Pet ownership is continuously rising which means pet products, especially pet food, are booming as well. Pet food brands try to differentiate themselves by introducing new product formulas, expanding their range of varieties, and offering convenient consumption options, revolutionizing the way pet parents purchase and receive their pets' food.
How do pet food brands adjust their current marketing tactics to effectively promote their offerings amidst the current trend and competition?
For helpful insights, we’ve curated some of the best ideas and newsletter examples below.
- Share your milestones as a brand
- Emphasize the benefits of your subscription offers
- Send readworthy pet content
- Entice your audience with reward points
- Feature positive testimonials from pet parents
1. Share your milestones as a brand
As a brand, big events like anniversaries are best celebrated with the most important part of your business — the customers. It’s a great way to show your achievements, tell your fantastic story, and drive massive exposure to your brand.
Let’s take a look at this email example from Butternut Box. In celebration of their 7th year in the dog food business, they sent a lively email to their subscribers.
Best Practice:
What we love about this newsletter is the combined elements of excitement and generosity toward their customers. They used a banner image that perfectly connotes a celebratory vibe, also highlighting the abundant discount that awaits the action-takers. They also made sure to present in a neat, thumbnail format what has happened in the last 7 years in terms of their products, packaging, services, etc. So at a glance, you would have a clear picture of their brand story.
Incorporating excitement into your emails can increase audience engagement while being generous promotes conversion.
Subject line: It's our party (and we'll give you a discount if we want to) 🎁
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2. Emphasize the benefits of your subscription offers
A lot of pet food brands nowadays are introducing subscription plans for pet owners to avail. So, the competition is heating up. Why do people (or pet owners in particular) sign up for a subscription plan in the first place? Since pet food is something you will need throughout your pet’s life, pet parents are taking advantage of recurring purchases for reasons like convenience, saving time and money (through discount offers), and having a constant supply to lessen their worries. Pet companies are well aware of these reasons, and that’s why they create compelling offers. They make their subscription plans extra special and they add value by offering discounts, free shipping, freebies, loyalty points, free sample, and so on.
For your subscription plans to succeed, one important question is — How would you convince your audience to consider your offer over the others? One surefire way is to create an on-point email copy that highlights the most vital part of your offer, i.e. the benefits your customer can get.
This email from Sundays is an excellent example.
Best Practice:They used a convincing banner text “Treat yourself to hassle-free feedings.” that summarizes the main benefit of subscribing to a food plan. Followed by an added value — 20% off every order. Then another highlight is the ability to create a custom plan for your dogs, which they placed with a bold CTA.
Subject line: Unlock easy, premium dog nutrition
3. Send readworthy pet content
In sending newsletters, it is always advisable to balance promotional offers with informative content. It becomes even more engaging when you incorporate fun and trivial topics. Whether the subject you send them is just “good-to-know” or it’s something that your audience “must-know”, emails are an effective way to foster relationships between a brand and its customers. It also promotes enthusiasm among your target audience.
Take these emails from Cat Person as a good source of inspiration.
Best Practice:They used super catchy banner images with clear How-to type of content. All the tips that they share are neatly laid out, you won’t miss anything even if you try to. Another thing we love is their choice of topics. They are something fun and not usually obvious but an essential part of a cat’s life. This type of communication they do to their audience is an artful way of showing their expertise in the pet industry.
Subject line: How to play cat dentist
Subject line: An overlooked part of cat health
4. Entice your audience with reward points
Rewards can make customers feel that they’re saving money and getting better value from spending. Brands are using rewards and loyalty point systems primarily to encourage customer loyalty. Incentivizing your customers to continue to buy your products is a suitable means of promoting conversion as well. It’s even better if you can present these tempting offers when sending newsletters.
Made by Nacho sent these two emails to encourage their customers to benefit from their rewards program.
Best Practice:We love that the emails are in line with the branding of Made by Nacho. It’s fun-looking and playful as if you’re just joining a game. They also fused a sense of urgency in the second email, plus product recommendations for convenience.
Subject line: Cha-ching! 💰
Subject line: 2 days left: Double loyalty points!
5. Feature positive testimonials from pet parents
For many customers, one of the best and most powerful content is a testimonial from another customer. This alone can sometimes block their objection to buying. And so, they buy with confidence.
Reviews are everywhere and it is not new to marketers. They use social proof almost every day. Just Food For Dogs does it very well by consistently sending (every Monday) customer testimonials via email starring dogs who suffered different health problems. They accompany these testimonials with relevant pictures, and bits of trivia about the dogs, positioning their products as the ultimate solution for various dog health issues.
Best Practice:Dogs are naturally friendly and so are the emails from Just Food For Dogs. They are sent on a regular basis, so there’s continuous audience engagement. The contents are also interesting to read as they present thorough information about each pet. And the fact that they include the pet parents is thoughtful and motivating.
Subject line: More Mondays: Meet Wallace
Subject line: More Mondays: Meet Izzy
Interested in more inspiration? Get the full list here.
