438: Don’t Stop Believing…in Marketing
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What should you do with your marketing during a busy period? While it may be tempting to take your foot off the gas, we think it’s the perfect time to keep going! Running your messaging year round will help develop brand awareness and even out the ups and downs that come with running a dog walking and pet sitting business. We break down the reason stopping marketing during busy periods can hurt your business, and the kinds of messaging to focus on to get the right clients once the slowdown comes. As always though, find a balance in your own life and business that works best for you.
Main topics:
Busy seasons
Why not stop
Relevant messaging
Keep your momentum
Find balance
Main takeaway: Instead of stopping your messaging, change what you’re saying to still stay top of mind.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
busy, clients, business, pet sitters, talking, pet, people, marketing, content, year, post, potential clients, social media, dogs, continue, engagement, important, market, holidays, services
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin Funkhouser
Meghan 00:02
Welcome to pet sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter
Collin Funkhouser 00:05
that you do pets or associates and our wonderful patrons for supporting today's show. If you'd like to learn more about what it means to support us, you can go to pets over professional.com/support. With
Meghan 00:16
the holidays approaching, it is a very easy to get busy we are, we're about six weeks left to the end of the year. And sometimes we can forget about our marketing, whether it's social media advertising, you just you don't want to do that anymore, because you're too busy or you forget about it, or it's not a big priority for you, it could also be handing out flyers and going to local businesses to connect with them. That takes a lot of time that boots on the ground marketing. And sometimes we just don't want to don't want to deal with other people. It's also very easy to get busy and forget to do the weekly blog. I think last week we we had to reuse a blog that we had previously the previous year because we were so busy. It all it's also easy to forget about your email newsletter, if it goes out every week or every month, it's hard to be intentional about these things. When we are so busy, it's easy to check out from now until January 2 or third, you know, for the next six weeks. But I would challenge you, we would challenge you not to do that. And we're gonna talk about a few reasons why the first one being more people are at home looking at their phones, it's kind of like what we experienced during COVID of businesses brought people home, they were looking at their phones just scrolling and needing content to look at. So yes, people are busy during this time, the Black Friday shopping and just shopping for Christmas presents in general, or it could be them doing leisure activities that they're not normally able to do. But they're taking more time off during the holiday season than usual. So they will be likely on their phones more. So get in there digital and physical spaces continue to push, it is hard to do because you're so busy, you are potentially worn down, you've got a lot of clients going from 7am to 10pm, or whatever your hours are. You have all the admin that's stuff that does not stop during the holidays, you are busier in the field, but you still have the admin stuff that you have to be doing. You have to do the scheduling, working on route planning all of these things that it takes to run this pet sitting business. But you need to continue to push your marketing forward, because January and February will be here before we know it. And while it's tempting to really put our head down for these last six weeks of the year and power through, you really do need to continue to stay top of mind because those slow months are coming there you have the beginning of the year we experienced those, probably you do too. Now if you cater to snowbirds, and you are in the southern states of the United States, your busy season may continue past the holidays. But for the majority of us, it usually slows down in January and February and then ramps back up with spring break in March. And
Collin Funkhouser 02:45
whether part of that marketing messaging is involved with like what we talked about in episode 434, about offering a more affordable option. And not saying that you have to do that or that it is the right thing to do right now or even during the holidays. But it may be something to start putting out there, especially to start in the new year that is a more affordable a new service to try and build interest for that. And then also, this is all tying in a little bit between our episode 436 as well where we talked about sales, activation and our more long term brand marketing and really pushing those two things together to find that balance as we swing back and forth from one of them to the other. Because as Megan, you mentioned, this is all about maintaining our brand visibility, our consistent marketing allows us it keeps us and our brand our businesses top of mind, when we stop marketing, our business can quickly fade from the public awareness, it quickly disappears from relevancy, making it harder to recapture their attention when we need it. Basically, once you have that machine up and running, as people understand who you are, they remember where you're where they last saw you what your brand colors stand for. When that disappears for a certain period of time. It's like it never existed. So you pop back up in January or February trying to market during this time. It's already too late because they've already forgotten and you've got to redo all of that work.
Meghan 04:07
Yeah, I believe it was Miguel Rodriguez with city dog pack up in New York that had talked about this on his episode that you interviewed him on. He said, he continues to do the marketing, even during the busy times because that's when not a lot of people are actually doing the marketing and getting out there. It's only during the slow times where there's a glut of people saying yes, I will walk your dog, I will pet it for you not a problem. But it's when the busy times come that you need to continue pushing the pedal because that's when a lot of people put on the brakes as far
Collin Funkhouser 04:39
as the businesses go. So there's more time available. There's more attention out there because people are on their phones and but there's less content for marketers. So it really is a win win from that. And all that helps you build those long term relationships because it's not just you putting stuff out there. People are going to continue to engage with your marketing engage with your messaging maintaining those relationships with both current and potential clients, this is what's going to help foster the loyalty, the branch Trust, which you're all again, vital, if you're looking for long term down the road,
Meghan 05:13
we are all looking for that consistency in our businesses to not have the boom and the bust of the pet care industry as it can be sometimes the seasonal fluctuations. So to help smooth that out, you can do this continuous marketing that can help these cycles from being too large and too small, you encourage the bookings during traditionally slower periods leading to more stable revenue streams. So even though you are pumping out content and continuing to push during November and December, you can say, hey, we don't have availability right now. But if you would like to book a meet and greet, we can get you started at the beginning of the year. Yeah, what
Collin Funkhouser 05:49
you're really leveraging your current success with that by saying, Hey, we don't have availability. Now, people like to be part of a winning team. When you're thriving, you can showcase your success that you're having showcase the busy days, showcase the busy walks, even sharing those positive customer experiences. As you're busy, you're getting a lot more reviews. And so now you've got even more content to then turn and put it push out there that's going to capitalize on that word of mouth as people are using your services. They're raving about your services you're sharing about that. It's going to keep your marketing active, you're going to encourage and capitalize on that and further perpetuate that in the future.
Meghan 06:27
When we continue to market even during busy times, it helps to ensure that we are going to be in business for the long term that our business is healthy, that is running efficiently that we are maintaining those client relationships so that our business can somewhat as much as much as possible in this industry to stabilize against those seasonal fluctuations and market changes and client demands. Something that's always in season is pet sitters associates. As pet care professionals, your clients trust you to care for their furry family members. And that's why pet sitters Associates is here to help for over 20 years they have provided 1000s of members with quality pet care insurance. Because you work in the pet care industry, you can take your career to the next level with flexible coverage options, client connections and complete freedom in running your business. Learn why pet sitters Associates is the perfect fit for you and get a free quote at pets@llc.com. If you would like to get a discount, because who doesn't, you can join by clicking membership Pet Sitter confessional and use the discount code confessional when you go to checkout. Check out the benefits of membership and insurance once again at Pet said llc.com. We are very busy as pet sitters, particularly in the last six weeks of the year. So how do we have time to keep up with the marketing, we're going to break down some of the ways to market effectively when these busy times come up, you could automate your marketing efforts, whether that looks like scheduling posts on social media, or drafting email newsletters in a bulk fashion where you sit down and you crank out six or seven of them all at once to get you through the rest of the year. If you do weekly emails, it's batching content. And that can really help you with your digital marketing campaigns. It allows you to maintain that consistent presence online without really needing to manually handle these daily tasks. And I know that's something that you and I can we can get better at is a lot better. A lot of times we're sitting down at nine o'clock at night and going, what do we post tomorrow, and we seem to always come up with it. But at the end of the day, if you can batch it, it's going to help you be a lot more efficient in your business. Right?
Collin Funkhouser 08:25
Yep, or maybe those news newsletters or those blogs that you're used to writing. And there used to be pages and pages and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of words, maybe making them a little bit shorter, so it is easier to batch them and seven grading one massive long blog article, you're going oh, maybe I can make two or three shorter ones out of this, to give me some content to push me through the busy time. Along
Meghan 08:45
with batching. Maybe you collect some of your holiday themed social media post or marketing content right now. So if you want to post dog pictures of dogs with Santa hats on or jingle bells around their neck, maybe you could take those pictures now, instead of having to wait to several weeks until it's actually Christmas time. In
Collin Funkhouser 09:05
the search for content. Sometimes we need to find easy things that are going to help promote our businesses in a clear and concise way. And I'm gonna mention here again, that we need to capitalize on those client reviews in those testimonials. As clients are booking. You don't just take these and bottle them away. Ask for those reviews in the moment. And now we can take this and repurpose that content as a social media post to continue to brag and rave about your company. It's going to be especially effective when potential clients are looking for those reliable services during future holidays or when they're going to need you coming up. If you're
Meghan 09:40
really busy right now consider delegating or outsourcing things that you don't like to do or are too busy to be doing. Continue to engage in small ways though, making sure that you're checking in to see how things are going but by offloading some of these tasks you are going to make your marketing efforts more efficient and streamline them so that you can focus on the The what you want to and give the rest of somebody else in the digital landscape. Social Media Engagement plays a lot into you getting that social proof people like, comment, share all of that. So you still need to engage with your audience, even during busy times, just a quick response, you know, for words, and an emoji is still great. Even if you give a quick response to a comment or an inquiry on social media or your website, it can make a big difference in the way that a client perceives you and retaining that client, especially
Collin Funkhouser 10:30
because during less busy times, we tend to have a lot more time on our hands to give really long responses or make sure we respond to absolutely every single comment and scroll around to make sure that nobody has not been reacted to. In here, when we're busy. We're going for the economy, but still engagement by going How can I make shorter responses, maybe I'm only going to engage with the top 10 Or maybe top 20 comments on my post, and then I'm going to move on. And I'm not going to circle back around to make sure that everything else gets filled out, doing what you can manage your time still having that little bit of engagement is really important though.
Meghan 11:10
And like we just talked about, if you don't like it, delegate it to a social media manager or a VA. We've talked a lot about digital marketing. But what if you want to do physical marketing as well, during this busy time that boots on the ground that connecting with other businesses, you may have several clients that are concentrated all in a certain area, and there is a coffee shop or another local business that you've either partnered with, or you have connected with them on social media. And so you can go say, Hi, I was in the neighborhood, I'm serving some clients down the street walking their dogs, how are you? How are you doing? How's business going? Are you guys busy, just like I am how you know, you can connect with them on a level and potentially market while also be killing two birds with one stone if I serve clients, and now I'm going to do boots on the ground.
Collin Funkhouser 11:54
Right? It is all about planning and optimization of going I'm already in that neighborhood I'm already driving past. Let me pull in real quick. And let me say hi, let me pull in real quick and drop off some fliers. Let me pull in real quick and drop off my gift for them. Maybe it's a, Hey, your partnership with you this year has been amazing. Here's a little gift that I thought of what for you here, here it is. Or maybe it's when you're driving by the vet's office. I mean, we do this all the time where I'm driving around from client to client to client, and you just find yourself passing by the same buildings, the same offices, if they are a partner of yours, if there's somebody who's referred to you take 13 seconds and step in there and drop off a gift or just come in and say hi, hope you guys are doing well appreciate all the hard work that that you and your crew are doing, and then get it back out and leaving. But you have to be smart with this. You can't do this to all of your partnerships with all everybody far flung across your service area, it's where you are and really prioritizing those in that area. Yeah,
Meghan 12:51
it's being efficient with your time not saying I'm going to drive from my house to the coffee shop, because that's 20 minutes. But I already have clients that are right next to the coffee shop within a minutes drive, I can just pop in and say, Hey, how you doing? How's it going?
Collin Funkhouser 13:04
Everyone likes hot chocolate anyway, so grab some hot chocolate and say hi, I know what is confusing about this is we're talking about needing to market needing to get your messaging out there. But we're already at capacity, or we're already really busy. So what are we talking about here? What are we actually saying that we need to be putting out there when we're at capacity when we're really busy when we're very time constrained? It's important to shift our marketing focus from attracting that immediate client, right that immediate sales activation, like we talked about last week, to more lasting relationships, more brand, building, and staying top of mind for the future. And there are several ways that we can go about doing that. When you're
Meghan 13:44
in the digital space, you can share messages and tips on how to keep pet safe during the winter months. You can write blogs about pet safe ice melt and what to do if it's a blizzard, or emergency preparedness kits for the winter. You can also encourage early bookings with your clients. We always love those because it seems that clients are booking more and more last minute these days. But you can say something like are you planning ahead for spring security or pet care now for peace of mind later, and us messages like we are booking now for 2024 Make sure that you are on our schedule. Yeah, it
Collin Funkhouser 14:19
helps fill your schedule ahead of time without adding to your current workload or your current commitment. I think what's really important to note is that while we are talking about all of this in the context of like a Christmas, or Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's perspective is this. This is can be applied to whatever the fluctuation is in your local market. If you see really boom big booms and busts at different times of the year, you know that about your business, you've seen that before you have or you're currently experiencing it right now. So this helps you get a little bit of a head towards looking towards the future to go. What does my content look like? Seasonally, not just a window I need to have the fall colors or the spring or whatever but like sees they What are you saying to people? When do you start asking people to book in advance? That's probably not when, you know, not when people need to book you right now. But it's about going, what when do I need to get these messages out there. And when we look at the content that we're putting out there, and how we're going to connect with people understanding that I need to encourage people right now, maybe they've already booked me right now. And I'm currently watching their dogs, I still need to let them know, springtime is coming, because they're not thinking that far ahead. They're only going to need you when they need you. But looking out advance for them is a gift that you can give them and helps get them on your schedule sooner.
Meghan 15:38
If you've done any volunteering this year, or are going to start doing it now that the end of the year is here. You can post about that as well. You can share messages that focus on your community involvement. Like we are proud to support our local pet shelters, we walk dogs for the shelter every week, or every Saturday or you know, talk about your community initiatives, it builds your brand's reputation, it keeps you in the public eye, it keeps you top of mind, which is what we're really talking about here.
Collin Funkhouser 16:03
And when we look to those relationships that trust, another great way to do that is by recognizing your current clients with messages like we love our furry clients. Here's a shout out to some of our adorable pets that we've cared for recently. This shows both your appreciation for them. And it reinforces that client relationship back to you. While again, importantly, not asking people to book right now or not driving sales today.
Meghan 16:30
You could also share behind the scenes content of a day in the life of a pet sitter come join us behind the scenes, this is what happens. This is what we do. It shows potential clients exactly what they can expect from your services. You may also post interactive content like what's your pets favorite winter activity, let us know in the comments or something a funny meme that you want to share and get feedback on from your clients. It fosters that engagement and keeps them active on your platforms. So that while they're sitting at home during the holiday time during their time off work, you will still come up in their feed. And we
Collin Funkhouser 17:04
have been talking a lot very heavily about digital and online marketing, social media advertising as well. And I think it's important to note that boots on the ground is still incredibly important to our businesses, that we love going to the business networking events with the Chamber of Commerce or community events, as well as outreach events doing walking in and talking with business owners or community members in their area areas to understand what's going on posting fliers in new locations and sourcing new partnerships with toys and treats or local local communities like that. It's just right now during the busy times, no matter what time of year, that is, whenever you're busy, you just don't physically have time to go walking into storefronts, you don't have time to be going to the next business networking event with the Chamber of Commerce or with some other local Realty Group that's put putting those on for you. It's incredibly difficult to carve out that time. Now, if you still can definitely go do it. Because a there'll be fewer people there anyway. So you can talk to more of them, you can get your information in front of a higher percentage of them than you would be able to during a normal busy time, just like we're talking about with our digital marketing, where there's more eyeballs on there, but less people is putting stuff out there. Statistically, you get more of those eyeballs on you. So when you are able to go to a community event, when you are able to go to a networking hour, you get more attention, and you can take up more of that time, because there's fewer people there.
Meghan 18:34
Well, and that's the whole impetus for this of yes, we recognize that we are going to be busy there are ebbs and flows to this and we know we're entering a busy time. But we don't believe that means you need to stop marketing entirely. There are small ways that you can still engage with potential clients with different business owners. That gets your name out there that keeps you top of mind because that is going to be important to when the slower times come. Now on the flip side of this, we don't want to be legalistic about this. If you need to take a break, take it if you are just you can't handle any more you are working from sunup to sundown you are barely even getting things done in your own business and you are not thriving as a business owner. If you need to take that break. Take it there is a time for hustle. There is a time for breathing for just resting and going okay, I have worked really hard this year. I just needed to take these last six weeks and just breathe and I am okay with that. Because I've looked at my business. I've looked at my numbers, I am at peace with everything and I'm just going to coast the rest of the year or
Collin Funkhouser 19:39
I've looked at myself and I recognize I'm fine with that. Right if if maybe if you're listening to the last 25 minutes of us talk caused you anxiety because you realize or you thought oh gosh, there's more I got to do that. I've got to do more. I've got to do more of it more and that really sent you into a bad place. It is okay to do Just take that big step back and go. Not for me right now. I'm okay with that. That's okay. And that is okay with you run your business, how you want it to be run. And understanding that at the end of the day, you personally you the person listening to this you matter more than your business, you matter more than client acquisition, then the net posting the next review then posting that next meme or whatever on Facebook, your mental health, your physical well being is more important than driving social media engagement at at any time of the day. And that if you need to take that step back, you need to take that step back and that's 100%. Okay,
Meghan 20:40
let us know how you feel about this. Do you thrive on continuing to go and go and go or do you like to take a step back? What are some ways that you continue to market your business even in busy times? We'd love to hear your feedback. You can email us at feedback at Pet Sitter confessional.com. or look us up on Facebook and Instagram at Pet Sitter confessional. Thank you to our sponsor, pet sitters associates and our lovely Patreon members for supporting today's show and we will talk with you next time. Bye
