Categories
Creator's Academy

Making (Sponsored) Videos

Congratulations on scoring that pet job! You’ve followed our tips on content creation for apps, content ideas to engage your audience, and now you’re confident to partner with a brand to promote their products. How will you be promoting them to your followers, though? There are a few methods, so let’s look at five ways to make sponsored videos!

On Brands

Character

More often than not, brands — and by extension, their products — carry a tone that they would like to convey. Pet toys brands, for instance, are warm and enthusiastic to mirror the joy your pawpal can get from playing with them. You can see a brand’s character through various methods, namely their website, social media accounts, and product packaging design, if any. If you have trouble finding the right tone to help promote the brand/product, it’s always good to start by emulating their character.

Credibility

Credibility can be split into two forms: heritage, and reviews. Brands and products that have stood the test of time and remained relevant are seen as reliable and trustworthy. Pet Lovers Centre, established in 1973, remains a household brand synonymous with pet ownership. For new brands that do not have the luxury of heritage, it’ll be better to look at their consumer reviews to promote them to your followers.

Benefits and Unique Selling Point (USP)

When looking at a product, service, or brand in its entirety, what draws consumers to purchase them are their benefits and USPs. Benefits tend to be physical and tangible, e.g. “X-Supplements are made with 100% natural ingredients and are perfectly healthy for your pawpal”. On the other hand, USPs can be tangible or intangible, e.g. “Be the hero your dog deserves”. Knowing these will help to influence if you want to do a Tactical Review or a Creative Integration.

Tactical Reviews

1. Product Testimonials

Product Testimonials take a straightforward approach to the promotion. Without going too deep into functions and technicalities, these videos are generally shorter and summarised so viewers can understand the benefits and visit the product site without scrolling away.

2. Product Breakdown

Centred on benefits and functions, product breakdowns are the most technical of the three. Product Breakdowns tend to be longer and more insightful, and aimed at your more interested followers who might have already heard of the products know more about the product. However, because of that, you might stand to lose out on casual followers who are just scrolling through their feed.

3. Product Demonstration

Product Demonstrations are the most engaging of the three. Let your pawpal try the product — be it toys or food — to give your followers a visual representation of how the product works. By showing more and telling less, viewers can immediately see the benefits and features in action, so it entices them to want to know more.

Creative Integration

4. Selling a concept

Instead of doing the direct approach and telling your followers what’s good about a product, you can do a conceptual video that shows your followers how this product changes your pawpal’s life. This works especially well when promoting an entire brand. Ruffwear’s “Becoming” video shows viewers the products for sale but talks about none of it. Instead, the narrator talks about their philosophy, mission, and vision. Similarly, you can film a sketch to show your pet will a transformed lifestyle thanks to this brand or product you are using.

5. Production, Process, BTS

Much better if you are advertising for your own new release of products, as the process is not something your partnered brand would show you. If you do decide to release your own products, say, home-baked pet treats, you could show a video of you choosing the ingredients (to indicate quality/freshness), the baking process (to emphasise it being homemade), and arrange the food on a nice set-up for presentation (allows followers to imagine how it could look for their pawpal).

Now that you know…

More often than not, the type of video you will make also depends on the requests of your partner when you take up pet jobs. However, for pet jobs with more creative freedom, you will have a better understanding of how you can promote the brand and its products to your followers!

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

Categories
Creator's Academy

Timeless Ideas To Kickstart Your TikTok Content

Welcome back to the fifth instalment of our TikTok feature! Today we are going to look at some content you can make with your pawpal, so you won’t run on empty in the ideas department! 

Sounds

A lot of TikTok’s content can be defined by the sounds they use, as they easily set the tone for the video. If it’s a commonly used sound or even a sound from a well-known source, chances are you’ll be able to set up some expectations and hook them in. They’ll want to stay and see how the video ends!

Here are some common sounds that pawrents are using on their TikToks:

Holidays

Share how you celebrate the holidays with your pawpals! Holidays, National Events, and Celebrations are all over the calendar. Use this opportunity to share costumes, family practices, or just you and your furry friends enjoying some quality time together.

Vlogs

While all of TikTok is already in video format, you can use the app to share quirky traits about your pet and see if others may have similar experiences. TikTok’s community-driven functionality allows you to duet people’s prompts too, which creates a whole carousel of reactions.

@marleymalin

Let me know if you want a second part to this video! 😽💞 #catsoftiktok #foryou #fyp #catvids

♬ 아무노래 – ZICO

If you’re confident about your knowledge in pet care, or if you’re just enthusiastic about sharing your petcare routines on social media, you’ll be surprised how many people will appreciate it! Beyond entertainment, people do view TikTok as a platform to learn something new, so don’t be shy about sharing the knowledge and experiences you’ve had up till now!

Challenges

According to TikTok, cats love it when you brush their fur with a wet toothbrush; it supposedly reminds them of their mother. And did you know that if you play the iconic screech from the 1960 film “Psycho”, the sound will scare dogs?

It isn’t 100% accurate, but there’s only one way to find out — try it out with your pawpals! Challenges are quick, easy-to-make, and quirky content that you can make together. You’ve probably thought of doing some of these, but always passed it off as outrageous anyway!

Need more help with TikTok?

Here’re our TikTok articles to give you a boost. From understanding the app’s functions to knowing how to optimise your videos for the algorithm, we have it all!

Part 1: Getting Started on TikTok

Part 2: Exploring TikTok Functions

Part 3: Tip-Top TikTok Tips

Part 4:  How to Improve Videos and Views on TikTok
Photo by FLOUFFY on Unsplash

Categories
Creator's Academy

Understanding Instagram’s Algorithm

If you’ve been on Instagram long enough, you’ll have heard that the best way to get ahead of the curve is to post at ‘peak hours’. Timings where traffic is highest so users will see your posts immediately a.k.a The Chronological Feed. Sadly, that no longer works. In a new update, Instagram rolled out the new Instagram Algorithm 2021, which is designed to decide what content you get to see when you open the app.

The algorithm at its core

Instagram’s new algorithm basically ensures that the posts and stories you see right away are the ones you want to see. Your followers all have their own habits and browsing routines, so the algorithm is summed up in four factors:

  1. Information about the post — Is that post a photo, a carousel, or a video? Where was it published from? How long is the video?
  2. Information about the poster —How interesting are you to them? How often do people engage with your content? 
  3. Browsing activity — Do they tend to watch a lot of videos? What type of content do they typically engage with? 
  4. Interaction history — Do they typically like or comment on your posts?

The algorithm in Instagram Stories is similar and more obvious — Stories of accounts you interact with most often get pushed to the front, regardless of whom posted most recently. However, since Stories are shorter and can be binge-watched, your followers are more likely to swipe to your content.

Interactions that affect the algorithm

When prioritising content for each of followers, the Instagram algorithm puts into consideration five forms of interaction that supplement the factors we just mentioned. These are:

  1. Time spent — Will they bother to spend time on the post?
  2. Likes — Will they like the post?
  3. Comments  — How likely are they to comment on the post?
  4. Saves — How likely are they to save the post?
  5. Taps on Profile — How likely are they to tap on the profile after seeing the post?

Do you want people to spend more time on your content?

The advent of the new algorithm provides us with the opportunity to explore video formats as well. If your followers are shown to like more dynamic content like videos and gifs, but you do not want to crowd your feed with too many types of posts, you can use Instagram Stories (which only lasts 24 hours but can be saved as highlights), or Instagram Reels (which has a longer duration limit and appears permanently on a separate tab).

Is this post likely to be liked or commented on?

If the content you are posting is supposed to drive engagement, it would be good to draw Insights from your followers as to what kind of posts do better on your profile. If polished, well taken photos of your pawpal get more likes and comments than your casual pictures of them, then you can consider steering your profile to a more polished feed.

Is this a post someone would save and come back to?

This is especially true for educational posts, like tips & tricks. Think about whether your post will leave your followers coming back to it for repeated views.  Loopable videos like Jade Taylor Ryan’s TikTok of her cat Ed dancing to Mr. Sandman are comfortable to watch over. And over. And over again.

Does this post include a CTA (for example, “Click the link in my bio”) that will prompt someone to tap on your profile?

If you have campaigns, promotions, or events happening on your profile, your posts should include a CTA so that your followers know there’s more in store when they go to your profile.

Now that you know…

It’s always important to remember that Instagram is always upgrading its algorithm. What works now may not work next year. So while this guide is still relevant, please take this opportunity to experiment with the content you are making and most importantly, to have fun with your pawpal while doing so

Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels

Categories
Creator's Academy

Boosting your posts on Instagram

Now that you have an Instagram Creator Account, you will have noticed a new button below your posts: “Boost Post”. What does it do? Can you really boost a post? We’ll give you a quick tour of this new function for your pet influencing journey.

What does it mean to boost posts?

When you boost a post on Instagram, you’re making it more visible to a targeted group of people on Instagram. By paying social media platforms, you can amplify your reach to your followers, a recommended audience, or a targeted audience. Your boosted post will then show up as a sponsored post on your audience’s feed.

How to boost your posts

1. Click the “Promote” button at the bottom of your post.

2. Pick a goal.

To boost your post, you need to first know what the boost does for it — that is your goal. Do you want more people to visit your profile? Do you want them to click a link to another website? Or do you want them to message you more? Whatever your goal is for the specific post you want to boost, make sure you choose the option that best aligns with it.

3. Choose an audience.

After choosing your goal, you can pick from three different targeting options: Special requirements, Automatic, and Create your own. 

Special Requirements lets you target based on very niche categories.

Automatic tells Instagram to target people who have similar demographics and browsing trends as your followers.

Create Your Own lets you target specific people, based on their age, location and interests.

4. Set your budget and duration.

Based on the budget and duration you set, Instagram will estimate the expected reach and clicks that your post will attract after you set your post’s budget and ad duration.

Expected reach refers to the estimated number of users who might see your post.

Budget refers to how much money you’re willing to spend to reach your target audience.

Duration refers to how long your boost will last. It can be as short as one day, and as long as one month.

5. Review

Check that your settings are all in order before confirming your boost!

Now that you know how to boost your posts, you can reach out to more audiences!

To find out more about pet influencing, click here.

Ready to kickstart your pet-fluencing journey? Join our community of pet influencers and explore opportunities here.