Is your animal organization currently on any social media platforms? Are you reaching your intended audience and seeing online interaction? Tori Fugate, Chief Communications Officer and Katie Grissum, Communications and Design Coordinator from KC Pet Project, presented on a recent Maddie’s Fund Community Conversations call regarding marketing your animal organization in this digital era.
KC Pet Project describes their marketing strategy as follows:
- Share content through storytelling.
- Designate staff to run social media platforms and keep an open-line of communication between departments for what the needs are.
- Work with volunteers to assist in promoting stories and allow volunteers to submit ideas for content (QR codes are placed around the building and when they take a picture of it, they arrive to a submission form where they can upload their content in real-time)!
Social media platforms currently being used by KC Pet Project are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Katie explained that TikTok is growing and growing fast! KC Pet Project has already reached 1.1 million followers in a relatively short amount of time.
Remember, it all comes back to the idea of telling a story. You can feature adoptable pets, create short and cute videos (30-60 sec), take viewers for a behind-the-scenes look at your facility and staff and customize the content to your liking.
@kcpetproject A bouncy surprise for Auggie! #animalshelter #shelterdog #kcpetproject #kansascity ♬ Strawberry – Prod by Rose
Be prepared to go viral! Anyone’s video can go viral at any time, so be prepared for the media inquiries and positive influx of social media traffic.
Additional benefits of sharing a successful video and gaining popularity is the ability to expand your reach.
Don’t be afraid to share the needs of your organization on TikTok. Post a link to your wish list or create a video on how people can help. You can also share donation links, where contributions have the ability to come in from all over the world. KC Pet Project also saw success as it pertained to adoptions. Animals that were featured on TikTok got adopted more quickly and primarily from people that lived out of state!
Although social media platforms are ever-changing and can take some getting used to, there’s no question on how powerful and positive their impact can be when it comes to helping shelter pets. The world can always use a good animal video.
@kcpetproject These three puppies already have adoption holds #animalshelter #shelterpuppy #shelterpuppies ♬ Strawberry – Prod by Rose
