What Pet Parents Actually Want From Pet Businesses
And the 4 Types of Value You Can Offer Pet Parents
Erin
Co-Founder & Director
It can be deflating, can’t it? Putting a piece of content out on your socials or publishing a post on your blog only for it to result in…crickets.
Nobody’s commented or shared or liked or high-fived or chest-bumped you or or or anything.
All that effort, and not a single pet parent cares.
Not one of them has engaged with your content.
If you’ve ever been in this situation, you may have even asked yourself the question “Why aren’t pet parents engaging with my content? What do they want from me?”
It can feel like hitting your head against a wall, trying to figure out what will actually resonate with your audience & spark that genuine interest and interaction with your brand.
The good news is that the answer to ‘what content pet parents actually want from you’ is much simpler than you may expect. They want value.
Which is why in this post, I am going to share the 4 types of value you can provide your pet parent audience…
So you can start creating content that pet parents are actually excited, enthusiastic and eager to engage with.
Sound good? Then let’s dive in.
The 4 Types of Value to Offer Pet Parents
It’s nothing new to say that the world is both a busy and noisy place. There are so many things competing for our attention, which is why it’s so important that what content you do publish and share with your audience comes from a place of providing genuine value.
Only then will you catch your audience’s attention. But more importantly, hold that attention too.
Essentially, you need to honour your audience’s time. Time is a finite resource and once it’s gone it’s gone; there’s no clawing back those five minutes we waste on a purely promotional, self-serving piece of content. And when we feel like content has wasted our time, that’s when we begin to feel resentful towards a brand.
So whether it’s a few minutes or more of your audience’s time, you need to make their investment in you worth it. You need to make it valuable.
Which is why today I wanted to tell you about the 4 types of value you can offer your pet parent target market. So you can ensure that every piece of content you create works to build and strengthen your relationship with your audience.
The goal here is, ultimately, to provide your audience with so much value – they can’t help but get to know, like and trust your pet brand above all others. And when it comes to purchasing a product or service in your niche, it’s then an absolute no-brainer who they’ll turn to.
The 4 types of value are:
- Functional value
- Financial value
- Psychological value
- Social value
And I’m going to give a brief overview of each type in a second…
But before I do I wanted to mention that a good rule of thumb, whenever you create content, is to ask yourself: does this content fit into one or more of the 4 categories of value?
Because if the answer is no, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
So that said, let’s look at what each type of value involves…
Functional Value
As the name suggests, functional value is all about providing practical support, guidance or insight.
It’s providing an answer or solution to a problem, obstacle or dilemma your pet parent audience may have.
Out of all the types of value, this may be one of the most immediately impactful. Why? Because it is one of the most obvious ways your presence and content benefits your audience’s life.
Examples of functional value include: how-tos, guides, checklists, demos, Q&As or AMAs (ask me anything), listicles, product roundups etc.
Good for: small wins with your audience, easy to create this kind of content, helps pet parents get to know, like and trust you & associate you as a “solution”
Financial Value
Here, you will be providing pet parents with some kind of monetary gain, reward or incentive.
Pretty straightforward right? But the trick here is not to use this type of value too frequently with your audience. Because A) it starts to cheapen your brand and undermine the perceived value of your product and service & B) begins to appear like you’re just spamming your audience/purely out to get money from their pocket.
Examples of financial value include: discounts, deals, coupons, membership perks etc.
Good for: incentivising a boost in sales/conversions, making your product or service more accessible, helping to spread word of mouth (especially with referral schemes)
Psychological Value
Now we’re getting a little “deep”, as this value refers more to how you make your audience feel in themselves.
For instance, this is very much about emotionally connecting with your audience. Helping them to feel seen, heard, understood and empathised with.
Examples of psychological value include: content that inspires, motivates, offers a realisation or personal epiphany. This type of value can change or validate their world-perceptions
Good for: nurturing a deep loyalty and trust with your audience, encouraging word of mouth and brand advocates to develop for your brand, encouraging repeat custom/easy customer retention as they feel a profound affinity with your values/messaging
Social Value
Social value is all about providing your pet parent target market with the opportunity to connect and interact with like-minded other pet parents, who share their interests, challenges or life experiences.
It’s about making them feel a part of something, like they’re not alone and supported in all aspects of being a pet parent in the modern world. It can also mean facilitating conversation or even face-to-face meet ups.
Examples of social value include: user-generated content campaigns, community groups, introduce yourself/your pet content, online community challenges or events etc.
Good for: community building and engagement, brand visibility, nurturing brand advocates, free publicity
When and How to Use Each Type of Value
So, now that you’re familiar with what types of value to offer all those enthusiastic pet parents…
When and how do you use each?
And the short answer to this is…when and how you want. But remember – your intention needs to be value-driven in everything you do. As that’s the only way you’ll make a true impact and build an emotional connection with your audience.
(However, as I mentioned before I would try not to over-do it with the financial value side of things. The risk being that if you’re always offering financial rewards or incentives, you’ll just look spammy and salesy and out to make a profit.)
If you currently have a plan in place for creating weekly social media posts or a blog calendar, why not consider cycling through the 4 types of value?
That way you’re keeping the contents of your posts and blogs fresh, whilst ensuring you’re providing your community with value in a variety of ways.
Better yet, take a piece of paper and draw a big cross like the one below. Put each value type in a box and brainstorm how you can provide each for your audience, in a way that aligns with your brand.
Aim to list 3-5 ideas in each box.
Once you have these written down the next step (you guessed it) will be to create that piece of content. That could be as many as 20 pieces of value-driven content, right there!
So there you have it, the 4 types of value you can offer pet parents that will actually make an impact on your audience – sparking that ever-coveted engagement, but with the added bonuses of increasing your brand visibility and conversions too!
Remember, when it comes to publishing content online the results may not be immediate. But stick with this strategy and you will see some awesome long-term benefits.
(It’s all about the long game here.)
And if you need a helping hand, or are unsure how to create loyal customers through your content, then remember we’re always here to offer our support. Book in for a free consultation and we’ll help you identify areas to become a value-driven and purpose-led pet brand that is popular, profitable and truly meaningful.
