Why Your Pet Sitting business Needs A Marketing Plan

Business is comprised of two essential facts…innovation and marketing …. and it just so happens they go hand in hand.

Marketing keeps you in touch with your customers. It lets you know what their problems are, it informs you about what they respond to and what they don’t and it tells you and what they need and want from you.

Innovation is a direct result of this consistent communication, a.k.a. marketing, with your customers.

Marketing is again needed to communicate your innovation, your new products and pet sitting services to your customers. It’s a beautiful circle which feeds on itself and provides consistently informative and inspirational information. nn- Marketing keeps you in touch with your customers.
- Marketing lets you know what your competition is doing.
- Marketing means you’re focused on success.

So what does marketing entail?

There are actually more marketing tools than you can possibly imagine. The first thing that comes to mind for many is a simple business card. Marketing encompasses all those brochures, flyers, and print media which informs people about your pet sitting business but it is more than that.

Marketing is also advertising.

Marketing is email messages to your customers

Marketing is your blog comments and posts in online forums

Marketing is your affiliation with your local small business association or shaking hands at the high school basketball game and telling people what you do for a living.

Marketing is asking your customers if they’re happy with your product or service.

Marketing is “How can I help you?”

With marketing encompassing so much, the question is, how can you afford to not have a pet sitting business marketing plan.

The word “Plan” perhaps scares many pet sitting business owners. Much like the word “budget” however a plan is simply an outline of what you’re going to do, when you’re going to do it and how you’re going to do it. Think of it as an extensive task list. When you have a task list for the day you can systematically check items off your list. It makes you more efficient and productive. A marketing plan does the same thing. Without it, you’re simply winging it and not making the most of each marketing effort.

Here’s how to get started with a pet sitting business marketing plan.

Step One: Build an opt-in list. An opt-in list is simply an organized list of contacts, customers, and people who have expressed an interest in your business. You can build one by giving something away in exchange for an email address. Options include information, coupons, and actual products. Bath and Bodyworks created the largest specialty retail list in history, 10 million email addresses, by giving away free lip-gloss.

Step Two: Come up with ideas on how to market your opt-in list offer. The key here is to build your list.

Step Three: Now that you have an opt-in list, how are you going to communicate to them? Newsletter? Email messages? Blog posts? A combination of things? Decide what information would be valuable to your audience and give it to them. For the pet sitting business this could be anything from pet care to pet rescue, grooming, feeding, veterinary care, training and so on. The list is endless.

Step Four: Come up with your promotions for the year. Maybe you’re going to run a special each month or each quarter. How are you going to communicate those promotions?

Step Five: Create an action plan. What do you need to make each marketing goal successful?

There you have it – a marketing plan. Easier than a budget and laid out so you can take action rather than waiting for customers to come to you. The good news…your pet sitting business marketing plan isn’t set in stone. As your pet sitting business changes you can grab that eraser and revise your plan. nn