Why do your potential or current customers fan your pet business Facebook page?

In a recent study by Syncapse, they asked the question, 'Why Do Consumers Become Facebook Brands Fans?'

They applied a valuation model to 20 major brands across various consumer categories and found that the 'average value of a brand Fan has increased 28% since our 2010 study.' These top brands, had well over 15 million Fans, and more.

In their study they explored what motivates consumers to "Like" or "Fan" a brand, and discovered that 'a majority of Fans are most motivated by emotional and relationship influences, with 49% stating a desire "to support a brand I like" as a reason for becoming a Fan, followed by transactional offers and incentives came second, with 42% of Fans choosing to like a page "to get a coupon or discount.'

You can see from this, and unscientific studies that we've done over the past few years, that you need to connect emotionally with your pet business Facebook fan base, while building a close relationship in order to see ROI results from your Facebook social media.

To learn more about how you can connect closely with your pet business social media prospects and customers, contact us for a free 30 minute consultation to learn how Pawsible Marketing can help you market your pet business.

Alternatives to Google Checkout for your pet business

This coming November 20th, 2013, Google will shut down its Google Checkout product.

For pet businesses currently utilizing Google Checkout, perhaps in addition to Paypal, here’s how this may affect you according to Google:

- Merchants selling digital goods may transition to Google Wallet for digital goods Merchants selling through Google-hosted marketplaces (e.g. Google Play) will be unaffected
- Merchants selling physical goods will need to switch to third-party alternatives.

We've investigated a few alternatives to Google Checkout for a few of our pet business clients and here are our recommendations:

Amazon Payments - Our number one alternative to Google Checkout. Why? Because Amazon has a wonderful brand awareness, and trust within the consumer community. Amazon charges the standard 2.9% + .30 per transaction. Transaction volume above $3,000 per month carries less percentage. Here's what Amazon says about their Payments product:

Checkout by Amazon is a complete checkout and payment solution for ecommerce retailers. You can offer it as a checkout or payment option on your retail website to enable millions of Amazon customers to use information stored in their Amazon.com accounts to buy on your site. Your customers use shipping addresses and payment methods stored in their Amazon.com accounts to checkout on your website.

Braintree - Google recommends Braintree as one of their alternative payment products. Braintree charges 2.9% + .30 per transaction for transaction fees, fairly standard in the industry. Here is what Braintree says about their product:

A free, easy, and completely customizable platform for splitting payments between you and your providers. With zero additional fees, easy compliance, and flexible escrow, payouts are about to get a lot better for your market-style business.

Stripe - Another option for payment transactions, also at the standard 2.9% + .30 per transaction. Stripe is utilized by some heavy hitters on the web including PopSugar and Mashable. Here's what Stripe says about their product:

Stripe is the easiest way to accept credit and debit card payments online. With Stripe, you can create exactly the payment experience you want in your website or mobile app, and (we) they handle everything from security to daily transfers to your bank account.

These recommendations should help you in providing alternative payment systems for your pet business customers.

Kane and Couture pitches the sharks on Shark Tank this Friday.

The second episode of Season 5 of Shark Tank this coming Friday, 9 PM ET, will feature Amber Lee Kane pitching her company, Kane and Couture and her line of dog collars, leashes, harnesses, dresses, shirts and more.

Over the various seasons and episodes there have been six companies pitching pet related products, with only three of them getting deals with the sharks.

Pet business that received deals with the sharks include:

• "CityKitty" Toilet-training product for cats - Season 2, Episode 8 
• "I want to draw a cat for you" An online service that creates and delivers custom cat drawings - Season 3, Episode 2 
• "Ryan's Barkery" all-natural dog treats - Season 4, Episode 26

Those that didn't receive deals include:

• "The Bear and The Rat" dog-friendly frozen yogurt - Season 4, Episode 7 "No Fly Cone" dog excrement fly trap - Season 4, Episode 8
•  "Cornucopia" a veterinarian who created pet food that he claimed could extend a pet's life - Season 1, Episode 9 
• "Bark’em’s To Go" Pet Food To-Go - Season 3, Episode 10

Check your local listings for specific times in your area, and if you miss the episode on Friday you can view it on the Shark Tank website.

Halloween pet spending expectations down in 2013.

According to the National Retail Federation, pet spending relating to the upcoming Halloween holiday is expected to decrease slightly over the previous year.

In 2013, the NRF indicates, "when it comes to pets, 13.8 percent of those celebrating will take the extra time to find the perfect costume for their favorite four-legged friend, and will spend approximately $330 million."

This figure is down from 2012 expectations which indicated, "15.1 percent will ensure their furry friends are part of the fun too, by dressing their pet in costume," with total pet spending at $370 million, up $40 million from 2011. Previous reports indicated 11.5% were expected to dress their pet in costume in 2010, and 14.7% in 2011.

The NRF indicated that in 2012 a record 170 million people had planned to celebrate Halloween with 7 in 10 Americans (up 68.6% over 2011) with total spending expected to reach $8 billion. Compare this with information from the NRF of a survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics indicating nearly 158 million consumers plan to participate in Halloween activities in 2013, less than the 170 million individuals from last year, with total spending estimated in 2013 to reach $6.9 billion, down $1.1 million from 2012.

As part of their research, the NRF (for the first time) asked when people will begin shopping for Halloween, and received the following information from consumers:

• 32.8% begin shopping before September 30
• 67.2% will shop in October
• 43.6% will begin shopping the first two weeks in October
• 23.6% will wait to shop until the final two weeks of the month

Where do they get their inspiration for dressing up?

• 32.8% will look for new ideas in a store
• 20.8% will seek advice from friends or family
• 14.1% will check Facebook for inspiration
• 3.8% percent will review blogs

All of these inspiration percentages are down from 1-3% over last year.

Photo courtesy of Randy Pertiet.

Facebook announces promotions now allowed on page timelines

Facebook made a big announcement this week regarding how promotions are allowed to be conducted on Facebook, that will make many pet business very pleased.

Previously Facebook only allowed promotions, contests and giveaways to be conducted through Facebook apps. Now Facebook indicates...

"We want to make it easier for businesses of all sizes to create and administer promotions on Facebook, and to align our policies to better meet the needs of marketers.

What does this mean for your pet business?

Instead of having to create an app, pay a developer, go through hoops to conduct a contest, giveaway, sampling and more on a tab, to promote your pet business product and services, you can now:

• Simply post and request comment/likes on a page post to select a winner.
• Request fan page followers post on or message your page with a comment, or upload a photo, to select a winner for your promotion or contest.
• Engage more with your audience who may have previously had a hesitation of adding an app to enter your promotion.
• More easily and quickly promote your service and products to your current and prospective audience.
• Continue to create promotions in apps within Facebook that require more complicated info gathering and complex promotions.

Read Facebook's announcement and details on their overall terms of service to be sure you follow Facebook's rules to protect your pet business.

UPDATE: If you are looking for a great tool to help you manage those post like and/or comment promotions, WooBox just launched a system that allows you to randomly select a winner from your Facebook promotion likes or comments, and export those to a file. Remember with this type of promotion you won't be able to acquire email addresses.

Photo courtesy of MoneyBlogNewz.

What segment of your pet business market is the fastest growing population utilizing social media?

According to a new report from Pew Internet and; American Life Project, the number of seniors using social media more than tripled in the last four years.

Now about 43% of Internet users 65 and older say they use social media, compared with just 13% in 2009.

In addition, web users, in the 18-29 age range have the largest percentage of social media users at 89%, followed by 78% growth in the 30-49 age range, and 60% growth in the 50-64 age range.

Conclusions? More and more of your pet business target audience is utilizing social media, primarily Facebook, followed by Twitter and then other social media applications.