Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a place where pet care professionals could go to engage with their peers and other industry experts, brainstorm ideas, ask questions and share best practices on things like operations, customer service, marketing, and staffing? Well, there is and that place is one of the world’s leading social networks – LinkedIn.

If you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, it’s time. Linked in hosts over 70,000 pet care professionals who have already formed hundreds of pet industry specific groups. Still need to be convinced? Below are 8 reasons for you to dedicate time each week to LinkedIn.

1. LinkedIn is a professional space that can enhance your credibility as an industry authority.

We all can recognize the benefits of getting press coverage – it is common these days for pet magazine editors and reports to go to a company’s business page or an business owners personal profile to assess the credibility of that business and/or person. Having an updated and professional LinkedIn profile opens the door for opportunities to have your business featured.

Additionally, by having a LinkedIn presence you will have access to reach out to pet magazine editors and other industry writers. There are also many opportunities to publicize your subject matter expertise though your online resume and by engaging in group discussions and showcasing your writing to pet industry bloggers for a chance to be featured as a guest writer on their websites.

2. LinkedIn promotes your business and drives traffic back to your website.

On LinkedIn, you will have two pages: your personal page and your business page. Both can be optimized by adding backlinks that will boost your SEO. When you are connected to bloggers, you also have the opportunity to add backlinks on your guest posts. Targeted keywords that are placed strategically throughout your profile will also increase your chance of being placed at the top of LinkedIn’s search engine. The more credible and connected you are on social networks, the more credible search engine sites like Google and Yahoo will think you are.

3. LinkedIn expands your network of Pet Care Professionals.

LinkedIn gives you access to networking with the best in the industry. After you have identified professionals that you want to contact or partner with, LinkedIn “connects” the two of you, which then gives you access to their profile and updates. This makes it easier to keep in contact, to see what information and articles your peers are sharing, and easily look up each other’s updated business information.

LinkedIn basically replaces that old stack of business cards and ensures sure you have the most up-to-date contact information about your network. If you use LinkedIn Premium, you are able to add notes about how and when you met your contacts through a profile organizer and be able to see the profiles of 3rd party connections.

4. LinkedIn helps you to keep an eye on your competition.

LinkedIn makes it easy to monitor your competition’s pages. Join groups that competing businesses have joined and you will receive updates on their posts, but remember, they will be able to see what you post as well. Observe how they operate by keeping an eye on how they interact with their clients and what new promotions and services they are marketing. See what works and what doesn’t by evaluating the feedback they receive from other pet industry professionals.

5. LinkedIn helps you build stronger bonds with your clients.

It will probably be interesting for you to see what your clients do for their day job and also provides you with an opportunity for relationship building with them. You will get notifications of when they change jobs, celebrate a work anniversary or get a promotion! Imagine the customer loyalty you build when a client comes in to pick up their dog and you are able to congratulate them on a recent promotion. Or take it a step further and make them congratulations goodie bag or banner and you will have a customer for life!

You will also want to see what other pet businesses your clients are interested in. Take the hints and network with these businesses. If your networking is successful, use LinkedIn status updates to make announcements to your networks of clients and colleagues that you have new business partners. Your customers will like to see that you are playing well with brands that they love.

6. LinkedIn can keep you up to date with pet industry news.

This is one of the strongest benefits of LinkedIn. Other pet care professionals contribute articles, product reviews and tips in user groups. You can search and scan the archives for helpful business and marketing tips. Actively contributing by posting original content and answering questions with personal experience provides good karma and can persuade potential business partners to look at your LinkedIn profile and reach out to you.

One topic that you already have expertise in is cloud-based kennel software. You can also get feedback on dilemmas and questions you have. Just make sure to say thank you when people give you advice.

7. LinkedIn can round out your pet industry perspective.

Joining these groups can help you gain new perspective on how things are done outside of your local community. Solicit the best business practices from other professionals and learn new ways to differentiate yourself from your local competition and attract new canine clients!

HOT TIP: When you travel, we know you will probably want to stop by and visit facilities to check out how other people are operating and get fresh ideas. Use LinkedIn to connect with other facility owners and set up your plans in advance. Along the way, you might make connections with other pet business owners and start long-term professional relationships.

8. LinkedIn allows connections to engage with your profile.

Your connections are encouraged to endorse your skill sets and write recommendations about you that will be featured on your profile. Colleagues and clients post the recommendations as a viewable testimonials on your page (unlike Facebook where testimonials travel to the bottom of the page and are pushed aside by new status updates).

LinkedIn Statistics

Best times to post: 7-8:30am, 5-6pm
238 million users
Average visitor spends 17 minutes on LinkedIn each times they visit

Here are a few LinkedIn groups to get you started:
Pet Industry Professionals

Pet Business Networking Group
Pet-Acular PR and Marketing to Reach Pet Lovers and Businesses
Pet Business Forum
Pet Industry International

LinkedIn is a tool for developing your business’ brand, relationships, and reputation. With it, you as a pet care professional will be able to build your industry credibility, manage your network, expand the reach of your brand, and stay current with pet industry news. We recommend you include this platform in your social media marketing and business growth strategy!

Want tips on other leading social networks? Read our post: 5 Leading Social Media Networks Pet Professionals Care About.

Throw Us a Bone!

How has LinkedIn helped your pet business? How do you use LinkedIn? Please share your thoughts!


Gil C / Shutterstock.com