Last Updated: June 6, 2023 • Visit Blog Homepage


"Influencer marketing" refers to the process of partnering with individuals who have a large following on social media to promote your business. This type of marketing is particularly effective for reaching a large, engaged audience in a short amount of time.

I get it, normally, you wouldn't connect "dog daycares" and "influencer marketing" in the same sentence, but, there's actually something to be said about this type of marketing for small local businesses. We're not talking about having Taylor Swift use your dog daycare on her vacation (though that would DEFINITELY help), we're going to focus more on "local" celebrities. These people have lots of trust in your area, and they can help push clients your way.

Here are four ways that you can use influencer marketing to promote your dog daycare:

1. Identify Your Target Audience

To get the most out of influencer marketing, you need to identify your target audience. This will help you select influencers who have a following that is likely to be interested in your dog daycare services. Consider factors such as age, location, interests, and social media habits when selecting your target audience. Most pet owners are not going to be younger, so you're going to want to focus on a target audience that is a bit older. Pet owning baby boomers spend a lot of money on their dogs, so that's a great demographic to focus in on. The question is, who would be a considered an influencer to baby boomers? Let's get into that.

2. Choose the Right Influencer

The next step is to choose the right influencer to partner with. Consider factors such as the size of their following, their level of engagement, and their niche. For example, if your dog daycare specializes in luxury services, you might look for influencers who cater to a high-end, affluent audience. This might work for dog daycares in large cities like New York and LA, but most dog daycares and boarding kennels tend to be in rural America. When I think about the types of "local celebrities" around rural Wisconsin, most of them are newscasters. These people tend to have large social followings and they're extremely integrated into the community. Since DoggieDashboard is from Wisconsin, a newscaster named Bill Jartz comes to mind. He's a HUGE local celebrity.

3. Offer Unique & Valuable Content

To make your influencer marketing campaign a success, you need to offer unique and valuable content that your target audience will be interested in. This could be a discount, a special offer, or access to exclusive events and experiences. Be creative and think outside the box when developing your content. You might also just want to go the easy route and offer them free services in exchange for some Facebook posts. If we're going for the Baby Boomer crowd, it's best to focus on Facebook since they're most active there. Instagram is more of a younger platform. However, there are many millennial newscasters with quite a following, so that's something to think about. They get free dog daycare at your facility in exchange for a bi-weekly post on their Facebook. They could even offer discounts to their followers. This will help with tracking, which I'll discuss below.

4. Measure Your Success

The final step is to measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign. Use tools such as Google Analytics to track website traffic, conversions, and engagement metrics. This will help you see what is working and what needs to be improved. You can also use surveys and focus groups to get feedback from your target audience. Like I mentioned above, one of the easiest ways to track the success of your influence campaign is to have them give out a special discount that can be easily tracked. Perhaps just having them say, "Bill Jartz from WBAY sent me!" and that's enough to get them a free day of boarding (with purchase of another few days of course). There are numerous ways to track influencer marketing, so find the one that's right for your business and get out there!

PS- If you're Bill Jartz from WBAY and want me to remove your name, email info@doggiedashboard.com 👍 I grew up watching you my entire childhood and you were the first local influencer that came to mind. 😁

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