Best Pet Marketing Agencies

Who is the best pet marketing agency?

Chances are good that you’re reading this because you searched for “best pet marketing agencies” or something close to it (“pet industry marketing,” e.g.). That would make perfect sense. Though your situation is personal and specific, it’s much easier to start big and narrow from there. This is the way that many of us have learned to start an internet search for what we don’t yet have answers for. (Note the graph showing the steep incline in usage of “best” in pet products/services searches over the last 14ish years.)

We’ve served as a marketing partner to pet products and services brands—private and public, established and startup, consumer and B2B. We’d love to ask you some questions and help you determine whether we’re the best pet marketing agency for your situation. Please reach out to us as soon as you can. In the meantime, here are a few baseline criteria that we’ve committed to as a “best pet marketing agency” (firm/partner/etc).

The Best Pet Marketing Agency Makes the “Humanization of Pets” Mean Something

It’s not enough to talk about “the humanization of pets.” This alone doesn’t mean much in a practical sense. Everyone in the industry knows that human food (and many non-food) trends tend to show up in the pet category mere months later. However, not everyone knows what that means for business. As not only a pet marketing agency but also a food marketing agency, we have our pulse on what those trends are. Given our background in B2B marketing, we also have insight into which human nutrition trends may cross over.

For example, we’ve helped our pet partners forecast supply issues, like anticipating the lowered availability of domestic pea protein. This was due to trends in and demand for dairy milk alternatives. We’ve delivered feasibility studies and situation analyses and white papers. Currently, we’re investigating the rise and role of the permanent underclass (as it relates to pet products in dollar stores).

We’ve discussed the crossover potential for meat alternatives, even as Americans are projected to set records for meat and poultry consumption. 2018 might be the Year of the Vegan in human nutrition, but we don’t anticipate an explosion in vegan kibbles!

Additionally, we’ve used our experience in the health and wellness industry to anticipate pet product trends. From botanicals like turmeric to life-stage issues like obesity and aging, including arthritis concerns, bladder/UTI issues, and diabetes in pets. Our relationships with chefs give us insight into value-added surplus products (VASPs) in food service and what that means for pet foods and pet treats. And we keep up to date on the M&A world (like Cargill’s recent acquisition of Pro-Pet) by setting search alerts and reading trade pubs, which is a valuable part of being in the industry.

The Best Pet Marketing Agency Walks (+/- 100) Miles

Between Global Pet Expo and SuperZoo alone, our team must have logged 100 combined walking miles at pet industry trade shows last year. We invest in attending these shows not only to support our partners (from tactical support like trade show booth and video design to sales support like networking and introductions) but also to educate ourselves. Whether attending large shows or mid-sized shows like Petfood Forum, we believe that qualifying as one of the best pet marketing agencies requires hitting the pavement (and the oddly cushioned trade show carpeting) and being part of the pet industry.

The Best Pet Marketing Agencies Adopt and Adapt

Over our 15+ years as a company, we’ve listened to our partners (and to those who chose to partner with others) describe their needs and frustrations alike.

As a result, we’ve adapted; reconfiguring and improving our own business model to be more meaningful. For instance, our strategists work daily and directly with our clients rather than through account managers. This means that despite our mid-level size, we’re able to offer a comprehensive range of services, from product development to packaging, web design to SEM, brand naming and logo design to Salesforce lead nurturing and Amazon storefront design and implementation for pet bed brands, grooming products, supplements, and pet industry technologies. But more importantly, we’re able to do all of this with focus and efficiency due to our business model.

We’d love to tell you more about this on a call, but the key takeaway is that if you’re looking for more than just production work, you need a partner who’s set up specifically to function as an efficient, external marketing arm of your own company, no matter the size.

The Best Pet Marketing Agencies Must Love Pet Shelves

Any marketing partner worth its salt will love pets, will obsess over them, and will have them in its office. We do all of that. We absolutely love our pets, and we will likely love your pets. But we also love pet shelves; always lingering a few extra minutes in the pet aisles. You may see us make detours to check out the pet treat shelves when we’re supposed to be shopping for milk and eggs. We surreptitiously take photos of new products and interesting packaging whenever we’re at the store. And we’ve even been known to talk with independent store owners about trade shows or asking questions about what customers are asking for.

In short, the best pet marketing agencies don’t merely love pets; they also love pet shelves. That’s something you should ask any potential pet marketing agency partner about! We hope you’ll ask us about that as soon as you’re ready to talk.