It’s rare that you find any business that’s not on social media these days. And given the advantages and benefits social marketing can bring, that’s hardly surprising. Pet spas, just like any other business, can also benefit from using social media to boost their businesses. In fact, with cute pets and their antics to capture on camera, pet spas really can make the most of social media to draw people in and convert them into potential clients.

In this article, we’re going to show you why social media is important, why it works, and give you our top social media tips for pet spas.

Why is being on social media valuable to your pet spa?

Social media can build a community around your existing clients and potential clients. With the right content, you can show people why they should come to you with their pets, bring people into your sales funnel, and convert them into leads.

Here are just some of the reasons why you need to be on social media:

1) People expect your business to be active on social media

The only businesses that aren’t on social media now are either new businesses that haven’t set it up yet or businesses that are very much behind the times. Everyone else is on board, including your competitors.

When looking for a new pet spa for their precious pooches, people naturally want to find out about each business before they book an appointment. People treat their pets like family and care for them deeply and they won’t risk taking their pet to a pet spa they aren’t familiar with, especially if they can’t find any signs of the spa on social media.

People want to see a vibrant, busy feed with happy pets, smiling staff, and a whole lot of clear information about what to expect. Even better if they can see obvious care for pets, a sense of humor, demonstrated expertise, and a general feeling that their pets will be in the best of hands with you.

2) People rely heavily on peer validation

When searching for a business of any kind, people will ask their friends and family for recommendations. They want to hear from people they know that have experienced that service. Their next step is to check on social media and see what information is available and what other people think.

If you have a thriving page with a lot of engagement, quality images, and great content, that’s a great first impression when new potential customers check out your pet spa on social media.

People will look at how many people are following you, how much they interact, and how you respond. They’ll want to see that you take the time to chat with commenters and answer their questions. It shows that you’re friendly and approachable, and helps to demonstrate your expertise.

Potential customers will also check out your reviews and look at what other people have to say about you before booking.

3) People use social media platforms as a discovery and research platform

We’re all used to searching Google when we want answers or want to find a particular type of business, but increasingly, people are using social platforms to do the same.

Again, they’re asking their Facebook friends for help or they’re typing into the search bar to find what they want, and they need to be able to find you!

When they do, if they can see that you have regular informative and educational posts and other great content, they’ll be happy that they’ve found a pet spa that obviously knows what they’re doing.

Everything you do on social media adds to that great first, second, and third impression and keeps people coming back for more.

4) People want an insider view into what their pets will experience at your pet spa

Before dropping their precious pet off for treatment, people want reassurance. They want to see what your facilities are like. They want to meet your staff. And they want to understand what treatments you offer, what’s involved, and what will happen to their pet.

Show them great content that answers all these questions. Give them a day in the life of a pet spa owner. Follow your staff through different treatments and show how they deal with people’s pets and how they do their job. Create video walkthroughs and “how we do it” blog posts. Show off your expertise with help articles for pet lovers, including how to safely trim your cat’s claws, how to brush your dog, how to maintain the fresh pet spa look between treatments – anything, in fact, that your audience wants to know.

This humanizes you and your staff and provides real reassurance for new customers that their pets will be happy during their visit with you.

5) People want to see results and how others’ pets are treated at your pet spa

There’s nothing quite like a real before and after shot to show off a great cut and a sparkling clean and happy pooch. You’ll need to ask permission before you post, of course, but these shots are such great convincers for anyone that’s never been to your pet spa before.

Even better if you can get current customers to post their own before and after shots. Not only is this user-generated content that you didn’t have to create, which saves you time, but it’s even more convincing than anything you could post.

When businesses post and show results, people automatically assume a certain amount of bias, just because it’s the business posting. When genuine, happy customers post, on the other hand, it becomes trusted and important social proof of the results you get for your clients. And, again, it’s important reassurance for potential new clients that their pets will be treated with great care.

Social media tips for pet spas

Social media marketing can be an excellent way for any pet spa to gain an audience and get new customers, but it’s important to do it well. Bear in mind that you do have competitors, quite probably in the same local area as you, and you want to make the best impression you can so that people choose you!

Here are our top social media tips for pet spas:

1) Post consistently and share visually appealing images and videos

The best way to post consistently is to create a content calendar. With so many things on your to-do list, it can be easy to let social media slide despite knowing how important it is. What puts people off is seeing no posts at all for weeks. This makes it look like your business may not still be open, or that, if it is, you aren’t paying attention, which isn’t an impression you want to create. But with a well-planned content calendar, you’ll more easily be able to keep to a consistent posting schedule and keep your audience happy.

Plan out your content ahead for the next quarter and include not just what you’re going to post about but the format of the post as well. It’s good to have a good mix of different topics and it’s also good to include a variety of formats too, including video, memes, and quality images, as well as written posts. Add your blog to your content calendar too. It’s important to plan that out and remind yourself to share your blog posts on your social media accounts too. Doing so drives targeted, interested traffic back to your website, where they may just pick up the phone and make a booking.

We also recommend that you use high-quality and visually appealing images and videos. People are used to crystal clear video and high-quality shots, with even basic mobile phone cameras able to produce something of quality. Take the time to set up quality shots for your pet spa, or if that’s not your strength, hire a professional to come in and take superior shots that will show off your pet spa to perfection.

2) Treat platforms differently

Every social media platform is different. Each one has its own algorithm and people also tend to use social media platforms differently too. You can’t use a one-size fits all approach on social media. You have to tailor your content to suit each platform.

On TikTok, for example, users want quick and entertaining, short videos with popular sounds. Your long-form, in-depth blog posts won’t work on this platform at all.

In addition, the best posting times can vary per platform, so look at your analytics on each platform and find out when the best times are to post on each one.

Don’t worry if that sounds like a lot of work. You can schedule your social media posts ahead to automatically post at the right times on each platform for you. You could use a marketing platform, like Surefire’s all-in-one marketing software to do this, and more, for you and take it off your list.

3) Respond to comments and questions

People feel valued when their favorite companies and brands respond to their questions and comments. They will feel the same if you respond to them too. In fact, it’s really important that you are as consistent with responding to your audience as you are at posting on social media.

It’s important for each individual that you respond to, but it also adds to the excellent first impression that you want to create for new potential customers. They can see that you care about your customers and that you know what you’re talking about.

Try to schedule a little time most days to go through comments and respond.

4) Educate your community

We’ve touched on this earlier, but it’s so important to educate your customers. They do want to see what you do and how you do it, what it’s like to be a visiting pet at your pet spa. They want that, as we’ve said, for reassurance on how you’ll treat their own pets.

But, in addition, you can be the expert that people come to when they want help on how to look after their pets. You can help them with grooming tips and advice and any other areas that you’re an expert in. Again, this adds to customer reassurance, but it also establishes you as an expert in your field.

If people are looking to choose between two pet spas, they’re obviously going to pick the one that cares enough to educate pet owners and clearly knows their stuff.

5) Be authentic

Most people can spot when someone isn’t being genuine, whether it’s in person or online. There’s something that just feels off when that happens, even if there’s nothing obvious to say why, and people tend to pull away when they get that feeling, not draw closer.

Don’t let that be you. You have all your knowledge and genuine care for animals to draw on and there’s no need at all to be fake or over-the-top in selling your services.

It’s completely possible to sell what you do in a way that’s authentic and in a way that works for you. Yes, you have to do some posts that tell people what you do and how they can book, but you can inject your own personality into those too.

Build your social media around genuinely helpful posts and show off your personality and people won’t be able to help being drawn to you.

6) Set goals and be strategic

You can’t do everything and be everywhere on social media all the time, not unless you have the budget for a huge team to help you.

Instead, you need to set goals and be strategic about what you do. Choose the right platforms, where your customers hang out, and spend your time focusing on the right topics and formats that your audience wants to see.

That involves getting familiar with your statistics and understanding when is best to post and what your best performing topics and formats are. But it’s then possible to start to tailor what you post more exactly to what your customers want, which, of course, has the knock-on effect on keeping your audience happy and more likely to book with you.

Make your content calendar work for you and use what you learn from your statistics every time you plan a new quarter to more and more closely tailor what you post to your audience.

Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform demo

At Surefire Local, we offer business intelligence marketing software that actively helps you meet your marketing goals and get all your tasks done.

You can jot down ideas for your social media posts and blog posts, you can even write them on your dashboard, and then you can schedule everything in advance so that you don’t have to even think about it. You’ll have posts ready to go when you’re on vacation, and if you work in advance when you can, you’ll also have posts when you’re too busy to actually be present on your social platforms.

With quality analytics and reports, you’ll also be able to see what’s having an effect on your marketing and what’s not.

Even better, our platform can help you with every other aspect of your marketing too, including content marketing, email marketing, managing and replying to reviews, updating your Google Business Profile, and so much more.

Why not book a demo and see how we can help you market your pet spa?