. You need ads and social media designs that tell customers what makes your products or services worth the money they spend. 

Other than regular pet food, treats, toys and pet care products, services like pet grooming, pet food subscriptions, and kennel boarding are other pet-related services that are the most sought after. So, even if you are starting small, you should know that there are several areas to explore and expand your business in the long run. To prepare for the future and to accommodate the growing needs of your customers, you need to get a few things straight. 

So, let’s lay the groundwork before we get to the marketing designs part. There are a couple of things to do before you start with your marketing and branding strategies. And they are – understanding your industry and understanding your customers. 

Take market research seriously 

Before you design your logo, before you draft your marketing plan, or even identify a branding strategy for your pet brand, you should spend a good amount of time on market research. Because strong branding begins with positioning your brand right. 

You need to know what the current industry trends are. Your brand cannot be far behind. You need to know what strategies your competitors are using to woo your audience. You cannot be adopting something too similar. For all this, you need market research. 

In addition to all these, you also need to know the gaps, the areas where your competitors are failing to impress your audience. Or common problems that pet parents face where there are few to no solutions available. These are opportunities waiting to be explored. Once you have identified them, you can easily find the right product to market or the right strategy to promote your existing product. 

Here, the advertised product is a cat litter box. Convey that directly and customers will just scroll past because they know that there are plenty of them in the marketing. Instead, the brand chooses to grab attention by mentioning a problem that most pet parents face, cleaning the litter box. That’s how the brand instantly establishes a connection. Market research is what helps you understand that cleaning a cat litter box is a challenge for many pet parents. 

Kimp Tip: Once you know what the element of focus is, you need to establish the right hierarchy. In the above design, the color and size of the text sections ensure that the viewer quickly notices the most essential detail and then proceeds to read the solution presented. Finally, the product image imprints a visual message. Visual hierarchy is what makes this effortless navigation possible in the design. 

Identify the ideal client persona

Once your market research is done, once you know what the industry is like and the kind of standards your competitors have set, you then have to understand your target audience. Yes, you are targeting pet owners. But that’s a broad term. 

Pet owners can be segregated into various segments based on the kind of pet they own, the dietary preferences they have for their pets, and lifestyle factors too. For example, based on a survey, nearly 16% of pet owners in the U.S. prefer feeding their pet gourmet food and even subscription-based pet food. As you can see the market share is seemingly small. But these are niche audiences. So, if you choose the right product to promote to them and the right strategies, it makes a huge difference. 

You should know what motivates your customers to buy a particular product or choose a brand. You should understand their pain points, what kind of solutions they are looking for, and how your brand fits in this process. 

For example, the diet requirements and feeding challenges might not be the same even for two different fish varieties. Take a look at the below designs. Though they are for the same brand, and the products belong to the same category, the highlighted messages are different in the ads. 

At the first glance, they are all fish food, but the ideas behind the promotions are different. Such details are possible only if you clearly define your ideal customer personas and what they are looking for in pet food and pet care products. 

Having spoken about the two preliminary steps for pet brand marketing, let’s now get to the design part without further ado. 

Brand designs and marketing designs that every pet brand needs 

Ecommerce is projected to become the leading channel for the sale of pet care products by the year 2026. So, your brand’s online presence is not something you can take lightly. Even small local pet stores benefit a great deal from establishing an online presence. By opening an ecommerce channel to sell your services or products you are significantly expanding the revenue of your pet brand. 

But for all this, you need strong marketing designs and an even stronger brand identity. Because, yours might be the only pet store in your locality but on the internet, there are lots of them. So, for your customers to notice your brand through all the noise, you need to have brand visuals that impress them. And below are some marketing and branding visuals that get the ball rolling. 

A memorable pet logo to lay the foundation

Your pet logo should capture the attention of potential leads and tell your brand’s story to them. From the colors to the symbols and shapes, everything about your logo should resonate with what sets your brand apart. 

Are you a playful brand offering pet boarding services? Then vibrant colors capture the mood.  If you are a credible brand catering to pet healthcare perhaps stable colors like blue which are often associated with trust will make better choices. Or if your brand is about organic pet food, green and other colors indicating freshness will get the message across. 

Similarly, symbols like circles and hearts are more friendly and casual while squares can reflect trust. Adding pictures of pets is a common practice in a pet brand logo. You can give this a creative twist by creating a mascot for your brand and incorporating this into your logo. 

In the above design, the illustrations convey the kind of pets the brand caters to. And the cheerful palette, the expressions on the animal faces, and the shape of the logo keep the mood happy and approachable. Use similar visual cues that are not too difficult for your target audience to understand. Simple logos with a clear message are often more effective than complicated ones.

Create value through lead magnets and more 

Branding a pet brand should go beyond selling the products. There are many pet brands selling pet food and other items then what makes your brand special? Why should people choose your brand? When you focus on creating value, you are giving pet parents this reason to choose your brand. 

We spoke about market research and customer profiling earlier in this blog. Insights from those steps come in handy for this. Once you have identified who your customers are, put your social listening skills to good use. Understand what kind of information your customers are looking for and provide them with this information. Make your brand a go-to source for pet-related information. This can be through your blog or newsletter. Better yet, you can also create handy ebooks on various topics and these make brilliant lead magnets to grow your audience. 

In the case of local marketing, print designs like flyers and brochures that talk about essential information like pet food habits, training tips, and others add value to customers. They even preserve these flyers and brochures for future reference meaning that there is a better chance of brand recall and brand loyalty. 

Kimp Tip: Match the visual themes you choose for print and digital designs. You do not customers to feel lost when they visit your social media page after seeing a flyer. 

Finding it hard to even think about consistency with separate teams or designers handling your print and digital designs? Choose a Kimp subscription and all your designs will be in one place. 

Business cards to build trust  

Credibility is one of the most important traits that many pet parents look for in a pet brand. Most pet parents treat their pets like their own children. Naturally, they are very particular about the brands and products they choose. Any measure you take to build credibility is, therefore, a welcome step in pet brand marketing. 

Print designs like business cards are often seen as a mark of trustworthiness. Unlike most volatile digital ads, print ads and business cards are more long-term. They show customers that you are truly invested in your idea, in your pet business. And these work particularly well when you are targeting a local market. 

Kimp Tip: 

Like all your other marketing designs, your business card should also be a visual reminder of your brand’s unique traits. Your logo should definitely have a strong role to play. Other than this keep the design minimal. Add only the essential contact details, including your social media handle if required. 

Want to create business cards for your pet brand but don’t know where to start? Set up a call with the Kimp team today. 

Social media designs 

About 65% of pet parents love posting about their pets on their social media pages. A place where they talk about their pets a lot will definitely be a good place to promote products for their pets, don’t you agree? And what’s more, if they are happy with your products and the experience they might talk about your brand while they post about their pet too. Which means more free leads from your existing customers!

Petlebi, a Turkish online pet store made the most of Facebook advertising in the form of carousels, single-image ads, and video ads. These campaigns significantly helped boost its brand awareness, indicated by its 12-point increase in the brand lift parameter for ad recall. 

That’s just one of the many brands that have used social media to strengthen their branding efforts. Yours can join the list too, provided you have a strong social media strategy in place. 

Go beyond the usual – with outdoor ads, merchandise, and more 

Most brands have all the above-mentioned designs for immediate execution. But for a competitive space and when you need to show your brand’s authority in the market, you need to go beyond the usual. There are other creative marketing designs you can use for this purpose. 

Outdoor ads like billboards and vehicle wrap designs are great to build brand awareness among the local audience. They are effective in getting more people to notice your brand and ensure that your local audiences are exposed to your brand often. This familiarity these ads build can be very useful in the long run. 

Another kind of design you can use for brand memorability will be branded merchandise like stationery sets and more. For example, if customers who visit your pet store have your branded notepads in their homes, your brand stays in sight for a long time. This builds loyalty and increases the chances of your customers coming back to you even if new competition pops up. 

Give a proper shape to your pet brand marketing strategies with Kimp designs 

A lot goes into building a pet brand and brand identity and marketing designs hold a crucial spot in this process. So, with that sorted, things become so much simpler. Looking to give your pet brand a makeover or establish your new pet business in a competitive market? Work with the Kimp team for all your print and digital designs as well as videos for marketing. 

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