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Although most companies employ many of the same marketing techniques, it’s fair to say that each has a unique strategy. This makes the advertising landscape interesting. Today, we’re going to explore ten dog food companies—we’ll see what they do, where they advertise, and how they advertise. Hopefully, you’ll pick up some advice and recognize that, even within the same industry, marketing strategies and techniques can vary widely.
Ollie produces and delivers healthy dog food using human-grade ingredients. You may have seen the name on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. However, Ollie doesn’t just sell dog food. It delves into health, nutrition, breed information and even recipes for owners on its website blog. As a result of its growth, Ollie has received a great deal of attention in the press and has been featured by LA Times, Martha Stewart, Business Insider, and The Today Show.
One of the first things we noticed about this pet food brand is the way it humanizes dogs. Ollie recognizes that dogs become valued members of the family, so it promises to treat them that way too. In terms of content, it uses clean images and simple words and explanations. Two of its most effective marketing techniques are introductory special offers and testimonials on social media.
With NomNomNow, users can subscribe and receive food for their dogs regularly. Most recently, it has focused on social media, and now boasts a presence on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
In our opinion, the service excels in two main areas. Recently, it ran a giveaway competition on social media (and everybody loves a good giveaway). The outcome brought exposure for the brand, a lucky winner, and business from those who didn’t win but bought something from the website anyway.
NomNomNow also shares customer testimonials online. It differentiates itself by encouraging customers to share their photos on social media. These days, the recommendations of family members, friends and colleagues are the most trustworthy reviews you can get. In addition, customers themselves get a thrill when the company shares their photos.
Wild Earth is a vegan subscription-based dog food service. Like Ollie, we want to focus on their blog. Wild Earth uses social media in an innovative way. We love the fact that it covers a wide range of topics in its articles and blog posts. We’ve read articles on topics such as dog health, the environment, ingredients and important questions for vet visits. At the time of writing this, the team recently posted about coronavirus.
If you watch Shark Tank (which was a form of marketing in itself), you might recognize this company. Its content uses clean images, simple words, and links to products available in certain stores. Like the first two dog food brands, Wild Earth offers testimonials and other customer-led content.
So what makes Wild Earth different? Sustainability is an important brand value that it embraces. Unlike other brands, the food is formulated by vets. Wild Earth even shared a video of the CEO eating dog food, and involved the whole team in telling the story!
Next, we come to The Farmer’s Dog. This company has a reputation for responding to comments on Facebook. It has become somewhat of a USP, and we’re all for it. While The Farmer’s Dog is active on Twitter and Instagram and with blogging, nothing compares to its Facebook strategy. When companies communicate with customers there, it comes with a number of benefits:
This brand’s advertising focuses highly on how its products help with specific health problems.
Customers choose Stella & Chewy’s for the high-quality ingredients it uses in its pet food. Whether you are looking for dry or wet food, the brand offers something for every occasion. However, we’re more interested in its advertising habits, which include Instagram and Facebook. The website also has a blog that discusses lifestyle, health and its products. It focuses on selling online and in physical stores in the Midwest.
We chose Stella & Chewy’s because two of its biggest marketing techniques are offline: it uses bright red packaging and a simple tagline: ‘Only the Good Stuff.’ These features make the company instantly recognizable. On its blog and website content, Stella & Chewy emphasize the healing power of its dog food and the importance of having trusted and reliable suppliers.
Across the website, there are interesting visuals and original word choice. It even offers coupons for your pet’s birthday! Common words used to provide value for the reader include:
Stella & Chewy’s also does work for the community by encouraging senior pet adoption and providing food to rescues and shelters around the country.
Ziwi Pets’ USP is that it produces its food products in New Zealand and aligns with the buzz around nutrition. The tone of all marketing content is geared towards education and becoming a leader in marketing rather than solicitous jargon.
We believe Ziwi Pets is unique because of its focus on education. It made videos which explain the air-drying process in which the food is manufactured and the role protein plays in the processing method. It even produced content on scoop measurements!
Offering both fresh and frozen meals, Just Food For Dogs has a huge social presence on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Coupled with an informative blog, customers have a clear path to communication with the brand.
The company also has social proof, evidenced by survey results, testimonials, studies and thousands of five-star reviews. It demonstrates its value through cooking classes, community outreach, and custom formulas.
It’s hard to look past the social media marketing strategy of Freshpet, which has a total of 46 ads and a blog with tips for pet owners, a page for vets and general care advice. Freshpet aims to make things as easy as possible for users. Features include products based on factors such as pet needs, ingredient listings, comparison tools and a ‘where to buy’ tool.
Its advertising allows customers to compare and contrast products with those from competitors. It offers written and video testimonials, clean visuals and video ads that focus on fresh ingredients.
In addition to food, the subscription boxes from Bark Box include chews and other treats. Over time, it has built a huge support online and now has about three million followers. On the website, you’ll find cartoons and a strong use of humor. Every so often, display ads will tell you about giveaways and provide funny pictures of pups and links to products.
We think Bark Box’s humor is a breath of fresh air during an intense time where each brand is competing to be the loudest.
Finally, Pet Plate is a personalized subscription plan for dog owners. It’s active on Instagram and Facebook but really comes alive in the blog. Customers will find advice on vets, nutrition, health, lifestyle, wellness, and adoption. We’ve seen all this before, so what makes them different? The storytelling. Across the marketing materials and on the website, customers learn about how and why the founder started the business.
There you have it, some of the advertising secrets of top dog food companies. We saw some similarities, but we also learned how each brand differentiates itself and makes its mark on the industry.
