Pet Age

Patenting Your Pet Product

So you’ve developed the next great innovation for the pet industry and have applied for a domestic patent.

But, what’s next?

Those considering international patent protection, need to be mindful that there is a limited timeframe available for applying for international patent protection.

This is where Inovia can help.

Since 2002, they have been working with inventors, companies, law firms and universities to reduce the cost and administrative burden of foreign filing. With their technology, they can estimate an accurate cost estimate and place an order for filing into multiple countries in less than 5 minutes.

Inovia offers a number of resources for inventors, startups and small companies seeking international patent protection, including a monthly “International Patenting 101” webinar series.

For more information on the international filing process and where Inovia fits in to your plan, contact Nicole Gannon at [email protected] or 646-237-3875.

WholesalePet.com Gets a Makeover

WholesalePet.com recently underwent a redesign of their website that includes a cleaner appearance, more intuitive navigation and enhanced mobile capability.

“The driving theme during the redesign process was, ‘look good, feel better and get more done,’” Bo Nelson, WholesalePet.com president, said. “Our site is product rich and we believe the cleaner appearance will create a better customer experience.”

The new site has improved navigation to make it even easier for retailers to find the perfect products for their store, discover new vendors and manage their paperwork all in one place. Another key component of the website design is making it more compatible.

“Customers are increasingly accessing our site through their mobile devices and our new site is iPad friendly,” Nelson said. “We have been in business 12 years and are always trying to improve our customer experience; this is just another step in the process for WholesalePet.com to become an indispensable tool for independent pet retailers.”

PIJAC Launches New Campaign

The pet industry has helped more than 7.5 million homeless and shelter pets in the last two decades, and now the remarkable stories of community outreach and support will be captured in the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council’s newest program, The Pet Effect.

The Pet Effect grew out of the awareness of the profound impact that pets have on people – and the responsibility to have a positive effect on theirs. In discussions with individual companies across the United States, PIJAC realized that the best way to positively impact society is to demonstrate that giving back makes a difference.

The program is a cache of individual stories with collective impact, intended to ignite more companies, and individuals, toward doing great things in their communities, all in the name of assisting pets, homeless or not, and responsible pet owners.

“The Pet Effect is a program intended to ‘lead by example,’” Mike Canning, president and CEO of PIJAC, said. “It is no accident that the pet industry takes the lead in advancing local initiatives that enable rescues, help shelter animals and promote pet education throughout the U.S. Those of us in the industry have a passion for pets and this dedication to responsible pet ownership engenders amazing generosity from the pet industry.”

Rubies Offers New Line of Costumes, Accessories

Rubie’s Pet Shop Boutique, a division of Rubie’s Costume Company, Inc., is introducing a new line of pet costumes and accessories.

Designed for the fashion forward pet, the collection features hundreds of non-licensed and licensed costumes including: Star Wars, Batman, Superman, Hello Kitty, Ghostbusters, Elvis and Wizard of Oz.

The vast selection of products also extends beyond Halloween to other special occasions such as Easter, 4th of July, St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas and more. In addition, the unique line of accessories includes wigs, hats, tutus, bandanas, wings and hair bows.

From princesses and pirates to hot dogs and tacos, each Rubie’s costume is carefully constructed for comfortable fit and is available in a variety of sizes ranging from small to XXL.

“Last year alone, Americans spent over $300 million on pet Halloween costumes,” Erin Breig, sales and product development at Rubie’s, said. “It was a natural progression for Rubie’s to expand our line of pet costumes and accessories. Pets have become such an important part of the family dynamic, and we are thrilled to provide them with even more unique costume options.”

Rubie’s, the world’s largest manufacturer of Halloween costumes and accessories, specializes in the creation, design, manufacturing, and distribution of costumes, make-up, wigs, masks, hats, prosthetics and accessory items.

For more information or to request a catalog email Breig at [email protected], call 516-326-1500 x257 or visit www.rubies.com.

Planet Dog Offers New Displays and Signage

Planet Dog’s new branded display, aims to help retailers improve their operational flexibility, work the benefits of merchandising versatility and increase their turns and profitability.

Made in Maine of pine and hardboard, the updated branded display boasts a smaller footprint, and easily ships in one flat box.

The new display measures 58”h x 16 ¼”w with an 18” footprint. The unit comes with 48 heavy-duty 6” pegs for display versatility.

The newly updated signs are offered to retailers to help them market and sell Planet Dog products. Their signs now offer three messages in three sizes each: Planet Dog DNA words, Orbee-Tuff Chew Toy attributes and the Planet Dog Guarantee – 100 percent any time, every time.

Each sign is available in a 5” x7” space saver that slides into a plexi holder and comes with an optional easel-back; a 10” x 10” shelf-talker that boasts grommets and an easel-back; and the 23” x 12” double-sided header with grommets for hanging.

Retailers can visit Planet Dog’s retailer website, www.planetdogretailer.com, for more information

Trickle Down Marketing

Editor’s letter as published in the July issue of Pet Age.

In this month’s issue, one of our guest columnists, Kerry Sutherland, talks about why retailers should ask brands about their public relations strategies.

She bring up a very good point in explaining that their public relations outreach can help retail business owners, because they are generating brand awareness, which if done correctly, will have customers coming into your store asking for certain products.

But, brand awareness goes beyond just traditional public relations. Pet product manufacturers, whether they are making food, toys, clothing, treats, flea and tick medication or joint supplements, are using a variety tools to help drive consumers toward their product, and ultimately into a retail store.

For example, at the end of May I spent two days with Halo, Purely for Pets, at a pop-up shop they set up for a month in New York City. But, it wasn’t your typical pop-up. Instead it was to unite pet lovers, provide easy ways for visitors to help pets in need and engage customers with the Halo brand and mission to give back to the community.

They also partnered with local retailers for various promotions, as well as gave out branded coupons for visitors to use at their local retail stores, whether they were in New York City, or not. Part of the mission was to create brand awareness and drive traffic to stores that carry their brand.

While the Halo campaign falls on the larger, more elaborate scale, there are also smaller, personal ways that pet companies are garnering attention for their brands. One way is through blogger outreach. In May, large companies like Hills, Hartz, Natural Balance and Marshall Pet Products, as well as smaller companies like Zero Odor, Be Pawsitive and Just4MyPet spent three days introducing their products to hundreds of influential pet bloggers during BlogPaws, one of two social media conferences geared toward the pet industry.

They showed off their new products, educated them on the benefits and gave them samples to take home with the hopes of them liking their product and writing about it.
Boiled down to the simplest of terms, it’s like gifting suites at Hollywood events. If you get a celebrity to endorse your brand, or like your product, it will create “buzz” and everyone will want to go out and buy your product at their local store.

Well, replace celebrity with influential blogger.

But, it’s not all about the swag for these brands – it’s also about educating the consumer.

During the event, I had the opportunity to attend an invite-only luncheon sponsored by Hartz where they educated bloggers not just about their brand, but about overall flea and tick control, the importance of regular veterinary visits, their company’s history and more.

These types of outreach are in addition to consumer and trade advertising, social media and other campaigns companies are using to in their marketing toolbox to help drive traffic into your store.
So, when you are at your next trade show, open house or working with your local sales rep, ask them about these programs. You may be surprised at the extent they are working to help bring you customers.

Cashing In On Technology

Just as technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, it is starting to become more important in our pets lives as well.

PetSafe, has been a leader in the area of pet technology. Started in 1991 by Randy Boyd, the company was the first to come out with wireless fencing and since then has introduced numerous products that better a pet and pet owner’s life by using technology. Some of those products help control barking and assist with training.

It all started when Boyd was selling cattle fencing and his customers were asking about fence products for pets. At the time it was professionally done and people wanted a do-it-yourself version. When the patent came off the original electric fence, he learned how to make one on his own and then sold the do-it-yourself version to people.

“We have two ways of introducing new products, either taking existing products and making them better or invent technology to help the pet ownership experience,” Jason Hart, director of marketing of PetSafe, said. “We have over 300 patents. Some are products we built ourselves or from acquiring patens.”

The company is constantly using new technologies to better their products, including their wireless fencing system.

“At Global we debuted the wireless mapping fence,” Hart said. “Before, people who did wireless fencing did it by making a giant circle on the yard, which is great, but no one’s yard is a circle. Now with our product you can map out exactly where you want your invisible fence to be.”

They are always looking to make products that take the latest trends in tech and incorporate them into an owner’s life. One way they are doing that is through their selective entry for their dog doors.

“Using your computer you can select when a dog or other pet can go in and out of your house,” Hart said. “Soon, you will be able to do it through your Smartphone with an app. We are always looking at what technology is doing and how it’s evolving in the mainstream. Now-a-days it’s Smartphones, years ago it was Bluetooth. We see what’s out there and try to bring it in the pet world.”

Hart believes the pet industry as a whole is behind other industries as far as technology, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, he said.

“At the end of the day, you are making products for the pet and how it helps them,” Hart said. “A lot of technology out there helps people but that’s not what we are doing, we are there for the pets. My dog will still be happy with a good old stick in the yard. What you will see with technology in the pet industry is technology that helps in convenience. More apps to feed your dog, interact with your dog, things to improve the pet ownership experience.”

Fun Activities

Gordon Spater, principal of Kurgo, has seen that a lot of people were trying to take pictures from their dog’s perspective.
“We know how to make harnesses and we knew our Tru-Fit Smart Harness was sturdy enough to hold a camera so we decided to make it so you can equip a GoPro to it,” Spater said. “When you buy the GoPro they offer a grab-bag of different mounts. We have the attachment on our harness for one of the mounts that GoPro makes.”

Spater loves the product because it incorporates the idea of pets and pet owners setting off to see the world together and having fun.

“I think that what’s neat about this is, our company is all about getting people and their dogs out there and enjoying the outside and using technology to enhance the animal-human bond,” Spater said. “People are interested in it for fun trips just down to the ocean or lake. Also, a lot of people use it for hunting when a dog goes to look for the bird. It’s just exciting to see a product really help with the bond between pets and pet owners.”

Besides making products for adventures, Kurgo also uses technology to keep pets safe.

“We have a vest that’s made of nylon that features reflective piping around the outside of it and in the back is a pocket where it comes with a blinking LED light,” Spater said. “You can turn it on when you go for a run; it blinks or stays solid to help protect dogs and their owners.”
Spater had the idea when he was getting ready to go for a run with his dog.

“The jacket is a windbreaker type of jacket,” Spater said. “It’s a pretty simple idea but no one else really has it. I run in the morning with my dog and I spent a lot of time in the morning clipping different things onto my dog for safety. This was easier because it was just one thing to clip on.”

Protecting Animals

In 2009 Tom Arnold wanted to figure out a way to use technology to help improve an animal’s life. It then grew into becoming a protection service for animals and started Pet Hub.

Pet Hub is a tag that is put on a pet’s collar that has a QR code with all the information someone would need if the pet is found.

“Last summer we launched a key part of our service, the found pet hotline,” Lorien Clemens, manager of marketing and outreach at Pet Hub, said. “All of our tags have a toll-free hotline and a call center that is 24/7 and it will email the owner of the pet immediately when their pet’s tag is scanned.”

Recently, Pet Hub started incorporating NFC, near field communications, technology to their pet tags.

“Using NFC it allows people to tap the tag and it instantly goes to the pet’s profile,” Clemens said. “It just makes it so much easier to get the pet information since you won’t have to try to scan the tag. A lot of Smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4, have the NFC readers in them already.”

Pet Hub is also currently working with another pet company to do a real-time GPS system.

Tagg – the Pet Tracker describes themselves as a cell phone for your pet.

“It’s a very smart phone for your pet,” Dudley Fetzer, senior director of sales and marketing at Snaptracs, the developer of Tagg – the Pet Tracker, said. “When your pet leaves home and it’s not known by anyone, the phone calls home and it lets you know when the dog has left and asks you if you want to track your dog.”

The tracker is designed to be worn on an existing collar and the pet owner sets up a perimeter around their house where they want the pet to stay. If the pet leaves the area, the owner can be alerted by their Smartphone, or from a web app.

“I like to receive emails, but my wife likes getting SMS text messages,” Fetzer said. “We could also set it up so that our neighbors or children get the message, just in case we are not home.”

Besides using the product to help locate a lost pet, Tagg also is helping to fight the battle against obesity.

“With Tagg, it allows you to track your pet’s activity levels to help fight obesity,” Fetzer said. “It’s a nice way to monitor their activity levels over a period of time. It allows you to make changes to their diet or exercise pattern if need be.

The combination of pets and technology can be a good source of revenue for pet store owners.

“With technology I think there is a real opportunity there,” he said. “People spend a lot of time and money and have strong feelings for their pet. Retail stores need to stay on top of what customers need.”

Bright Lights

Advancements in technology are not just reserved for those animals with four legs. For fish tanks, LED lighting is quickly becoming a popular option.

LED Moonlight’s by Lunar Lighting, debuted around 10 years ago and it’s the time Aquatic Life said that LEDs were being used in the aquarium hobby. Then after moonlights, they saw them used in Betta bowls and nano aquariums before coming more popular and in larger aquaria.
LED lighting uses power more efficiently compared to standard lighting.

“Since most traditional lights product light in a 360 degree output, you need a reflector to redirect the back 180 degree to the location needing the light,” Michael Elliot, of Aquatic Life, said. “LED typically product light in a 110-140 degree angle, thus not requiring an inefficient reflector to redirect the back portion of light as in the traditional lighting.”

Why go with LED lighting? LED’s target the light better into the area to be lit, thus a very energy efficient light.

“Single LEDs are not as broad a spectrum of light as fluorescent lamps, so combinations of different color LEDs are needed,” Elliot said. “Because of the need to use different color LEDs, there is a potential problem of color branding. Thus it is important to use the correct combination of LEDs and diffusers to better mix the LED light.”

The Trend of No

With nearly 80 million dogs in the United States, the dog treat segment is an important one for retailers to maximize.

According to the 2011-2012 American Pet Products Association’s National Pet Owners Survey, dog owners surveyed said they spend about $70 annually on food treats, and trends in the dog treat segment follow trends in consumer preferences for their own snack and packaged foods.

As consumers become more aware of the ingredients stocked on the supermarket shelves, that knowledge affects how consumers shop for their dogs. The concern for better nutrition combined with a consumer’s desire to spoil their dogs has resulted in a growing segment: gourmet dog treats.

Historically, the gourmet dog treat market was comprised of small and locally-owned manufacturers. Dog bakeries dot the urban landscape. And while it’s been a niche business, it’s expanding rapidly along with consumer demand for healthy, high-quality treats.

Driven by consumer demand, large-scale pet food companies have recently entered the gourmet treat segment.

For example, Hill’s launched their Ideal Balance line, which is their natural product line and includes chicken and beef jerky strips.

Simultaneously, some smaller producers have gained widespread distribution. Brands like American Jerky, Cloud Star and Dogswell started small, but now have widely-available products.

However, it’s important to consider, and leverage, the mom-and-pop roots of gourmet dog treat production.

According to an August 2011 Small Business Saturday Consumer Pulse from American Express OPEN, spending is increasing at locally-owned small business. Retailers can take advantage of that spending trend by stocking locally-sourced gourmet dog treats.

For example, in Indiana, Mister Buck’s Genuinely Good Pet Food Company produces a line of gourmet dog treats that are becoming available in pet stores and grocery stores across the state. Consumers interested in supporting a local business are drawn to the brand because they are based in Indiana. Likewise, California-based Grandma Lucy’s is a popular brand available through nearly 20 different pet retailers.

There are several factors propelling the gourmet treat segment forward. Consumers are becoming savvy about the role nutrition plays in overall health, and that translates into their pet food purchases. Trends in gourmet dog treats are following trends in consumer grocery purchases.

A Driving Force

For example, one of the biggest trends driving the gourmet dog treat segment is grain free.

“Almost every brand that had a re-launch in the past year is releasing grain-free versions,” Wag.com said. “They are replacing oats and wheat with chickpeas or sweet potato. You’ll hear this wave of products referred to as the ‘no’s’: no corn, no wheat, no soy, no artificial preservatives.”

The grain-free trend emerged alongside an increased awareness of food sensitivities and allergies – in both people and pets. Experts predict the demand for grain-free gourmet dog treat options to increase.

Cloud Star offers two grain-free versions of their popular Buddy Biscuits. The crunchy version is available in three flavors: Smooth Aged Cheddar, Rotisserie Chicken and Homestyle Peanut Butter. The chewy version is available in four flavors: Slow Roasted Beef, Smooth Aged Cheddar, Rotisserie Chicken and Homestyle Peanut Butter. In both options, Cloud Star offers retailers a discount for purchasing in bulk.

Other pet food brands are introducing grain-free gourmet treat options, as well. For example, Innova produces two grain-free treats as part of their PRIME line. One is a chicken formula, and the other is beef and lamb.

Another ingredient-driven trend in gourmet dog treats is an increase in products containing antioxidants. Antioxidants have become popular for their ability to help the body fight disease and prevent infection.

Treats that incorporate fruits and vegetables that are known antioxidants are becoming increasingly more popular. BLUE launched a product line called Super Bars that contains ingredients like blueberries, pomegranates, cranberry, and pumpkin – all popular antioxidants in human food.

The brand Get Naked, owned by Natural Polymer International Corp., also offers antioxidant-rich treats. Their treats are dental chews, combining functionality with nutrition, a mix that appeals to health-conscious consumers.

Already, brands are capitalizing on this shift in consumer preference.

In addition to the Hill’s Ideal Balance line, there are other large companies entering this arena or expanding upon existing offerings. Companies like Merrick that have always produced natural food options are expanding their treat options to accommodate consumer demand. While these bigger brands are expanding their offerings, this is one area in which smaller companies shine.

For example, the Barker Street Bakery in Houston, Texas, offers all-natural treats that are handmade and decorated on site. Available nationally, Pink Dog Bakery makes a line of natural cupcakes and biscuits, and according to the company, they have grown to be one of the largest providers of gourmet dog treats in the country.

As the demand for gourmet dog treats grows, manufacturers are answering that demand with increased offerings.

– Maggie Marton

Retailers Can Profit From Brand Power

If only we lived in a magical place where shelf space was unlimited and inventory budgets didn’t exist. A retail dream.

Now, wake up.

Unfortunately in the retail world, space is limited, very limited, and only allows for the real ‘winners’ to secure a piece of that coveted shelf space real estate.

As a retailer, you’re doing your best to select only the top, most sellable, pet products for your store. But, with increasing competition in the marketplace, it can be difficult to know which brand is not just the best for your customers’ needs, but is also going to produce real sales results for your store.

One important aspect that retailers should not dismiss when selecting inventory is the public relations efforts of their merchandisers. In some respects, a company’s commitment to ongoing promotion efforts ranks just as important as their other sales efforts, as it should.

Seldom now does a product or company attribute the majority of their success to retail placement alone. It’s the buzz, the need and the attention generated that helps drive customers to stores.

Start Asking Questions

Now more than ever, you need to be asking manufacturers about their public relations strategy.

Some beneficial questions include: What are you doing to build the power of your brand in the eyes of the end consumer? How are you interacting with your audiences online, through traditional media? What about any recent media coverage successes?

Basically, what are you doing as a company to position your brand and products above the competition, and how will that plan evolve over the next year?

If the brand is savvy, they should have their marketing and public relations efforts outlined to you in their sales presentation, answering these questions before you even have to ask.

If you’re not immediately satisfied with their answers, go ask their top three to five competitors the exact same questions.
While this may seem like added work or measures to take, in the end, I’m confident that your research will help you arrive at the best brand, and product lines, to attract customers to your business.

At the same time, those manufacturers who are truly committed to building their brand awareness, and implementing real public relations and marketing strategies deserve your attention, support and business.

Their investment in their own company ultimately is an investment in your business as well. It’s a 360-degree approach. We’re all working towards a common end goal, and our collective efforts will produce the very best results.

Kerry Sutherland is the principal of K. Sutherland PR, a boutique public relations, social media and branding agency specializing in the pet industry. With offices in Irvine, Calif. and Reno, Nev., Kerry and her team produce innovative and personalized campaigns for pet brands to help their clients stand out in a cluttered market, and grow business. Contact her directly at [email protected] or visit www.KSutherlandPR.com.

Sniffing Out Opportunities

Have you ever walked into an industry event, or even onto a tradeshow floor and thought, “What now? How can I navigate this? Who is most important to meet, and where are they? Do I know anyone?”

Or worse, you have negative chatter going through your mind such as: “I know no one! I am so out of place here! What was I thinking? I should turn around and go.”

Networking events can be fraught with angst for even well-connected, confident pet professionals.

Here are some tips to help you when you enter the jostling, generally jovial but many times confusing, arena of networking.

First: What is it you want to accomplish? For many it’s to meet new contacts; however what will you do then? Without a plan in place or a goal in mind the time you spend at social and industry events can be wasted.

Here are two goals, or intentions, that will help you. Set your mind on meeting at least two people you want to learn something about or from, and then have a couple of questions in mind that will engage and interest those you meet.

Second: Be a magnet. Networking goes both ways, and you’ll be more successful at it if you position yourself as someone interesting.
To draw people to you, wear color around your face. People are drawn to color, because it makes them feel good.
Wear a smile. This one thing is probably the best tip ever, yet its one most people forget to engage.

Third: Be prepared. Of course you have your business cards, and, if you’re really savvy, your own name badge to make it easy for others to see your name and identify your business.

However, when you secure a business card from another person, how are you going to remember who they were a month from now?
Here’s a tip that works for me. It’s proven especially valuable at trade shows and other events where I secure many business cards at one time, making it difficult to remember who is who, and what we discussed.

Get a small notebook, and prior to the event, put paperclips on about 10 of the pages. Slip a pen onto the notebook and have it ready in your pocket or purse. When you receive a business card, simply slip it under one of the paperclips and jot down a couple of points next to it in your notebook to help jog your memory later.

Place the cards in the order of who you met. Then, when you go through them later, it will be like retracing your steps, which is another good memory tool.

Fourth: Doing all this is pointless if you don’t actually do post-event follow up. That’s why it’s often easier, and better, to meet a few people you really connect with instead of meeting hundreds who you soon forget.
When you plan your networking and your follow-up, you can plan on reaping the benefits.

Shawna Schuh is president and chief pet wrangler of Women in the Pet Industry Network, the only cross-category network for pet professionals to grow, give and connect for mutual benefit. You can reach her at [email protected] or 503-970-5774 or www.WomenInThePetIndustry.com.

Leading the Conversation

Amidst the great juggling act of running a small business marketing efforts all too often find themselves at the bottom of the to-do list; de-prioritized in the face of more pressing concerns, like fixing a broken appliance, reordering stock or simply dealing with customers.
And yet, promoting and managing word of mouth has never been more important or less time consuming for brick and mortar merchants, including pet stores.

For some brick and mortar merchants the need to be online can seem questionable, but a recent guest blogger on the ShopKeep POS blog, Megan Webb-Morgan of Resource Nation, summed up the counter argument nicely:

“Whether you like it or not, your business is already online – featured in directory listings, reviewed online and mentioned on social media. If you’re not the one controlling those messages, you open yourself up to having a lot of bad advertising and misinformation spread about your business.”

With that in mind, here are some thoughts on tools and best practices.

Smarter Emailing

Email marketing can be a surprisingly powerful tool in general for small, local businesses to engage their existing customer base. As consumers, we are used to being bombarded by messages from large corporations. Given that, an ultra-personal email from our local merchant can feel like a breath of fresh air.

I really believe in the power of building an email list for a small business; I even incorporated the ability to collect customer emails at the point of sale into ShopKeep POS. Once you have that list it’s important to strike a balance between frequent engagement and spam. There is a great tool for managing this process called MailChimp.

Your average small business is working with limited time and money so you want to make sure you are directing your efforts where they will have the most impact. John, of Lucky Dogs DIY Dog Wash in College Station, Texas, uses ShopKeep POS to track the size of the dogs being washed by his service.

The dogs that come through his service are allocated to small, medium and large tubs based on weight. By analyzing his sales data he was able to see that his small dog tubs simply weren’t being kept as busy on the weekends. As a result he could target small dogs in his advertising with a promotional email offering weekend discounts for them.

As a general rule, when you email your customers, think ultra-personal and ultra-targeted.

Managing the Conversation

Consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to decide whether businesses are trustworthy and desirable. I’ve seen people stand directly outside the door of a business they are considering, looking up the place on Yelp, finding negative reviews and then walking away.
It is vital that you are engaging customers on their preferred review platforms, whether it’s Yelp, Google+ or Foursquare. Make sure all the information is factually accurate and try to soften criticisms with a really polite, understanding response to any negative reviews.

For straight social media management, it’s crucial that you take ownership of your online profiles and guide the conversation about your business in the right direction. We use HootSuite, and I highly recommend it. The HootSuite dashboard displays all your brand mentions from multiple social networks on one screen which simplifies the way you listen and respond to your customers.

More than anything, it greatly reduces the time required to stay on top of things, which is important because 46 percent of Americans have used a branded social media page to voice negative criticism. It is really crucial that this criticism is handled and diffused in the right way, with a transparent and helpful attitude.

The good news for everyone involved in the pet industry, is this, there is literally nothing people like sharing more than stories, images and videos involving pets, so you’re online profile will have everyone grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

Jason Richelson started ShopKeep POS, a cloud-based iPad point-of-sale solution for businesses, so merchants could easily take customer transactions better track their sales and operations while also saving time and money. You can contact Jason at [email protected]

Marketing 101

Plans help us identify where we want to go and how to get there. Most businesses know that having a business plan is important, but what about a marketing plan?

The marketing plan usually gets forgotten, but in actuality, it is one of the most important components. So, I will take this time to give you some tips on what it takes to make a good marketing plan that you can use for your store.

First, find a place that is quiet where you cannot be disturbed. You will want to make sure that you can devote at least an hour to this important business planning activity.

For the initial section, you should give a descriptive overview of your store and identify your mission statement. The mission statement typically describes the overall goal of your business.

Are you looking to be the top selling natural pet store in your area? Maybe you are looking to be the top fish supplier on the east coast.

Next, you will want to complete a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is comprised of identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

This section is very important, because it allows you to really get an understanding for your business and its environment. Be sure to take time to really think each part through. And, don’t forget to list your competitors in the threat section.

Next, you will want to identify who your current customers are and who your future customers could be. The latter is important because this is potential new business.

Now, you will want to identify how your store is positioned.

Are you a full-service pet store that carries everything? Maybe you are a store that solely focuses on all-natural foods and treats.

There is no right or wrong answer here, but being able to identify your position is key. You will then want to list the brands/products that you carry and ask, “do they support your position?” Are there brands that don’t fit your position and are there brands that you don’t carry that you should be?

Now, identify your marketing strategy. This is my favorite part.

What types of marketing activities will it take to retain your customers today and what do you have to do to gain those future target customers? Be sure to get an idea of the cost for each of the marketing activities so you can mark down an estimated budget for each.

Also, a good practice here is to list the types of activities your competitors engage in. This does not mean that you should be doing the same activities, but it does allow you to analyze each to see if it makes sense for your business.

Now, it is time to put together an implementation timeline for these activities. Don’t try to be overly ambitious. Entrepreneurs are very busy people. You have done all of this hard work putting together a great plan, be sure to plan accordingly so that you can reap the rewards.

One essential thing you will want to do prioritize the activities that will get you the biggest bang for your buck. You will also want to target easy activities that can make an easy, positive impact on your business.

And lastly, measure and reassess your plan constantly. I recommend at least once a year. Your marketplace will always change and you will want to make sure you are in tune to your store’s environment. Also, new competitors and new types of marketing could emerge.

Next month, I will talk about some good, basic marketing ideas that your store can implement relatively quick and cheap.

Jessica Farina is the director of marketing for Phillips Pet Food & Supplies, a large pet food and supply distributor. Her undergraduate degree is in business with a minor in psychology and her MBA is from DeSales University with a concentration in marketing. Jessica also teaches marketing classes at a local community college.

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Month: July 2013