How To Market Your Dog Walking Business To Young Professionals

If you are hoping to start a dog walking business, then marketing and attracting a clientele should be at the top of your to-do list. One population of pet owners that can provide a lot of opportunities are young professionals. These younger clients are often single or one half of a dual-income couple, which means they are away most of the day and their time off is at a premium. They also tend to not have families yet, so there are no children with daily chores to handle the dog care tasks. The following are some effective ways to market your dog walking services to this demographic.

Sign up with an App

There are a few different apps out there that connect dog walkers and pet sitters with potential clients. These apps are especially attractive to young professionals because they can access them quickly via their smartphones when they have a few minutes during the day. Younger people are also less likely to make phone calls, often preferring to handle things digitally. Keep in mind that you will need to pay a fee to the app service for listing with them, which typically equates to a portion of the pay for each job you complete. The benefits are that the app helps you get your name in front of potential customers. They also tend to handle all payments through the app, so you don't need to worry about collecting money or handling credit card transactions.

Take advantage of social media

Social media is huge with younger professionals. You should have a business account on the most popular services in your target area. This may include large social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram, as well as local city guide type sites or neighborhood-specific social media sites, like Nextdoor. Make sure to follow all site rules for advertising your business. You also need to take the time to build up content. This can include pictures of the dogs you walk, fun features like "silly spaniel Saturdays," and contests or specials to attract clients. Network with other locals via social media sites, and take advantage of local accounts that offer to feature regional businesses.

Get into the search engines

When someone searches online for a dog walker in your city, your goal is to be one of the top returns in the search results. This can be difficult to achieve on your own, particularly if you aren't knowledgeable about how these results are ranked. Fortunately, there are search engine optimization (SEO) firms available that can help you with this task. They know the most up-to-date requirements for each major search engine and have an arsenal of tactics at their disposal to improve your ranking.

Whether you need help with social media, setting up your services on an app, or developing better SEO, a digital marketing service can help you grow your dog walking business.

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