Featuring felines: Intentionally marketing to cat owners

Looking at your small animal practice's social media, how many photos feature dogs versus other animals? What about your print and email marketing? Are other species equally featured? Particularly, what about cats?

According to Dr. Caitlin DeWilde, founder of the Social DVM digital marketing firm, cats are majorly underrepresented in most veterinary marketing and most veterinary marketing is more geared towards dog owners.

Dr. DeWilde presented the session "Cat vs. Dog Owner Marketing: Two Different Species" on June 24 at AVMA Convention 2024 in Austin, Texas. She explained that there are major differences in how cat owners and dog owners prefer to be marketed to and communicated with.

"We need to do a better job of balancing the marketing for both cat owners and dog owners," said Dr. Caitlin DeWilde, founder of the Social DVM digital marketing firm. Dr. DeWilde recommends practices try to segment audiences for marketing and ask for communication preferences.

"Bottom line, we can do a lot better not only using the right imagery, but actually marketing to the behaviors and preferences of cat owners," Dr. DeWilde said, who served as medical director for an animal hospital in St. Louis before focusing on veterinary marketing consulting.

She says there is some truth to the stereotypes behind cat and dog people.

Dr. DeWilde pointed to results of a 2010 study in the journal Anthrozoös that suggest that self-identified "dog people" are higher on extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, while cat owners are higher on sensitivity and openness.

The study shows that personality traits of cat owners can influence the behavior, lifestyle, and wellbeing of cats.

"We can do a better job of honoring and caring for that human-animal bond when we recognize people's individual personalities and how that affects their relationship with their pets, particularly their pet cats," Dr. DeWilde said.

She recommends starting by organizing clients based on pet species-dog owners, cat owners, and those with both-then sending communications accordingly, with content and images that represent that particular species or combination. For example, an email about heartworm risk may be useful to dog owners, but not indoor cat owners.

Also consider the client's interests when deciding what to share.

Cat owners may be more interested in receiving emails and updates on pet health information about preventing issues such as renal and urinary diseases. Having specific data points and facts is valuable.

If the practice or team members are Fear Free or Low Stress Handling-certified, share that information with clients, Dr. DeWilde said. Highlight service offerings to facilitate convenience and comfort for pet owners. Emphasize benefits such as cat-friendly examination rooms and designated quiet hours.

Dog owners tend to be more interested in lifestyle-based content, Dr. DeWilde explained. Topics such as socialization, training, outdoor safety, and community events resonate with them. For example, a practice can communicate seasonal concerns in a dog's environment such as heartworm, with recent statistics or maps from the Companion Animal Parasite Council to show local risk.

When implementing marketing ideas, try to incorporate an equal amount of outreach for dog and cat owners, Dr. DeWilde said. And she suggests giving clients a short survey is a simple way to gather input on how they prefer to receive information from the clinic.

"When it comes to your marketing, I'm not suggesting you do more, I'm suggesting you ask, 'Are we representing both species?'" she said.

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