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great power on social media

What Even is Your Content Objective?

"Great content always has an objective. If you have no intention, your message lacks credible conviction."

I realize most of you posting on social media just got thrown into it and while the majority of leadership teams in pet welfare seem to feel there is zero skill required, you certainly don’t see PetSmart or Chewy handing their social media platforms to volunteers.   With that said, I really can’t emphasize this enough…  If you are taking on social media in the role of a content writer – you need to hold yourself accountable to what this huge responsibility actually entails.   

"Great content always has an objective. If you have no intention, your message lacks credible conviction."

great power on social media

What Even is Your Content Objective?

“My face after reading most captions and having no idea what the point was.”  –  Tahoe from Polk County Bully Project (don’t take it personal, he can’t even read).

why isn't this pet adopted?

It Might Be You.

It’s essential to have clear content objectives when promoting adoptable pets on social media.  Content objectives ensure your posts have a purpose, which in turn can enhance the effectiveness of your pet adoption campaigns. 

Hook Supporters
Provide Eye Candy
Offer Value
Call to Action
CONTENT OBJECTIVES

Facebook & Instagram

By following these platform-specific guidelines and tailoring your content to each platform, you can create compelling and engaging social media posts for adoptable pets that capture attention, provide value, and drive action.

📸👇 HOOK - Capture Attention

Start every post with a short, captivating opening line with strong emoji use.  

 

Facebook: Start with a brief, engaging question or statement that encourages users to read more or click on a link. While Facebook allows for longer captions, keep in mind only the first few lines will be visible without clicking "See More."  A little trick for gaining attention is being "playfully controversial." 

 

Here's an example:

🚫 DON'T ADOPT THIS PET 🚫 Instead, 🌟foster🌟 for two weeks so you can get to know them before officially welcoming them into your family!

 

Instagram: Use a captivating opening line to grabs users' attention immediately, as Instagram captions are generally not meant to be more than a few descriptive lines.  Make the most of this space by being concise and enticing... The purpose of Instagram is to have your photos and videos do most of the talking for you, followed up by a conclusive one liner.

🍭👀 EYE CANDY - Vibrant Image

Both Facebook and Instagram are visually-driven platforms, so it's essential to use high-quality images and videos or vibrant and aesthetically pleasing graphics that showcase the pet's personality and unique features.

 

The days of perfectly curated photos are OVER.  While a photo shoot is wonderful, it is 100% unnecessary as the standard appeal and preference for content is "user generated".  Content that feels real, raw, in the moment and like it didn't take 2 hours and retouching to make it look good - this is trustworthy content people love!

 

Obviously, videos under a minute are the most engaging (you don't need Tik Tok, this works across all platforms).  Videos are also much more forgiving - pets can be quirky, playful, affectionate or a straight up hot mess on a leash.  It's RELATABLE and TRUSTWORTHY.  Not to mention, showing people what it looks like interacting with the pets in your shelter reduces fear of volunteering, so it serves two purposes.

 

If you're sticking with photos, they should be well-lit, in-focus, and properly framed.   Include a mix of close-ups and wider shots to give potential adopters a better sense of the pet's appearance and environment.  Blur backgrounds that are distracting - it now takes all of 5 seconds with Canva's new auto-correction photo editing tools!  (And, Canva is free for all non-profits!)

 

I'm going to say this as kindly as possible and know it's not personal. Unless you have been using Canva for over a year, are a pro at using all the editing tools... please stay away from using their graphic templates. Please, please, please, just post a photo or video of your pet with a strong caption!  

🌟VALUE - What's in it for Them?

When crafting content captions, it's essential to provide value to your audience by offering them more value than what you're asking for in return.  

By prioritizing the reader's experience over your personal agenda - you create a meaningful connection and lasting impression.  By delivering valuable details to help the potential pet parent make informed decisions for themselves (again, not forcing your opinion on the situation) leads to increased engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, the successful adoption or fostering of more pets.

 

A useful tip is to mindfully rewrite captions by turning every "we, our, us" into "you, your" and have the rest of the message make sense from that perspective. 

 

Here's a quick example:

We need more fosters!  Changes to...

You'll love fostering pets!

❤️‍🔥ACTION - Driving Results

In the very, very short time you have been communicating with your audience and building a trusting relationship with them (yep, all in 8 seconds)... at the end, you want to maximize the impact of this connection so that whatever level of support the reader is at, they commit to a little more!

 

In the next discussion, we're going to do a deep dive into Calls to Action but the most important takeaway I want to leave here is: Ensure that your audience can easily gain access to the action you want them to take!

Good advice

Our friend Kya at Animal Welfare Friends gave us some great advice…  “You need to focus – lock in on your prize, figure out how to get it, keep chewing at it til its gone and you’re feeling so satisfied you need a nap.”  Of course she’s talking about enrichment time with her trachea treats and we’re talking about content objectives but regardless, she’s made some very valid points.

Annnnd also, if you want to give your pups some satisfying enrichment time… Use code RESCUE to get $15 OFF (trachea chews or any other first time purchase) at Natural Rapport! *Nope, this isn’t an affiliate link, Natural Rapport is a rescue-supporting brand that uses long stay pets to promote their products through our Spotlight Pet Program.

Get Goodies Get Goodies
GET SELF AWARE & TO THE POINT

Crafting Content that Actually Helps Pets.

Next up, I’ll help you structure posts using a balanced communication style to create highly engaging and compelling content.

8 Ways You're Saying "Don't Adopt this Pet"

It's essential to strike the right balance between emotion and logic in your social media captions.  We'll expand on the "8 ways you're unintentionally saying don't adopt this pet" and how to use the emotional-logical framework instead.

Done! Done!

What Even is Your Content Objective?

To create compelling and engaging social media posts for adoptable pets that capture attention, provide value, and drive action you need to tailor content to satisfy clearly defined objectives.

Done! Done!

Don't Lose Sight of the Real Goal.

Crafting an effective social media post that keeps your organization's mission front and center requires a call to action that encourages audiences to learn more about a featured pet but also, visit your website to explore all other pets available for adoption!

Read Next! Read Next!
YOUR MISSION, OURS TOO!

Our purpose is to support YOURS.

  • I wish I could volunteer in every shelter around the US but since I can't, it seemed like a no brainer to use my time creating something that COULD be useful and reduce the workload on pet welfare teams everywhere!
  • - Dana, Sploot Founder

We believe in a higher standard of marketing

We are committed to bettering pet welfare and believe it is critical to provide higher standards of marketing support. 

Our team is dedicated to helping pet welfare organizations implement effective, creative marketing strategies that will ensure better outcomes for the pets in their care.

We're willing (and eager) to do our part by providing ready to use tools and hands-on support to help pet welfare teams reach their goals in a realistic and feasible way!

We create opportunities using collaborations

Pets' lives depend on effective campaigns that connect with and inspire the pet loving community to take action.  We are determined to provide pet welfare organizations with the best possible resources and we utilize strategic alliances with pet care brands to make marketing efforts as successful as possible.

 Building relationships between pet welfare and pet care, we facilitate a high impact, mutually beneficial alliance focused on bettering the health and wellbeing of pets in need and in homes.

We provide free services to pet welfare orgs

All of our programs come with content kits... but unlike any other marketing tool, we also provide the human resources to implement these programs for your already over-extended team.

We are passionate about long stay pets

We are passionate about helping all shelter pets move into homes - but most especially those who have been in shelters the longest or have special needs.  We have a special place in our hearts for big, boxy-headed dogs, seniors, and pets with medical issues.

Knowing these pets often have a harder time getting adopted because they are overlooked by their less in need friends, we focus on creating innovative marketing programs that "Spotlight" these pets making sure they get extra social media love, special treatment and  the best opportunity to reach their future foster and/or adoptive families. 

We enjoy "gifting" back to dedicated teams

Pet welfare organizations are nothing without the very supportive teams constantly giving more of themselves to the pets in need than they (technically) have to.  We love creating opportunities for organizations to provide them with free goodies and special offers as a token of appreciation for all they do.

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