The Secret To Social Media Marketing Success! Its As Simple As a Village Cake Shop

Marketing has not changed, people have not changed. Marketing to a digital audience can be as simple as a piece of cake!

Pet industry marketing and PR is as simple as a piece of cake (lemon meringue to be precise!)

When you started your pet brand business, you likely imagined your role to be centred around doing the work that you love, serving a client base that share your love and passion for pets. This is where we all start. Back in 2003, I founded my first business, which was in pet care. All I wanted to do was walk dogs, muck out donkeys and horses, snuggle cats and feed sheep.

As an 18 year old I had no concept of marketing strategy, how to reach prospective clients, what interested them or even what would compel them to book me.

At that time, marketing to me was as simple as putting a post-it up in my local cake shop and the phone calls came. Many would say that in today’s digital world, this concept no longer exists and it definitely isn’t as simple. I would argue that it still exists and that it definitely is still this simple. The customers are still the same, they are still curious, nosey and seeking solutions to problems, it is the channels that have changed.

You see, back in 2003, I actually did know what my audience wanted from a cake shop post-it, I knew exactly what to do and exactly how to reach those that would book my services. I had to be bold, to the point. Ideally, the post-it would need to be written in bold ink (bonus points for multicoloured felt tip pens), I had to have a hook and I had to have a call to action in the form of a telephone number. In short, I had to differentiate myself from other post-its selling second-hand cars and home help, capture attention and provide a simple clear next step for my customers to follow.

In addition to that, I had to abide by the cake shop’s rules. The cake shop required a 10p per week donation to charity, the paper to be placed neatly on the window (overlapping and the sharing of blue tack for multiple offerings was prohibited) and it must be relevant to the local community.

What did the cake shop receive in return for this small offering? And this is the key question that is still relevant today! For this, I happen to have some insider knowledge because I had worked in the cake shop after school from the age of 16!

Victoria Elsmore pet industry photographer, videographer and PR professional at the age of 18 years

The cake shop proprietor was very clever. The shop was located next to the car park, you literally had to walk past the door on which the notices were placed to get back to your car. Almost nine times out of ten, out of sheer curiosity, people would pause at the board to be “nosey”. To read some of the notices properly they would need to put at least one foot on the step of the cake shop, and as they did my lovely boss at the time would (in her most cheerful tone) say “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon”. I would watch in amazement as a simple cheerful greeting would result in a comment returned about how beautifully her bread looked and smelled and usually a comment about being extremely tempted by her custard slices (I have just realised that there is literally no cake on the planet that I could insert into this sentence that doesn't somehow sound like a euphemism? Try it!). These passive customers would always buy something, always! It was usually a loaf of bread and a cream cake and each time they would declare “that they really shouldn’t” but they are going to treat themselves anyway and enjoy it with a cup of tea later. They had not initially intended to buy, but they did!

So what did the cake shop gain from the noticeboard?

1. Celebrated local businesses, community events and local people. This supports the proprietors culture and values, bolsters their reputation in the community and also resulted in networking opportunities, three ticks on the marketing checklist!

2. The board literally attracted customers, caused them to linger and resulted in a sale. My boss and her amazing products were demonstrated and passers-by converted to sales with ease! (astonishing ease, actually). The products could not have been presented in a more lucrative display. They were tidy, professional and tempting (the cherries and icing were glazed for this precise purpose).

And this is all that you have to do when you think about your social media marketing

This story proves that with insight into your customers and the platforms they frequent you can reach your audience in exactly the same way that I built my business in 2003 off the back of a simple cake shop post-it. My boss had recognised that village people (her ideal clients) wanted village news, they were nosey and could not resist finding out more about other locals and the events they held. She enticed them into her shop by giving them what they wanted and sold the “sizzle” of her cakes (or the glace cherries and warm scent of freshly baked bread) while they were there.

So here are the questions you need to ask as a pet brand business,

1. What do your clients want?

2. What does the platform that you are using to market your business want? In the same way as my post-it advertisement was a collaboration with the cake shop for mutual gain, start to see your social media posts as a collaboration with the platform.

3. What does Tiktok gain?

4. What does Instagram want from its creators?

5. How does the interaction mutually benefit both parties?

6. Why are your customers there, using that platform at that particular time?

7. What value are your customers experiencing from their use of the platform?

8. What value are the platforms gaining from your customers being there?