10 Pet Store Marketing Ideas That Customers Will Roll Over For

Welcome to Pet Store Marketing 101. Here’s a picture of a dog:

If only it were that simple.

Pet store marketing is more than just posting cute pictures of animals online – though that is pretty effective. It’s how you capitalize on your attention by turning views and impressions into clicks and purchases.

In this post, I’ll review 10 ideas for marketing your pet store this year. We’ll talk about why these strategies are successful and how you can adopt them for your small business.

1. Build a website.

Your website is your key to getting discovered online. While social media is great for engaging customers, a website gives them a place to find your business on search engines.

Search engines are the most common way that consumers discover businesses online. They use SERP features like Google Maps to research brands and directories like Yelp to review customer experiences at each company.

Connecting with customers is tougher if your business doesn’t have a website. Websites are like virtual addresses that search engines can direct users to.

The good news is building a website nowadays is fairly easy. In fact, I built one in just under a week. And, most small businesses only need a few landing pages – pages where people can book appointments, sign up for newsletters, or contact you directly. Plenty of services can build a landing page for you, or you can use a drag-and-drop builder like WordPress to do it yourself.

Here’s how I built my website in three (simplified) steps:

1. Get a domain name: Go to a site like GoDaddy or Bluehost. Here’s where you buy your domain name, which is essentially the name of your website.
2. Connect to your website builder: Once you have your domain name, connect that account to your website builder. Now, when you publish content, it’s posted on the Internet.
3. Design your web pages: Create a home page, a navigational menu, and any landing pages for your site. If you’re unsure what to make, look at a competitor’s website for inspiration.

Tools like ChatGPT can help with coding if you don’t have much web development experience. Your site doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should give customers an easy way to discover your company and learn more about your brand.

2. Post on social media.

20% of people use social media to discover new pet brands. They follow influencers like Nadia Lee and famous pets like Winnie the Staffy on Instagram and TikTok.

As a pet store owner, you have a huge advantage on social media. I dare you to scroll past this dog video without watching it at least two or three times.

@winnie.blueberry_

POV you own a Staffy 😂🐶 #fypage #fyp #cute #staffy #explorepage #puppy #viral #dogsoftiktok #staffordshirebullterrier #dogtrend #puppytiktok #foryou #animals #love #fypシ #petsoftiktok #funny #bluestaffy

♬ Baby Elephant Walk – Henry Mancini & His Orchestra

There are plenty of ways to create pet content that resonates with your target audience. You could provide pet care tips, showcase products, produce hilarious videos, or just show off some cuteness, like in the video below.

@houndcompanion

#cute #puppy missing their friend 🥰🥹 #dog #perros #perritos #lab #labrador #brownlab #foryoupage #fyp Credit: Instagram singernickt

♬ original sound – Hound Companion

3. Host an event.

If you want to get some more foot traffic in your store, you can host an event like a dog grooming seminar, training classes, or even a pet fashion show:

Note: We know this clip is from a movie, but I would personally be first in line to buy tickets to the cat fashion show. 

Here are a few other ideas to consider:

• Frisbee Catching Competition
• A Pool “Pawty”
• Treat Tasting

Whatever you choose, get your customers’ pets involved. People love their pets – and if the pet is signed up for your event, the person often has to be there, too. It’s a great way to establish a closer bond with customers and generate more revenue for your business.

4. Invest in online ads.

Online ads are everywhere. They’re on Google, YouTube, and any website that sells ad space.

33% of people click on online ads because they’re convenient or directly answer their questions. They’re also effective when customers are looking for specific products and are ready to buy soon. They’re searching for phrases like “pet stores near me ” or “where to buy X pet food?”

Google Ads helps you capitalize on these searches by creating ad campaigns for search results, email, YouTube, and more. You can customize how each ad looks and where it appears online or ask Google’s AI assistant to make these decisions for you.

I spun up this ad in about 2 minutes using Google’s AI Asset Generator.

Google can suggest how much money to spend on each ad and how to improve performance over time. You can rest easy knowing you’re spending the right amount on advertising while increasing the reach and visibility of your brand.

5. Create an email newsletter.

Email is also effective for communicating with customers. It doesn’t offer the same immediate feedback as social media might, but it does let you control exactly when your message is delivered.

An email newsletter is a great way to foster long-term engagement with customers. They can subscribe via your website or through a QR code in your store; then, you can send them monthly, weekly, or daily messages about your business.

Pro Tip: Give your customers the option of subscribing to different email frequencies. That way, you won’t bombard them with messages if they don’t want to receive them every day.

Like social media, there are many strategies you can use here. I would recommend focusing on educational content, dropping in a few promotional discounts, and sprinkling humor throughout. Give your followers tips on how to take care of their pets. Have them nominate their furry friends to be pet of the week, and give the winner a discount at your store. That will encourage other followers to nominate their pets and keep up with your email newsletter.

I would also recommend using an email automation tool. These tools make it easy to schedule and send emails and provide templates so you don’t have to rebuild the same message each time.

6. Respond to customer questions.

As a pet owner, I have a million questions. What food should I buy? Where are the best places to walk my dog? Why doesn’t my cat like me?

A lot of these questions can’t be answered by strangers on the Internet – especially when they’ve never met your pet.

But you’re in a position to provide expertise. While you shouldn’t offer veterinary advice (unless qualified to do so), you can talk about your products and services and what you’ve learned as a pet professional.

Consider hosting a Q&A session where you talk face-to-face with people who have questions about their pets. You can talk about products that offer a solution or tips to put their minds at ease. Networking events can establish you as a local expert, which will differentiate you from other pet stores in your area.

You can also participate in online forums like Reddit or DogForum.com. These sites build your credibility online and point potential customers back to your website.

7. Start a blog.

If you’re not sure what SEO is, it’s the process of getting your pages ranked on Google – and blogging is one of the most effective ways to do it.

Blogs build your authority. Google needs answers to give searchers, and blogs help provide them – whether that be educational content, entertainment, or whatever people are searching for. The more helpful your content is, the more Google will surface it in search results.

Here’s a quick example. Let’s Google “how to trim my dog’s nails.”

While your results may differ from mine, here are my search results:

You might be familiar with Chewy. It’s an online pet store that distributes products across the U.S. It uses its blog to rank for phrases like this one and to get discovered by people like me who don’t (well, didn’t, until I found this resource) have nail trimmers for my dog.

You don’t have to be a big brand like Chewy to rank on Google. You can use these tips to increase your search rankings as a small business.

8. Partner with other pet services.

Partnerships can increase your marketing reach by using the same amount of resources to promote to a large audience. Look for pet services like veterinarians or dog groomers who share potential customers with you. They’ll be good partners because they aren’t direct competitors but, they have the same target audience. Your ads are more likely to resonate with their customers and vice versa.

You can partner on in-person events or share each other’s content on social media. For example, if you partner with a dog groomer, you could invite them into your store to give on-the-spot haircuts and grooming services. If you partner with a vet, ask them to attend one of your Q&A sessions so they can give advice to people who are looking to consult a vet.

Partnerships are a great time to get creative. Be open to each other’s ideas, as that fresh perspective can lead to effective marketing campaigns.

9. Claim your business listings.

A local business listing looks like this:

It’s Google’s (or a directory’s) way of storing and sharing your business’s information with others. People can see where your business is, how to contact you, and what other people have said about your company.

Business listings are a key component of ranking on local search. Local search is SEO for specific areas – like Googling “pet stores near me” or “pet stores in X location.”  These searches are narrowed to a relative location and typically lead to people buying something from a store.

If you want your business to rank higher on local search, you need to claim your business listings on sites like Google, Yelp, and any other place where customers are leaving reviews for your company.

Pro Tip: An online listings management tool can help you claim and update your listings in one place.

10. Donate to charity.

Donating to your local ASPCA can be a great way to drum up some goodwill and attention for your business. Not only is it awesome to help out a local animal shelter, but it can also be a great way to promote your business.

You don’t even have to adopt a four-legged friend to bring some attention to your business (but we’re totally here for it if you do). Instead, you could donate much-needed items like collars, food, or other pet essentials, and take pictures of the pets you give them to. Then,, post those pictures on your social media page and tag the animal shelter in that post. You’re helping out animals in need while also showcasing a few of your products.

Sit. Stay. Roll Over. Do Marketing.

Training your marketing brain is like training a dog. You have to do it constantly, or things just won’t stick.

But, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Test out some of the strategies above and see what works for your business. Over time, you’ll develop the right blend of tactics and produce content that feels like a treat for the customer – and their pets.