#i will grow fruits and veggies and flowers for bees and hang out with my dog
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In my ‘I just want a fenced in garden to grow shit and hang out with my dog’ era
#zombie thoughts#seriously#i can't think of a single job i could do because human interaction is SO DRAINING for me#half an hour with even just one person makes me want to curl up under a blanket for the rest of the day#even if it's people i like! i like K! geddy likes K! and i like Mrs Upstairs! she's a very sweet lady! but human interaction is too much!!!#i thought bookbinding would be good but like... i'd have to complete an ausbildung and i'd probably end up in a factory#0/10 i do not want that#factories are too loud#why are there no autism friendly jobs#i want a kleingarten.#i will grow fruits and veggies and flowers for bees and hang out with my dog
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hi, i'm currently potted plant witching as well (just planted my first crop of veggie/herb/flower seeds & got some more containers & soil today for more planting this weekend) and i would love to know more about your garden this year; would you be willing to outline your plans? any special herbs or projects? Thanks!! <3 love your blog!
🌿🌿🌿 HYPERFIXATION ACTIVATED. 🌿🌿🌿
OH I HAVE SO MANY PLANS, LET ME TELL YOU.
This is the first year that Ragnar and I are doing actual work and sweat equity with the yard at our new place. Last year things were just too chaotic and we didn't have the time or the energy to do much of anything. We trimmed occasionally and I harvest some wild plants, but that was about it.
This year, it's Go Time.
Last weekend, I finally busted out the gorgeous barrel pots we got for Christmas and spent my April market earnings on potting soil, garden tools, and seedlings. When we lived in the apartment, I had a pretty hefty window garden with herbs and flowers and a few vegetables, so I'm eager to recreate that in an outdoor space where the plants can really thrive. (I mean, I grew cherry tomatoes and three kinds of peppers in 10" pots indoors and they got pretty big, so I can only imagine being outdoors will go even better with fresh air and rain and pollinators.)
The potted garden has Napoli tomatoes, poblano and cayenne peppers, green sage, and rosemary, along with something I've never tried growing before - blueberries! I'm planning to add additional pots and more herbs later on, but I felt like this was a really good start. If I can manage it, I want to grow a huge planter of nothing but spinach and sweet basil so I can make pesto this summer.
We've also started clearing and tilling a space out in the yard proper for a raised-bed garden. Nothing too big or ambitious, just something we can try some larger veggies in. We're hoping to try the Three Sisters model with hybrid corn, snap peas, green beans, and kabocha pumpkins. I was also hoping to put in napa cabbage, but there are quite a lot of slugs in the yard when it rains, so perhaps not. I'm toying with the idea of planting some late crops for fall and winter harvests as well. I have sugarplum visions of strings of peppers and braids of garlic hanging in our kitchen with many jars of preserves and sauce in the pantry.
We might also try some other fruits if things go well, maybe raspberries or grapes, but that's more of a Next Summer project. The fence and the ground around it needs some work first and we don't want to overdo things the first year. (I'd really love to put in a little serviceberry tree, but that might be pushing things a bit with regard to space.)
There's also a side garden that's in need of some TLC where I'm vaguely tossing around the idea of climbing flower vines (clematis or morning glory or trumpet flower maybe? something local) and maybe some ground cover in the form of periwinkle. There's also a downspout that really needs a rain barrel, so that's next on the list.
There are sections of the yard that we've deliberately left wild as well, hoping to encourage native plants and pollinators. The clover patches are massive and produce lots of four-leafers and blossoms, so the bees are having a field day. There's also wild dogbane sprouting up now that the vetchweed is cleared and wild plantain (aka white man's foot) starting to come in along the walkway. If I have my druthers, I'll be planting more wildflowers this summer.
Have some pictures and tell me about your garden!
#girlhalfburning#gardens#gardening#plants#green witchcraft#wildcrafting#Bree answers your inquiries#life and times of a cottage witch
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cottagecore (a loki fic)
Synopsis: Loki Prim leads a simple life. He owns the market down the street, and lives in the little cottage on Pickett Lane (no, not the one with the greenhouse, the one with all of the hens roaming around). He has a garden that he can't quite seem to manage, and a new next door neighbor who can't quite seem to manage much of anything.
What Loki doesn't know is that his neighbor isn't actually from Earth, and his memories aren't his own, but those of a man from Vermont. Nor is his name actually Loki Prim, but Loki Laufeyson-God of Mischief.
Erowyn is new to Stuartsville. . . and Earth. An esteemed sorceress on Asgard, she's been sent as Cas Bennet to keep watch over Loki Laufeyson-a war criminal (and literal god) who's had his powers drained and his memories wiped-as he unknowingly carries out his prison sentence on Midgard.
As a threat from Nilfheim hangs over the nine realms, it's up to Erowyn to protect Loki, should he need it, without getting too close. . . Which wouldn't be a problem, if the universe didn't seem to be pulling them together.
wattpad | ao3
chapter one - yard signs
Sundays were Loki's favorite day. He closed the market every Sunday to allow himself a day off, and those days were usually spent relaxing in the garden, tending to his fruits and veggies.
"Son of a bitch!"
Well, maybe gardening was not so relaxing.
Loki threw down his gloves and got to his feet, cursing whatever retched animal had the nerve to not only eat his strawberries, but completely trample the plants. He'd worked so hard to grow them, too.
With a dramatic sigh, he lifted a hand to run through his hair. A soft cluck came from beside him, and he shook his head at his smallest hen.
"I know, Henrietta. It's such a shame. At least the tomatoes seem unscathed, don't you think?"
Another soft cluck, but this time further away. Loki wiped his palms on his black jeans and turned to head inside, but what he saw stopped him in his tracks.
Just down the road, at the little stone house that had been on the market for months, a woman was struggling with the "for sale" sign. She looked to be about his age, with brown hair just past her shoulders and she was putting up a good fight, but it looked like the sign was winning.
He chuckled to himself and started off down the street, checking behind him to make sure that none of his hens were following.
"Norns!" She hissed, delivering a strong kick to the wooden post. "What the hell do they expect me to do with this?"
Loki waved as he stepped into the property, and the woman took an immediate step back. "Need some help?"
The silence hung in the air, each second more uncomfortable than the last as she just stared at him.
"I live just down there," He paused to point, "and I was working in my garden when I saw you fighting with the sign. If it counts for anything, I think you were winning." He flashed a smile, but she didn't budge.
"I'm Loki." He extended a hand and she jumped, as if just snapping back into reality. "And it looks like we're neighbors."
She shook his hand as if she was afraid of him, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to mask his own discomfort. He hoped he didn't look as put off by her presence as she did his.
"My name's Cas." She offered a fleeting, polite smile, tucking a tuft of hair behind her ear. "Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll just head inside."
"Are you sure? It should only take a moment."
Cas looked from Loki, to the sign, and back again. She visibly released a heavy sigh and nodded in defeat. "All right, I suppose I could use some help."
Loki grinned, taking the few steps over to the yard sign. He crouched down, and in one swift movement pulled the wooden post out of the ground.
"Where should I put it?" He asked, holding the sign tightly to his chest. It was a lot heavier than it looked from over there.
Cas spun on he heels, surveying the area. "I'm actually not sure, I haven't had a chance to see the property yet."
"You bought a house that you haven't—"
"I suppose you could lean it against the house, over here." She led him to the right side of the cottage, and Loki spared a glance into the backyard.
It was rather overgrown, with tens of bees buzzing happily from one cluster of bright flowers to the next. Her shed looked like it could fall apart at any moment, but it did have potential. . . He thought it would make a good henhouse. A little stone path shot off left of the shed, and it led to a greenhouse. He couldn't see inside past the vines clinging to the windows. Flower pots were scattered all over the property, and a yellow bike was lying abandoned in the bushes. The place looked good from the front, but it was actually a disaster.
"Nice place you've got here," Loki offered, "it's. . . Charming."
Cas eyed him and started up the porch stairs. "Thank you for your help."
"I'll see you around, Cas," he called out as she closed the door behind her.
#loki laufeyson#loki#loki fanfic#loki book#loki au#fluffy loki#domestic loki#cottagecore#mortal loki#strong female lead#original work#cottagecore series#avengers#marvel#thor#odinson#vermont#smut
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I want to live surrounded by the trees, but with an epic view of when the sun rises and sets. I want to live in a house that is filled with light, warm but covered in windows, plenty of plants, yet still plenty of wall space to hang my favorite pieces of art. I want a big bay window or or sunroom facing the garden we build. I want to have my house in the middle of a big open pasture, with a giant garden to the back of it, one with bee boxes, wildflowers and a small orchard, and plenty of fruits and veggies to feed my family and then some. I want to share responsibilities, I want to feel equality, I want to feel compromise and union. I want to have enough. I want to be ever grateful for the loving lap I lay my legs on, the shoulder I lay my head on, the hand that holds mine adoringly, protective arms around my shoulders, kisses commonplace and ever passionate, love and understanding.
I want to do good work. To wake up and begin my day with joy, to sip coffee, journal/write and paint, make my living from my artwork, to let my creativity flourish, to find my words and be able to express myself just as I feel it rather than always feeling at a loss for words. I want to wake up and not feel so much anxiety, to feel the rush of getting things done but not panic. To go out and see the bees, birds and butterflies enjoying the hard work we had done. To feel joy from hard work, and find rest and contentment.
I want to walk out into my garden on a beautiful sunny day, cut a bouquet or two of flowers, one for the table and one to give to someone who brightens my world, I want to feel love and understanding. I want calmness and patience, I want to be able to be alive and free and express myself however I truly need. I want to learn and teach, I want to answer curiosity with love, truth and humor. I want to hold and comfort, to soothe and to adore.
I want to smile, and feel so good doing it, I don't want to hide away my joy because of my insecurities. I want to tip my head back and laugh and not feel a care in the world. I want to feel soft and safe and blossom with love.
I want to grow with wisdom and humility. I want to lead with grace. I want to cry more for joy than for sorrow. I want to feel embraced and whole. I want to be enough. I want to achieve but through good work, I want to be humble and confident about my abilities.
I want to learn to love and love myself. I want to do good work on my self, to carefully love the person inside who has always been pushed aside, shushed and bullied. I want to make the woman inside thrive and feel empowered. I want to know that I deserve respect and not have to beg and plead or even ask for it but have it be given freely. I want to embrace the strength I've felt, I want to lead and to make positive change in my relationships. I want to be heard. I want to be listened to. I want to listen, I want to find beauty in so much, I understand there is darkness in the world but I want to bring out more of the light. I want to have endurance and be able to share that strength with others. I want to be a light in others life and to share and cherish so many wonderful and wholesome moments and experiences with my friends. I want to dream and have strong and study goals, to accomplish and make them happen. To be that person that motivates others to keep striving through hard times.
What I want for in the world, the list could be endless but truly what I want is love in all of its many forms
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Brian Minter: Plant, nurture and enjoy. Let’s get growing!
In case you missed it, the starting gun has been fired and the race is on in Canada to get our outdoor food and colour plantings underway as soon as possible. Admittedly, where we reside matters; folks living at higher elevations or in northern locales may need a little more patience. Once nighttime temperatures are consistently 10 C or higher, it’s time to set out acclimatized plants.
In mid-May, there are a few things in our favour, such as longer hours of daylight and warmer soil temperatures. We’re also going to get some spikes of heat that can really push our crops along. A little strategy, however, can make a big difference in terms of overall production. The ideal situation is to have a continuous food supply well into late summer and fall. This is where less is more.
Grow your favourite foods and, unless you’re planning on donating to local food banks, grow just enough to harvest what you will actually eat. This is especially true of the brassica family — broccoli, kale, cabbage and cauliflower. Unless you have a large family, three or four plants, planted every two weeks, is better than having a dozen plants mature all at once. Well-grown tomatoes should produce close to 20 pounds per plant, and zucchini is notorious for pumping out produce like a little machine, as does most summer squash, when only one or two are needed. ‘Just enough’ is a great strategy, and sequential plantings will ensure your production continues well into late summer.
Space is another issue. Today, many of us have limited space, and I’m thrilled when folks turn lawns into gardens. Another huge missed opportunity is not ‘growing up’. By using more trellises, tripods and even fences all through our gardens, pole beans, peas, cucumbers and indeterminate tomatoes will climb up to where it’s warmer and where the light and air circulation is better. Elevated growing allows us to take full advantage of the most productive areas in our gardens, and don’t be shy about maximizing height. I grow my beans on three-metre tripods made from bamboo stakes. I chuckled one day at seeing a chain-link fence in an old industrial area smothered with squash hanging along its full length.
Trellising, if secured, also works well in large containers. Today, many varieties of veggies and small fruits are bred specifically for container production. Lettuce blends, like Simply Salad City Garden, Patio Snacker cucumbers, dwarf sugar snap peas, all pepper plants, Tumbling Tom and Tumbler tomatoes, bush squash and everbearing strawberries are all suited for containers and larger hanging baskets. They’re also very productive and flavourful.
Perhaps larger growing plants, like corn and squash, should be given a new location on the perimeter of your garden, allowing for more high-density planting of smaller crops in the rest of your space.
Just a note about soils: Everything you grow is dependent on the quality of the soil. Don’t cheap out on your soil because it’s one of the most important assets of any garden. When buying bulk, make sure you get blended soil that is well-suited for both food and flower crops. Straight topsoil can be full of weeds, clay and the like; so, check it out before you purchase. For containers and top dressing, use professional soil mixes and add in quality compost, like mushroom or steer manures, as well as Sea Soil. Use your own compost too, as it’s full of beneficial bacteria.
Creating ideal growing conditions for our plants can also mean creating perfect conditions for attracting disease, insects, rodent and rabbits. The best advice I can give is to do a daily — not once a week — check on all your plants. Small numbers of any pests are easier to control than large infestations. Aphids, for example, can be easily washed off with water. Pesky caterpillars can be kept at bay with floating row covers, such as Remay cloth.
For the most benefit to your plants, when you water, do it in the morning as the temperature is on the rise. Make sure to keep the foliage dry at night. If you must water in the evening, water only the soil around your plants thoroughly and deeply but not the leaves.
If you need to spray, use organic Safer’s Soap and products like BTK (Bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring bacterium) as a preventive for larvae. Diatomaceous earth is really the only product still available to control sow bugs and other crawlers. You are your own best pest control — so be vigilant.
Birds also help to control insects, and bird baths are invaluable for attracting a broad range of birds to our gardens.
For all your colour gardening, choose annuals and perennials that attract pollinators. Today, you can buy pollinator seed mixes, but remember, it’s a succession of flowers that will keep bees and other friendly insects coming to your garden.
This year has brought unique challenges, and now our gardens are possibly more important than ever. We have four-to-five months ahead to make the most of them. So, plant, nurture and enjoy. Let’s get growing!
Brian Minter: Plant, nurture and enjoy. Let’s get growing! published first on https://weedkillerguide.tumblr.com/
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8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
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8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking
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Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
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Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
0 notes
Text
8 Ways to Champion Animals in Your Local Business Marketing Strategy
Image credit: Yoshihide Nomura
If you’ve ever had the privilege of being present for a baby’s first joyful encounter with a household pet, you’ll have noticed the profound wonder and excitement of the little one’s reaction. Once upon a time, that was each of us beaming and bouncing up and down with the thrill of meeting our first dog or cat.
Don’t lose that joy — be like these Canadian women watching whales from their garden:
youtube
From our earliest days, most of us have simply loved animals. We fill children’s books with tales of them and choose them as life companions. In many cultures, animals are sources of sacred power, and in all parts of the world, wildlife is absolutely essential to balanced ecosystems.
67% of American households now include pets — that’s the majority of your consumer base signalling just how much animals matter to them. When local business owners and marketers communicate with most customers about animals, shared affinity is ready-built into the exchange, drawing on feelings of warmth, admiration, responsibility, concern, and happiness. These dearly-held sentiments can be sturdy building blocks of benefit for other-than-human creatures, communities, and your business. This is deeply good marketing, which can yield personal satisfaction, press, links, citations, loyalty, and positive social change.
Today, we’ll consider eight options for honoring the love both you and your customers have in common when it comes to animals, plus tips for weaving your efforts into your local business marketing strategy.
All animal-centric activities, great and small
Almost any local business will find one or more actionable ideas here to demonstrate care for animals.
1. Expand your welcome to customers’ pets
Where local health codes and business models permit, make provisions for pets at your place of business. Before the pandemic, dog-friendly dining patios, water stations, lodgings, and shopping center-based dog parks were on the rise and can return once safety does. Put a bowl of dog treats outside your storefront to make your business a memorable highlight of neighbors’ daily dog walks, keep a stash of them behind the counter if pets are permitted indoors, and take note of the dairy delivery drivers who toss snacks to dogs when bringing groceries to customers in the pacific northwest.
A kiosk of free doggy cleanup bags could be a draw to your door and a boon to the neighborhood. Bring customers inside when it’s safe again to do so with a feature wall of local pet photos. Hold contests that center pets or feature pet-centric prizes, or host a pet-based event. Meanwhile, if your business is located in a neighborhood far from large pet supply stores, consider whether a pet section makes sense in your inventory.
2. Make a place for staff pets
Image credit: Groupon
Every year, new studies are published indicating that when pets interact with people, humans benefit from lowered cortisol and blood pressure levels and a variety of improvements in states of whole body well-being. As a shopper, I can say that my household loves visiting businesses with resident pets. Prior to stay-at-home orders, some of our most memorable shopping excursions were to the nursery with the noble-looking Australian shepards, the craft store with the little terriers, and the farm stand with the dachshunds. To-do lists sounded like this:
“We need to buy mulch. Oh, and we’ll get to see Pushkin the little red dog!”
Companies are always seeking out methods of creating memorable experiences, and friendly cats and dogs on-site can be instant magic in this regard.
At Moz, even before we were working remotely, honored staff pets added calm and pleasure to company meetings, with an established policy for animal etiquette and safety practices Mozzers agreed to in order to bring their companions to the office. Even at companies that can’t have animals on the premises as a regular thing, bring-your-pet-to-work days can signal to staff that a brand is sensitive to work/life balance once it becomes safe again for people to return to offices. Evaluate how a company you’re marketing might safely incorporate animal companions into the workplace for the happiness of both staff and customers.
3. Expand your welcome to wildlife
Image credit: Theresa_Gunn
Many businesses have the space to hang a bird feeder and water dish or set up a bird bath. Nesting boxes for birds and bats are small and can be fitted into all sorts of nooks and eaves around your building in any spot where droppings won’t be a nuisance.
If your business is lucky enough to have the space, planter boxes can provide flowers, fruit, seeds, nectar, pollen, and nesting materials for birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.. Call a local nursery to ask which native plants will fit in your containers and support winged visitors. If you have more space and can plant a hedge, you’ll be making a home for many types of birds and insects, and may even offer protection to rabbits, raccoons, possums, and other small animals.
Well-planned Main Streets and shopping districts can provide more than just sidewalks for humans and streets for cars — they can be places where hummingbirds sip from flower to flower, bees gather pollen, butterflies migrate, and herbivores find forage. Take your seat at city planning meetings and become an advocate for green space in commercial areas, bird-friendly windows, accessible waterways, and other ecological development strategies.
4. Sponsor wildlife crossings, corridor, and rescue programs
Millions of domestic and native animals lose their lives on our roads every year, but wildlife corridors that create safe roaming paths through fragmented areas can reduce animal-related car accidents by as much as 80%. If your heart sinks every time you see a dead animal on the highway, talk to your city council about planning wildlife crossings and corridors in your community and then either help build them or have your brand sponsor their construction. Extra credit to you if you can get your customers involved, too.
Meanwhile, if you’ve ever had to call a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation number after encountering an injured animal on the road, having a bird stun itself by crashing into a window, or finding unfledged nestlings on the ground, you know what a lifeline these programs can be. Do some research on agencies and groups in your community that contribute this vital work and offer volunteer hours or financial support.
5. Sponsor guide dog and companion animal programs
Image credit: Zelda Richardson
Dogs that act as the guides, protectors, and friends of differently-abled people are heroes, and it takes a great deal of care, time, and money to train them for their work. Additionally, many communities have programs that bring pets to children’s hospitals, elder care homes, and other centers for the important benefits humans can experience just from interacting with a loving, friendly animal.
If you’re looking for a sponsorship opportunity that can make a world of difference in people’s everyday lives, research these types of programs and volunteer or sponsor them.
6. Sponsor no-kill animal shelters
When animal lovers seek pet adoption, many insist on visiting only no-kill shelters in order to make a statement consistent with their humane values and to avoid the trauma of having to choose among animals who may be killed if not brought home.
If your region has a no-kill shelter, it’s not only a good thing to contribute to, but can also be a source of fostering community goodwill when you allow these programs to place donation jars at registers.
7. Offer plant-based and cruelty-free options
There’s a reason even fast-food franchises are offering veggie burgers now, and I see the source of it in my own family where 65% of the young people are vegetarians or vegans. Meanwhile, nearly all of them actively seek out self-care products labeled as cruelty-free.
Even if your business isn’t staffed by herbivores or animal rights activists, you can include them in the welcome you’re building so that all community members have something to eat, drink, and purchase. Nielsen found in 2018 that 39% of Americans are upping the amount of plant-based dishes in their diets, and it’s my belief that these numbers will continue to rise. Now is the time to be sure you’re not overlooking this growing consumer base who will reward your care for their needs with patronage.
8. Protect water
Image credit: Mark Giuliucci
If a deep regard for animals is shared by your company and customers, there is likely no better cause to support than the protection of all forms of water, on which we all depend for life. Cleaning up and defending the future of streams, rivers, ponds, wetlands, lakes, and oceans is challenging, vital work for us all.
Take an active role, and invite customers to learn and change with you, in removing pollutants and plastics from water sources, abandoning oil pipelines in favor of green energy, replacing forever-products with biodegradable ones, replacing many ecologically-disastrous man-made dams with biodiverse beaver dam habitat, encouraging local water boards to include Indigenous leadership in sustainable community planning, protecting remaining wetlands from development, and providing safe drinking water to all communities.
Be a vocal advocate for very good reasons
Image credit: Tim Sackton.
In some cultures and faiths, acts of private charity and kindness are meant to be kept secret. At a corporate level, though, social good can be exponentially expanded when brands are willing to take public stands on matters of conscience. The larger your business, the louder your voice inviting participation in works and causes that honor animals.
Once you’ve determined how you’ll be incorporating care for other creatures into your business plan, here are 10 ways to get the word out to the community you serve:
Publish optimized website content, based on keyword research and community interest, to explain your brand’s animal-centric activities.
Ask the organizations you support to interview someone at your company to explain why your staff/customers are volunteering/donating to this particularly worthy cause. These groups will also likely be looking for content opportunities. Volunteering to be the subject of an interview can expand their reach and hopefully deliver a good link or two to your website, as well.
Reach out to local reporters to let them know that this is an angle of your business operations that the public might enjoy reading about; we could all use some good news these days in the local paper!
If appropriate, get unstructured citations on local blogs or structured citations on specialty directories. For example, HappyCow.net offers a directory of restaurants where plant-based diners can find a meal.
If appropriate, create image and video content about company pets, wildlife stewardship, and local ecological efforts, demonstrating your business’s participation and inviting customers to enjoy taking part.
Promote content that you and others have published about your activities on your social media channels.
Partner with other local business owners with similar policies and programs to share work and send customers to one another.
Write some animal-centric Google posts on your Google Business Profile
Assess whether Google My Business Categories or attributes could be added to your listing to represent animal-related features of your business.
Add photos of staff pets or wildlife features at your location to your GMB listing if they add to the welcoming ambiance of your place of business.
Wag more
youtube
Watch the above video by a local business and you’ll see how almost any company can make memorable, emotional connections with the people they serve thanks to a widely-shared love of animals. Actions that celebrate, rather than exploit, our animal relations surely fall under the phenomenon of kindness as currency with multiple studies showing how people are more apt to act with generosity of spirit when they see others do so.
When you’re tasked with marketing, you’re always looking for that extra reason to be chosen by customers. 73% of people say they care about the company they buy from, not just the product. The furry paw poised on your knee right now, the purr emanating from behind your laptop, the songs of birds outside your window could be calling you to connect with customers in an authentic new way, over your joint, abiding care for animals. These days, who wouldn’t welcome a chance to wag more?
Looking for more authentic local search marketing tips to make your community a better place to live and work? Read The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide.
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