Producing press releases is a strategic move that can result in getting your business more exposure in your community and can lead to greater name recognition, new customers, and ultimately more revenue! Think of press releases as short articles you write about your business so that reporters, bloggers, and other editorial writers can learn about you and potentially feature you in their publication. If you have a place on your website to load your press releases, they can also increase credibility with new customers who visit your site.
In a press release, you share news about your business. It is important to ask yourself why a pet business professional would be interested in this story and why pet owners would be interested. Your press release should be able to answer both of these questions so that you can appeal to both potential customers and business partners. If possible, it is always a good idea to provide evidential support and to try to quantify your evidence with statistics.
Having a hard time coming up with what to write about? Here are 6 press release topics that pet owners will be interested in:
Questions to Ask Yourself:
How has your business been involved with the local community?
Are you going to be holding events at your business, park, etc.?
Will you be working with other pet businesses to make the event happen?
Does your business sponsor animal charities? How much have you raised?
Is this something that will be done once or will it be reoccurring due to the success it generated?
Questions to Ask Yourself:
Is the reason you started your pet business a direct result of your love for animals?
Have you worked with rescue and foster dogs? When and for how long? What were the results?
How many dogs have you helped outside your business? What kinds of dogs? (i.e. aging, sick, homeless)
Having a hard time coming up with what to write about? Here are 6 press release topics that pet owners will be interested in:
1. Business to Community Relations
It is likely that you are already heavily involved in the non-profit pet community in your area. Getting your business involved with the pet community will garner a lot of attention from the local dog owners. If you plan to host an event to bring the community together, use a press release to advertise to potential customers and invite local newspapers to come out to cover it. If the event recently happened, then pitch a story about the success of it and if you plan to do more events in the future.Questions to Ask Yourself:
How has your business been involved with the local community?
Are you going to be holding events at your business, park, etc.?
Will you be working with other pet businesses to make the event happen?
Does your business sponsor animal charities? How much have you raised?
Is this something that will be done once or will it be reoccurring due to the success it generated?
2. Passion for Pets
Have you noticed that several pet videos and news pieces that go viral feature heart-warming stories or pet owners who are just playing around with their dogs? People are interested in stories that spark emotion and are relatable. Pet owners want to know who they are leaving their pets with and why you as a pet care professional are trustworthy. If you have a personal story that will be compelling to your pet loving audience, then tell it to them! Passion for your job and animals equals a reliable pet care provider in a customer’s eyes.Questions to Ask Yourself:
Is the reason you started your pet business a direct result of your love for animals?
Have you worked with rescue and foster dogs? When and for how long? What were the results?
How many dogs have you helped outside your business? What kinds of dogs? (i.e. aging, sick, homeless)
3. Excellent Health Ratings
Unique safety protocols like an electronic food & medicine charting system or the Pet Health Record in your kennel management software would be a great feature to tell your customers about! They like to know that they are paying for their pets to stay at an A-list facility and will be interested in how your business goes above and beyond to keep your facility clean and dog-safe. If your health rating is higher than average and you have customers that can attest to this, a press release is a great opportunity to show off your outstanding work!Questions to Ask Yourself:
Are there certifications you’ve earned?
Do you train your employees in first aid?
What is your health rating compared to the average facility health rating?
Do dogs tend to leave your facility in better health than when they arrived?
4. New Partnership
Clients love to hear about their favorite businesses pairing up. Make a list of services you DO NOT provide. This will give you an idea on whom you should be networking with. Do your research! Figure out who the most reputable pet service providers are in your area and make friends with them. For more tips on developing new partnerships, read our article: 6 Ways for Pet Businesses to Increase Their Referral Network.Questions to Ask Yourself:
Have you recently partnered with another local business?
Which of your pet professional contacts are you likely to recommend to your clients?
Whom have you not partnered with? (i.e. pet photographers, funeral services, groomers, trainers, dog authors)
Questions to Ask Yourself:
Have you received recognition over the internet for your services or website?
Have you received an award or certification as a local business?
Can you boast top performance records in areas like health ratings, customer satisfaction, or employee satisfaction?
Questions to Ask Yourself:
Do you have a new facility opening? Where and why did you choose this location?
Do you have a new product line coming out?
Are you upgrading the equipment in your facility? Will this mean that clients will be getting new services?
Which of your pet professional contacts are you likely to recommend to your clients?
Whom have you not partnered with? (i.e. pet photographers, funeral services, groomers, trainers, dog authors)
5. Award Recognition
Awards are given out for almost anything these days. Look up different awards that are achievable. For example, here in the Bay Area, there is an Annual “Best of the Bay” business award hosted by a local paper; there are categories for best pet groomer and best dog walker. See if there are any publications or organizations where your business could be considered. Sometimes you need to sign up to compete or be nominated for awards. Don’t sell yourself short. If you have loyal customers who would happily nominate you, then let them know that you would like to be in the running! If you make it as a nominee, rally customers to vote for you. Even if you don’t win, it is newsworthy that you were nominated. And if you do win, it is worth big kudos!Questions to Ask Yourself:
Have you received recognition over the internet for your services or website?
Have you received an award or certification as a local business?
Can you boast top performance records in areas like health ratings, customer satisfaction, or employee satisfaction?
6. Upgrading Your Facility
Press releases thrive on what’s new and upcoming! Share your excitement about upgrading your facility with your clients. This could be about a new location that is opening up or boost your reputation on your already successful location.Questions to Ask Yourself:
Do you have a new facility opening? Where and why did you choose this location?
Do you have a new product line coming out?
Are you upgrading the equipment in your facility? Will this mean that clients will be getting new services?
Get started NOW!
If you need help getting your press release thoughts together, check out our article How to Get from Idea to Press Release: A Step-by-Step Process. It breaks down the writing process into simple steps.
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