Generating Furry Fame: How Pet UGC Can Unleash Brand Loyalty And Success

Cat memes have been going viral ever since the dawn of the internet. (People used to share photos of their furry friends via email).

And for the pet industry, this was fantastic news. Companies didn’t need to embed new concepts in the culture – the content was already out there!

Because of this, pet user-generated content (UGC) is already part of online furniture. Consumers expect it to pop up when browsing YouTube and social media.

It’s also valuable for brands. Animals, like cats and dogs, evoke strong emotional connections in audiences, encouraging creators and influencers to focus on them.

Pets also generate high engagement. People love cute, furry animals and will watch them even alongside strong commercial messaging.

There’s even evidence that leveraging pets UGC overcomes cultural barriers. Audiences love animals across the spectrum, no matter their country of origin or where they live.

If you want to use pet UGC in marketing campaigns, this guide is for you. It explores how to create a pet UGC strategy and how to promote it.

Pet UGC Types: What’s Out There

But first, what types of pet UGC are already out there?

The most common pet UGC are photos and videos. These tap into audiences’ desires for strong visual content and often generate instant emotional responses.

These mediums also make life more straightforward for creators. Taking pictures or videos of animals is often sufficient to garner interest immediately, reducing the workload for marketers.

Pet UGC can also take the form of stories. Blogs, articles, and testimonials about pets can generate engagement among audiences looking for more than mere entertainment.

For example, written content could:

• Review specific dog or cat breeds
• Explain how dogs helped people recover from mental health problems
• Discuss how to take care of unique pets, like fish or chinchillas

Finally – and most relevant to this discussion – pet UGC can take the form of reviews and unboxings. Here, creators and influencers delve into details, explaining how products work and why consumers should invest in them, with content covering everything from new dog collars to pet monitoring systems.

How To Tailor Your Pet UGC Strategy For Success

Before you do anything, it is worth taking the time to tailor your pet UGC strategy. Thinking about it before you go live can help you develop clarity and provide a clearer path forward.

1. Define Your Objectives

Before you spend any money or make connections, define what you want your pet UGC strategy to achieve. Where’s it going?

Some brands’ goal is awareness – they want more people to know about their products and what they offer. For others, the aim is to generate more sales. UGC is often helpful when launching new pet-related products to the market.

It can also help with engagement. Pet food commercials aren’t always interesting for consumers, but influencers have a knack for making them more interesting.

2. Identify The Right Platforms And Audiences

Next, explore the best platforms for pet-related content.

Most brands pick YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok because of how visual they are. However, you could also use pet-related Reddits, subreddits, and forums.

Look for platforms with audiences that align with your ideal customer. Most pet owners are middle-aged and living in suburban neighborhoods on reasonable incomes. But your market could be more niche (such as targeting pension-age cat owners).

3. Create Incentives For Pet Owners To Create Content

Once these elements are in place, offer pet owners incentives to encourage them to create content. (They won’t always do it for nothing!)

Start by listing content guidelines and telling owners what you want. Sometimes small nudges like these can have a profound impact.

You can also encourage them to create content based on specific themes or hashtags. These are useful because they increase the likelihood of them getting noticed.

Other incentives include:

• Liking and sharing their content on your branded social media pages and website
• Commenting on their content
• Offering prizes or giveaways
• Providing discount codes on your products
• Offering a chance to be featured on your website’s home page
• Giving pet owners opportunities to create UGC content to promote your campaign

Consider the incentives you want to offer carefully. Some will be appropriate for your brand and campaign style, but not all.

Making Pet UGC Go Viral

The next step is to make your pet UGC go viral.

Start by partnering with influencers in your niche with a following of eager pet owners. Look for individuals who share a similar message and are willing to advocate for your brand.

Billo (and other tools) can help with this. For example, we maintain a vast database of creators able to generate compelling content on-demand.

Don’t be afraid to work closely with influencers to ensure collaborations feel authentic. Provide them with general guidelines and support that show them what to do. But don’t micromanage them. Let them express their creativity. Getting this balance right can help content go viral.

Once guidelines are in place, focus on promoting content across platforms (as well as your owned channels) if they are relevant. Look for audiences most likely to share your creations.

You can also try running contests and giveaways to drum up more outreach. Best practices include:

• Offering prizes audiences can’t refuse
• Encouraging users to share UGC entries with friends and followers
• Making it straightforward to sign up or take part
• Making the challenges fun and creative (not a chore)

Amplifying content with paid promotions is another option. For example, you could:

• Tailor ads to specific audiences you want to target
• Leverage platform ranking algorithms to tap into virality
• Pay for special “boosts” to increase visibility

Lastly, hopping on current trends is an excellent way to make pet UGC go viral. If you notice a successful video with massive engagement, look for ways to expand or improve it to cash in on the prevailing theme.

How To Turn Cute Pets Into Massive Profits

At the same time as creating viral content, you also want to keep one eye on profits. After all, pet UGC is only helpful for your brand if it generates income.

One approach is to integrate influencer pet content into social media. For example, you could dedicate Mondays to featuring pet UGC on your brands’ channels, creating a sense of regularity and expectation.

You could also add interactive polls and quizzes that incorporate UGC. Combining the two strategies can enhance engagement further and generate incredible results.

Leveraging pet UGC in paid advertising can also be beneficial. For example, you could:

• Use social media ad UGC to endorse your pet products and provide up-front social proof of their value
• Utilize pet UGC to showcase how users enjoy your products
• Target specific groups on social media most likely to benefit from your products

Pet UGC is also beneficial in the real world and elsewhere online. Brands sometimes:

• Add examples to your packaging (for example, telling the story of someone who benefited from your product on the label)
• Use UGC in blog posts and content marketing
• Add reviews and testimonials to product pages (preferably including action shots)
• Use UGC in galleries or carousels on your home page

However, be careful to follow legal guidelines when using these outreach methods. Avoid anything users might construe as animal abuse.

Pet UGC Campaigns That Rocked

For pet UGC, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Instead, you can take ideas from brands already successful. Check out the following case studies:

BarkBox

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A post shared by BarkBox (@barkbox)

BarkBox is a subscription service for pampered dogs that sends them gift boxes in the post every month. The brand encourages pet parents to take videos and photos of their animals enjoying various treats (and generally messing around).

Why was it successful?

BarkBox was successful because it generated an avalanche of content showing cute, furry animals enjoying its products. The content was viral and emotional, encouraging other pet parents to jump on board and pamper their four-legged friends as well.

Petsmart

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A post shared by PetSmart (@petsmart)

Petsmart took a slightly different approach. It launched a contest, encouraging owners to share images and videos of their pets, promising to feature the winners on its social media accounts.

Why was it successful?

Petsmart’s campaign was successful because it brought together a community of pet lovers. Everyone wanted to share pictures and videos of their animals and how they care for them.

It also added to Petsmart’s credibility and legitimacy. Suddenly, everyone seemed to be recommending the brand.

Purina

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A post shared by Purina (@purina)

Lastly, pet food company Purina wanted to get in on the action with its #MyPurinaPet campaign. The idea was to create a hashtag that let users share content easily with a broader audience. Winning entries would appear on the company’s website gallery.

Why was it successful?

Purina’s campaign was successful because it focused on relatable pet stories everyone understands. It knew how to forge an emotional connection with its audience through the unbridled use of cuteness. However, it also showed off the quality of its products to prospective clients, boosting sales further.