#PetsOfTikTok: Using TikTok as a Pet Business

TikTok might seem like a foreign concept, especially if there is a nineteen at the beginning of your birth year. However, as a marketing tool, there are some pretty big advantages to the way the platform works that can support business growth and boost your client roster.

For pet businesses, there’s even a hashtag: #PetsOfTikTok.

Now, it’s not just for pet businesses, obviously, but it is a place where people can share cute videos of their pets on TikTok and it’s a place that many people go to for pleasure. You’ve definitely heard at least one person say that they use TikTok to look at cute llama videos, right? So why not tap into this free resource as part of your digital marketing strategy as an animal focused business?

In this article, we’re going to look at ways that you can use TikTok as a pet business, what the advantages are, and how to go about using it to your advantage. Take a look below to learn more now.

Should Pet Businesses be Using TikTok?

Yes, we definitely think that pet care businesses should be trying to use TikTok as part of a social media strategy. There is a niche already on the app that is perfect for pet businesses (the aforementioned #PetsOfTikTok, along with #DogsOftikTok, #CatsOfTikTok and more), and so you’ve already got a target audience (people wanting cute videos of pets). All you need to do is create the content for it.

As a platform, TikTok differs a lot from other social media platforms. First and foremost, it is mostly videos (though you can now post pictures on TikTok and other platforms are already way more about videos now). But there are other differences too. These include the following.

• Demographics: TikTok is a young app and the audience age range is overwhelmingly Gen Z and below. If you want to tap into a younger audience, this is the place to do it.
• Content discoverability: While platforms like Instagram and X (Twitter) show you content from accounts you actively follow, TikTok will show users content from a range of accounts through the For You page. This means that having a small following isn’t as much of a drawback on TikTok as it is on other platforms.
• Algorithm: In general, the best-performing content on Instagram is from accounts with big followings that have good engagement on their posts. On TikTok, the algorithm determines how well a post does based more on how users interact with it. It also determines the posts it shows to people based on how they interact with other posts. So if you’re part of a hyper-specific niche, you can still get really good engagement because users who interact with content like yours will see it.

Advantages of TikTok for Pet Services

So, how does all of this make TikTok a good place for pet services?

Firstly, when you’re just starting out on other platforms, you will need to focus a lot of energy on building your following and ensuring that people engage with your posts. On TikTok, you can have a post achieve plenty of likes even if your following is under 100. This means you can begin engaging with potential clients from the outset.

Trends are also very popular on TikTok. They’re easy to find and they’re easy to engage with. Whether it’s a viral audio or a meme trend, you will be able to find content ideas suitable to your niche very easily on TikTok. You may have found this more difficult on Instagram, where trends from TikTok usually appear slightly behind the time!

There is also already a huge niche within the TikTok world for pets. Pet TikTok, like others of its kind (think BookTok, FitTok, and TikTokFood), so you’ve already got tonnes of content to be inspired by. You can use the content already out there to inform your strategy and look out for how others have achieved success.

How to Use TikTok as a Pet Business

Knowing you should use TikTok and actually using it are two different things, so we’ve come up with a few steps you should take to get started.

1. Set up an account: This is very obviously going to be your first step. Setting up an account is very easy and we recommend including details like your location in your profile. Be aware that while you can link with other social media profiles, TikTok doesn’t allow you to add things like a LinkTree to your profile until you have a certain amount of followers.
2. Set goals for TikTok: You might want to achieve a certain number of followers by a specific date or you might want to monitor other metrics, like engagement. We’d recommend tying your TikTok goals to your overall business goals and tracking regularly. This is so that if you have a particularly good month in profits, you can check back to see if your TikTok efforts had an impact. (i.e., was engagement really high that month and could this have improved sales?).
3. Create a content calendar: Stay on track with your posting schedule and what content you need to create by making a calendar for yourself. Set aside times each week to create content in batches to ensure you have time to focus on the rest of your business too.
4. Have fun: Remember that TikTok is a social media platform where fun and humour tend to do well. Don’t get too bogged down in what you need to be posting and when. Let your personality shine through and you’ll likely see an improvement in engagement on the app.

Content Ideas for TikTok

So, you’ve done all of the above, but now you need to actually fill in your content calender with ideas? Below are some of our favourite ideas and trends you could use in your strategy for the clock app.

• Cute videos: This is kind of a given but literally just any cute videos of the pet you groom or walk. Remember to share with permission from the owner.
• Training videos: Do you train dogs? Could you create educational content on how to train certain behaviours in your pets?
• Niche specific trends: Within pet TikTok, there are other niches, like DogsOfTikTok, CatsOfTikTok, and more. Make sure to find the right one for your content.
• Funny videos: Capturing the animals you care for doing funny things is always good for a viral moment on TikTok. We’re not saying always have your camera ready, but if they do something funny all the time, try and get it on camera!
• Awareness videos: Sometimes, certain breeds need specific care or there are environmental factors (like a steep rise in temperatures) in which pets need to be cared for differently. As a pet care business, you should ensure that you put content out there that raises awareness of these needs. Not all pet owners will know the things you know, so by raising awareness you will become an authority in your niche.

Key Takeaways

Pet videos are always a staple on TikTok, so creating a brand account for your pet business can’t really do you much harm (as long as you use it responsibly). We think TikTok is a great marketing tool to tap into.
If you’d like to get started on TikTok but don’t really know where to begin, Rokir can help. We’re a digital agency with a full suite of services, including content creation and social media services. Contact the team now for more information on how we could help your pet business grow.