Thanks to the lockdowns there are more new pet owners in every town, city and village across the UK.

Everywhere you go, you can’t move for pandemic puppies.

Animal charities now have huge waiting lists for adoptions.

And if you’re a pet business owner this is good news – because the new pet parents will need to use your services.

Whether that’s dog walks in the day when they return to work, or even while working from home when owners need to concentrate on Zoom, or cat visits, they need support.

Not to mention the training challenges faced by owners with puppies who may not have been able to socialise as they would in the normal world.

In this episode I share how you can create content to attract and convert new pet owners.

You can listen in on the player link or continue reading as a blog post.

Getting started with your new pet parent content

Consider what animals your products or services support and put together a list of the specific owners you might want to reach.

For example, if you’re a dog walker, it’s dogs of course.

But you may do solo walks for anxious dogs, socialising walks for puppies, adventures for active dogs.

So try to break it down so you can structure your content for each type of owner.

Consider the area you cover for new pet parents

This is your geographical area, so the town, city, suburbs and villages you might cover.

With your content, you’re thinking local and what particular places and services pet owners there might find helpful.

What’s the problem you solve for new pet parents?

This will vary depending on if you have a product or service based business.

For example, if you’re a cat behaviourist, you help people experiencing unwanted behaviour.

But you also help people who might feel their new kitten or rescue cat isn’t settling or is anxious.

So content around how to settle your new rescue cat would be really helpful when it comes to putting your name in front of your ideal client.

If you have a product business, let’s say you make a crate cover like Lottie from the Cosy Canine Company.

The cover makes the crate look nice, but it can also help with crate training for puppies.

Lottie could create a post about essentials for a peaceful life with your new pup, including a variety of things that would help, one of which would be her crate cover.

Using themes in your content for new pet parents

When you’re writing for new pet parents, think about some of the themes you can use for your content.

For example, we’re going into December shortly, so there’s Christmas.

As a trainer or behaviourist you could write about how to take the stress out of Christmas for your pet.

As a walker or pet sitter you could talk about enrichment activities to keep pets entertained when you have a houseful. (lockdown restrictions permitting)

And as a product business you can create gift guides, collaborate with other businesses and show off your Christmas creations!

Using awareness days in your content

Every month there are lots of pet themed national days and awareness days that can help with your ideas.

Again, these can be used to attract new pet owners. For example, in January, we have Dress Up Your Pet Day on the 14th.

If you had a pet boutique this is a time to be talking about your products and ensuring your pet’s accessories fit well.

On the 21st is Squirrel Appreciation day. As a dog walker or trainer, you can talk about what it is that makes dogs want to chase squirrels and the solutions you offer to prevent this.

If you love the idea of writing about awareness days, check out my Pets Get Visible membership

Examples of content that attracts new pet parents

I’ve shared lots of ideas here and I wanted to show how you can put them into practice with some examples.

Jude Davidson, a dog walker from Park Life Honiton did this post on how to help your dog cope when you return to work.

Anna Pollard, a dog groomer from The Dog House wrote about how to prepare your puppy for their first groom.

Kate from Dotty4Paws, which is a directory for pet owners where you can buy products and learn about pet services in your area and pet friendly destinations, did a series of puppy posts.

Kate has a new puppy, Gertie, who came to live with her and her dog Poppy in February, so not only did she share helpful content but her personal experience as a new puppy mum.

She wrote about how to toilet train your pup and how to crate train your puppy – educational and helpful content rather than ‘buy this stuff.’

Michelle Burgess from Scruffy Little Terrier has products for terriers and their humans. 

She wrote about Ten things you’ll know if you have a terrier and a brilliant Christmas gift guide for terrier owners.

SO I hope that’s given you lots of ideas for new pet owners.

If you’d like to stay in touch, you can sign up to get an e mail each time there’s a new podcast out here.

If you found this post helpful, you might like to read How blogging can help your pet business or How to start a pet business blog