Design your dog walking website and logo.
Having a business website is one of the easiest ways to establish that you are a professional, and your dog walking services can be trusted. Plus, building a website is relatively easy these days, thanks to website builders like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. Here’s what to include:
Design a logo for your dog walking business, too. This will come in handy for tip #11, when you order promotional products.
Begin dropping off dog walking fliers 6 weeks in advance.
I don’t mean you hang one flier at a vet’s office.
I mean you make a list of 40 pet-related businesses in your coverage area and take a day or two to drive around handing these out and introducing yourself.
Visit places like veterinarians, grooming shops, pet-supplies stores, dog training facilities, dog parks, humane societies, other animal shelters and spay/neuter clinics.
If there aren’t 40 pet businesses, then start going to other places like grocery stores, coffee shops, libraries, hospitals and churches. Ask friends if they’d be willing to hang a flier in their breakrooms. Think hospitals, schools, tech companies, etc.
Repeat this once a month for three or four months. Make sure to include your phone number and email and mention they can call or text.
Stick out on social media.
Social media can feel like a drag sometimes. If you’re gonna use it, you really have to go in and be consistent. That doesn’t mean you have to show up every single day post multiple times. It means you need to schedule and strategize and show up when customers expect you to show up.
Also, what are you doing to stand out from your competitors? Make sure you’re posting different types of content. You can post video content because it’s much more engaging, and also use special social media features, like “polls” on Facebook and Instagram.
HINT: That’s a great way to hear directly from your audience. What are they looking for? It doesn’t always have to serious, make it fun too! Ask your followers who caught the ball first OR how many times you think he pooed. 😉 They’re animal lovers, after all!
How to Get Pet Sitting and Dog Walking Clients! Marketing Guide for Pet Businesses
Advertising your dog business will take more than just putting up posters all over the streets. You need to use modern marketing techniques to make your dog walking adverts work. Online advertising might sound new and challenging, but it will be effortless once you get the hang of it. There are several ways of launching your dog walking adverts. Lets check out these ways.
Today, having a website for a small business is very important to make people aware of your business. You need to have a website that encapsulates everything about your dog walking business. With a website, you create a digital space where you can post anything and everything about your business. You can use the space to launch new dog walking adverts or educate dog owners on dog walking and exercise benefits. You can get a designer on board who can help you with your website, or you can have a look at some YouTube tutorials and create your website on WordPress.
A Facebook page is a great way to conduct business. A Facebook page is much more than a social media entity. You can even sell your products and services on a Facebook page. You can also manage multiple dogs walking communities and launch several dogs walking adverts using a Facebook page. Therefore, it would be in great interest of your business if you create one. You can also add your email address and your contact number so that your prospective clients can reach out to you for your services without any hassle. Also, you must add a call to action to all of your posts.
Social media presence is a must for every modern age business. You can create dog walking adverts in the form of posts and videos and then share them on all of your social media handles. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc., have a vast user base, and if you want to tap into such a broad audience, you need to have a decent social media presence. You can also create small communities on these platforms to bring dog owners and dog walkers together, hence boosting your business. A lot of companies go overboard with social media. Therefore, you must think of a social media strategy and start posting on your social media channels. Your posts could be a mix of dog walking adverts and informative snips about dogs.
As a dog walking business, you need to surround yourself and connect with like-minded businesses. You can get into a partnership with a dog grooming business or any business that involves pets. You can launch a giveaway in collaboration with any of these brands. You can also offer free services like a dog walking session that will improve the visibility of your business. When you partner with a brand, the whole idea is to gain the viewership of the people who follow that other brand. Therefore, a partnership can be mutually beneficial as both businesses get something.
Blogs can be an excellent resource for your business. They can act as the go-to material for all of your followers and your potential clients. Just launching your dog walking adverts is not enough. It would help if you educated people, and you should try to be a business that answers all the queries that people might have. Blogs add value to your business. However, blogs are not just limited to being resources on your website. They can improve your SEO to a great extent, improving your searchability and ranking you higher on Google searches. You can also use blogs to bust myths about dog walking and other related activities.
Though a traditional method, flyers tend to work well if you have a dog walking business. You can print your dog walking adverts and let them float across the city so that people start noticing your business. People getting into busier lifestyles are constantly looking for people who can help them take their dogs out on a walk.
Flyers can be promotional or instructional, simply listing your services and contact information. If youre a pet sitter, you might have a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on your flyer to make it more interesting.
A dog walker could create a flyer with information about canine health and the significance of regular exercise for dogs. You want the flyer to provide value to whoever reads it and encourage potential clients to contact you. You can conduct a letterbox drop, put it in a nearby park, place it in local shop windows, stick one in your car window, and urge friends to do the same when distributing your flyers.
It is crucial for your dog walking business to be seen. When you launch your dog walking adverts, you need to place them in the right place online. Therefore, you should develop a strategy to use online resources and increase the presence of your business. Make sure that your business is listed on all the right places like Google, Bing, etc. Only when you have an excellent online presence will you be able to create an impact on your business. You can set up your business with the help of Google My Business and add all your contact details and every other related information.