Have you ever thought about what it might be like to create an awareness day?
We see so many of them on social media and they can be created for all kinds of industries, from charities to individuals.
When Kerry Jordan spotted some bizarre awareness days in a media diary, she decided to create her own.
Three years on, Kerry’s images have reached people all over the world, she’s trended on Twitter and even had Snoop Dog and Chelsea FC get involved.
She’s recently appeared in The Times sharing her tips and on BBC Radio Kent, all thanks to her awareness day.
I spoke to her about how it worked and you can listen in here:
Kerry shares how she was an award winning wedding photographer then six years ago her career took a turn towards dog photography after snaps of her pet dogs caused a surge in owners to hire her for their own pet photoshoots.
She said: “I didn’t realise photography for dogs was a thing! It grew so popular, now 98% of my work is dogs – I love it. My five pet whippets bring me so much joy and I love to capture moments of other peoples pets.
“Scout, my first dog, changed my life – because of him I moved house and it really was the pictures of them that lead my career to where it is now.”
Kerry’s career has led her to work with pet brands from all over the UK, including Dogs and Horses, Ollie & Co and she’s seen her photos feature in books and national media.
She said: “I’ve worked with Debbie from Redhound for dogs, who make whippet attire, for six years now.
“Through Debbie we published a book – ‘Dogs in jumpers’. I’ve also had pictures in The Times Home – it was so exciting!”
After attending a marketing event three years ago Kerry was inspired to look into ways to get people talking about pet photography.
She said: “I was at Janet Murray’s content event and was given her Media Diary which has awareness days for each month.
“When I was reading it I was shocked at how people come up with such abstract days, such as ‘Ugly Truck Day’ and why?
“Then I thought to myself ‘what would my day be?’ and that’s how the idea came about.
“I’ve seen such a rise in dog photography and Instagram accounts for dogs so I thought of the day and it just steam rolled from there.”
National Dog Photography day launched on the 26th July 2017 via social media, encouraging people to share pictures of their dogs with the hashtag.
Last year for its second year #NationalDogPhotographyDay trended on Twitter and was featured on BBC, Radio One, BBC Breakfast and top brands like John Lewis and This Morning got involved.
Even celebrities such as Harry Styles and Chelsea football club joined in.
Kerry shared her top tips for creating a National Awareness Day for pet business owners:
- Choose the day carefully
“The main thing is just to have fun – even if it’s a serious topic still have fun.Pick a day that is free – make sure there are no other big awareness days which you can check on google. Make sure the day is something that resonates with people and they can easily get involved with.”
2. Get your clients involved from the start
“Make sure you build momentum to the day. Maybe even involve your clients from the start – ask them what day they would like so they already feel invested and want to get involved.
3. Register your day
“Then when you’ve decided contact year ahead.com to see what days are coming up and let them know about your idea – I had to convince them why I wanted to do it and how it would work before it was set up.”
4. Create events to drive the day
“I held a charity event for my awareness day too which got a lot of attention – using Facebook to promote this. This year it’s going to be even bigger and I’m hoping to break a Guinness Record!”
5. Make sure you’re present on social media on the actual day
“Social media is definitely your friend for awareness days, make sure you share any content and reply to people. Last year I went back and re-shared all the content from the previous year so that people were reminded it was happening again. I ended up reaching around 30,000 people last year alone on Twitter!”
Kerry found that the awareness day opened up plenty of opportunities for her pet business as well as giving her extra credibility as the owner of National Dog Photography day.
The success of the day even secured her a slot speaking at one of Janet Murray’s talks sharing her top tips for launching an Awareness Day.
Kerry said: “Setting up the day has opened so many opportunities and I would recommend anyone who is thinking of doing the same to go for it!”
Find out more about Kerry’s day here: Kerry Jordan’s National Dog Photography Day goes viral.
Are you thinking of launching an Awareness Day?
You can register it at: www.yearahead.com/
If you’d like to find out more about Kerry, visit: www.furandfables.com/ where you can find all her social media channels.
And don’t forget to get snap happy of your dog this #NationalDogPhotographyDay on July 26th and get Kerry trending on Twitter again.
