Creative Marketing Promos – Shelter Style

Social media continues to play a huge role in helping pets find homes, and every week a different story seems to go viral. But that means shelters and rescues are having to get more creative in their marketing efforts. If you’re stumped on marketing ideas, check out these great examples for some inspiration:

The Face (or Dance) of Animal Sheltering
This video from Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center in Texas can best be summarized by one of the comments left: “Girl…. You are such an excellent representation of the great people who take care of these wonderful critters!! You are great :)“
At nearly 370,000 views in less than a week, it is obvious many people felt the same. This video of one of the shelter employees dancing with her lamb, who happened to be visiting, is beyond adorable and shows the special bond they have.

Watch it here.

The Chair Video
Yes, we’ve all seen it. That ten second video that went viral and resulted in shelters across the country receiving an outpouring of…chairs. But why was the video from the Knox County Humane Society effective? Why did it get 18 million views on Facebook? Honestly, we’ll never know, but the fact that the video was extremely short (ten seconds!), showed something new, something that in a newsfeed would catch someone’s eye, and involved asking for donations of something that every home has – well those factors likely play a significant role.

Got Hamsters?
Humane Society of Utah did! They made a short video showing some of the adorable adoptable hamsters they had looking for homes. Some cute toys that contrast well with the hamsters, zooming in, and a simple backdrop is a good recipe for promoting some cute little adoptables.

Full….Shelter
This 28 second video from the Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia brings back nostalgia for any child of the 90s. With 88,000 views in less than two weeks, it’s clear it was enjoyed by many. The best part? It was originally created the previous year, so while the dogs in the video found homes, they represented types of dogs commonly found at the shelter so the video could be evergreen. Making videos that can be used multiple times is a great way to get the most out them. Consider making one for common issues like the shelter being full, kitten season, needing fosters, needing volunteers, the list goes on.

How Laws Help Animals
It can be hard to explain how legislation can impact animals directly, but the Animal Rescue League of Iowa did just that. Using a simple graphic to explain how a proposed bill would make a difference in the case of Bennie, whose owner was accused of binding his muzzle with electrical cord. It included a photo of Bennie that wasn’t graphic but provided a face to the legislation, and the accompanying post text included links to contact legislators and learn more were included. Did it go “viral?” No. But, it didn’t need to, after all it is state legislation, and hopefully the nearly three hundred shares resulted in legislators receiving lots of calls!

Some Cheese Please?
Amazon wish lists really come in handy (if you don’t have one, make sure to learn how to set one up here). The Animal Welfare League of Arlington’s video serves two purposes: showcase an adoptable pet and not so subtly ask for more donations!

Every Number Has Paws
Reporting on the impact made in a community is a tall order, even when you have resources to do an annual report. But what about if you don’t have that time or the resources? This graphic by the Kansas City Pet Project is a great way to share with the community the different being made thanks to their work, and the best part is that you don’t need to spend hours on Adobe to make it!