Online Advertising Trends In Pet Sectors

In 2006, UK online spending on advertising topped £2bn, according to the yearly IAB Online Adspend Study conducted by the Internet Advertising Bureau, (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. This gave it a market share of 11.4% of total spending on advertising in the UK in that year. Additionally, in terms of trends, it represented a rise of 41% over spending on online advertising in 2005.

This massive expansion of online marketing puts the Internet ahead of Outdoor advertising (5.3% of total UK spend), Radio (3.3%) and hot on the heals of traditional Direct Mail (13.2%).

Around 11 million British households now have broadband and on average, 25% of an Internet users' media day is spent online meaning that the Internet has now overtaken radio as the second most consumed medium after TV.

Online Pet Trends

In the early stages of development, the Internet saw many small business sites set up by pet lovers with scant attention given to layout and target audience. However newer players, says Market Analyst Small Business Trends, are becoming more sophisticated in design and ecommerce, reaching their target audience via web-site usability, SEO, paid search, and word of mouth. The company adds in its 2007 report on Pet Industry Trends, that:

"Blogs, written by both corporate players and evangelists, will become more prevalent, more widely read, and will have a significant influence on driving traffic and sales to smaller niche players."

Insights from the APPMA

If you believe that UK markets tend to follow developments in the US, it is worth looking at the latest (2007-2008) National Pet Owners Survey from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, (APPMA).

Under the title: 'How a pet owner becomes aware of new products', the APPMA report lists the Internet third, after 'TV ads' and 'browsing in a store.' It says:

"The Internet is increasingly becoming a more important source in the mix of resources that create awareness of new pet products"

The survey found that, from its sample of 19,914 pet owners, 11% cited the Internet a their source of pet product information

24% said they had bought a pet product online in the last 12 months, (up from 17% the previous year). More saltwater fishkeepers buy from the Internet, (38%) than any other pet owners and those from higher income households are significantly more likely to buy online than lower income pet owners.

The report also warns pet shops that online shopping will increase if in-store personnel do not become more familiar with all pet species and products.

The banner exchange company PetLinkeXchange claims over nine million ads delivered every month on its 3000 member network of affiliated pet related sites.

Kevin Munro of the UK veterinary pharmacy BestPet told us that following several campaigns in the print media, he found that to gain highly targeted customers at a lower cost, online marketing was the way forward, adding:

"Regular emails to our current customer base enable us to keep in touch and inform of new products and promotions."

Emily Webster started up the Wealden Pet Hotel, last December she told us:

"I am definitely in favour of online advertising. I [..] placed adverts on half a dozen or so online advertising websites. These proved very successful and business is booming. Earlier in the summer, I was approached by my local newspaper to advertise my business in their "special" pet section, which I did, at a cost of around £80. The only response I got from that advert was another advertiser wanting me to buy space in his paper!

"I have had a hugely successful first year, and almost every single customer found me through online advertising. I think that proves that people look to the internet first and foremost these days - whatever they're looking for."

Whilst researching this topic I tapped the phrase 'advertise pet industry online' into Google in the hope that I would come across some clever solutions. I did. Website number one in the search results was of course, www.ukpets.co.uk