May 15, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, Isabel, a digital marketer herself, interviews Pet Content Marketer, Skarlet Rockwood, to discuss the importance of social media in animal welfare. Skarlet is the founder of Pet Business Marketer (formerly Fur Social) and is passionate about amplifying voices in the pet industry. She helps pet businesses tell their story and has some great advice for shelters and rescues seeking to spread the word about their adoptables. Join Isabel and Skarlet for a chat about social media, how pet parents use social media, and how to engage with and support rescues and shelters on social media.
EPISODE NOTES: Rescue, Reach & Engage
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/covered-in-pet-hair-a-fun-late-night-boozy-pet-podcast--6667884/support.
EPISODE NOTES: Rescue, Reach & Engage
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/covered-in-pet-hair-a-fun-late-night-boozy-pet-podcast--6667884/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Pet Life Radio Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Covered in pet Hair, a boozy show for
pet lovers on pet Life Radio. I'm your host Isabelle
alber Zorana, and today I have the pleasure of having
a drink in a chat with a social media guru
who has a heart for animal rescue. I will tell
you all about her and introduce you as soon as
we come back from these messages from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Take a bite out of your competition, advertise your business
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(01:07):
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visit Petlife Radio dot com slash advertised today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Let's Talk Pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Welcome back to Covered in pet Haair on your host
isabel Alvarezarata and today I have the pleasure of pending
a drink in a chat with a pet parent. An entrepreneur.
She is a vet front office Adamin. She's a coffee lover,
a tea drinker, a geek. She says, she's a world
traveler that you to travel as a certified judge for
(02:02):
Magic the Gathering. She's from Albany, Georgia. She is wife
to a former rapper known as King David Cool by
the way, does not use social media, which you'll find
ironic as we go through this show. She is mom
to a bunny rabbit named Rince Houdini bunny Rabbit Rockwood.
(02:23):
She is Scarlet Rockwood and she is the force behind
at Rescue Rabbit Life and her own marketing firm that
she works with pet professionals in. I am so excited
to welcome you, Scarlet, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Hey is so great to be here. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It is my pleasure. I love that you and I
met at the NAPS conference. We both hit it off.
We were both cheering each other on during our presentations.
I think that you have such a gift for social media,
which is why you know you're here today, teach us,
help us. But before we get into all that, I
want to introduce our drinking games. So anybody participating in
(03:06):
our drinking game today, anytime you hear this word, the
secret word is fun. Take a drink of whatever you're enjoying,
could be not alcoholic, alcoholic, whatever it is. But if
you are drinking, please never drink and drive, and always
drink responsibly. Wherever it is you're joining us from, make
sure you're of age. I'm not trying to influence miners
(03:26):
to be drinking, all right, don't put that on me.
So what are you joining us with today, Scarlett?
Speaker 6 (03:31):
I have a coffee that my husband would say it's
laughable to call coffee because it's out of sixteen ounces,
about four of it is French vanilla creamer.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I was actually I love when I have coffee drinkers
on the show because I like to ask you what
it is you put in your coffee. So what's your recipe?
Speaker 5 (03:47):
I mean, that's it.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
I use a specifically a French vanilla flavored coffee, and
then just whatever your favorite brand of creamer is, just
French vanilla creamer, but an obscene amount.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Obscene them out of French vanilla creamer and it's just
like drip coffee American coffee as I would call it.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's probably Colombian or something like that. But
I just I have a couple of brands I really like.
I think it's called Magnolia Vanilla or something like that.
From goodness, now I'm blanking on the brand, but there's
It's Grounds and Hounds, Matta Gascar Vanilla is the flavor
I like from them.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
But you know, in a.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Pinch, if you don't want to wait on shipping, or
if you're on a budget like Walmart's Great Value forn
Rilla coffee is also good.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Ooh, that's good to know.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
I do.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I do love coffee, and I have not had my
coffee yet today. I've been struggling with a sore throat,
so I have tea, And honestly, as much as I
like tea, it doesn't hit the same as coffee. It
just doesn't for me at least. Tea is the reading,
not the energy drim exactly. Tea is the wine down
at the end of the day for me. Today I'm
actually gonna be teaching a yoga class this evening, so
(04:57):
I had to keep it non alcoholic, and so I
went with some kind of local. This is a Mexican
hand juice called Humex and it's strawberry nectar and it's delicious.
So cheers. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
No, I'm so excited for us to get back together
and chat about something that we both use in our
day to day life. You and I both help pet
businesses put themselves out there on social media online, and
I want to get to know you and how you
view social media and the Internet. But first I want
(05:31):
us to play a game so that we can all
talk about social media with specifics. So this is called
social stats, and it's a true and false game where
I'm going to give you some stats I found on
social sprout dot com about social media usage both in
the US and abroad. Are you ready to play? Yeah?
Sounds great. Okay, So you may not know the exact
(05:53):
details of this. This is very specific statistics as far
as usage, but they are twenty twenty four related, so
even if we don't know the answers, at least we'll learn.
I think it's pretty impressive what social media has accomplished
in a very short time. Really if you think about it.
(06:14):
So our first question is there are estimated to be
five point one seven billion total social media users worldwide.
True or false.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I'm gonna say true. That sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
That is true. The average person uses four point seven
different social networks per month. True or false.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
I'm gonna say true, but it actually sounds low.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
As mar girl, it is actually six point seven, and
I was like six point seven. So I was trying
to think what qualified, and from my understanding from six
point seven could be Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, snapchat, Telegram, Pinterest, Reddit, Skype.
(06:56):
Those are just a few of the oneet could be
in that sixth point seven. So you're right, four point
seven is just too low.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
And yet they're a little liberal with what I consider
social media network because like Reddit is more like a
traditional forum, and WhatsApp and Skype are really more chat
networks than social media, so the excuse it a little high.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
And that's the thing. I never thought of WhatsApp as
a social media network either. Telegram, I'm surprised has five
hundred million users, and I'm surprised Skype is still being used,
considering we have FaceTime and things like that now, But
obviously that's a global usage, so okay. Next one, the
amount of time Internet users spend on social media is
(07:37):
about one hundred and forty three minutes per day.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
All right, let me use simple math in my brain,
which is impossible a little over two hours at least.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, that is true, all right. Next one, TikTok is
the fastest growing platform, with as staggering one hundred percent
user growth rate between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two,
and between quarter ever read twenty twenty two and quarter
three twenty twenty three, TikTok's monthly active users through thirteen percent.
(08:07):
To those sound about right to you.
Speaker 6 (08:09):
I mean, the very first statement of the being the
fastest growing is definitely true. And it's also the easiest
to get the most reach on because they're completely indiscriminate
with who they show your content to.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Alright, so yeah, it is true. It's grown so fast.
One hundred percent growth between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two.
One hundred percent growth. That's crazy, all right. Next one,
the number of social media users worldwide decline from January
twenty twenty three to January twenty twenty four.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
See that one's tricky because if so would probably the
first time in a very long time that it did decline.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
But it's also where things are opening back up.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
There was such a big boom after COVID of internet
use in general. I'm gonna say that that's possible.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You're right, You're right on track. It's it's never not grown.
So that is another year where it grew. But you're right,
things were opening up, but still people went from the
couch to the bar. But they're still using their social media. Wow,
all right. Next one, Facebook is the most used platform
by marketers worldwide.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
According to this it is. Which one do you think
is it's runner up?
Speaker 6 (09:18):
I mean, I would say either Instagram or TikTok is
what I would expect. But I think the reason for
that that is that people believe you need to be
on Facebook, even if it's not your primary platform, the
same way you needed a website and you need a
phone number.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Like, if you're not on Facebook, you're not open.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Got it? Okay, So it says marketers, I'm assuming that
it's like marketing teams, not necessarily individuals. But the next
one is Instagram. It's so eighty nine percent of marketers
use Facebook and eighty percent of marketers use Instagram. The
next one, twenty seven point four percent of US Instagram
(09:55):
users are between twenty five and thirty four years old,
so a little over twenty five percent, and of Instagram
users are between twenty five and thirty five years old
in the US.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
That's a tough one because on one hand, I want
to say that it feels like you should be higher.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
On the other.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Hand, like the the top number for the age range
with people who are using it is getting much bigger.
People who are older are continuing to use Instagram, starting
to get into it. So yeah, let's let's go for yes,
it is true.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That is absolutely true. There are more than one billion
members across two hundred countries on LinkedIn.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
Definitely, Billy, Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yes, you're rights. Next one, fifty percent of weekly users
have found a new brand or product on the platform.
True or false?
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Did you say fifty percent? M I feel like that
number should be higher.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You're so smart. It is eighty percent. Eighty percent of
pinterest users find a new brand and that's the regular
printerest users that use it weekly. All right. Last one,
fifty three percent of X users formerly known as Twitter
use the platform to get the latest news true or false.
Speaker 6 (11:08):
That's tough because that is like X and TikTok are
probably the two platforms that I work with the least.
I mean, it's definitely if the people who are the
standard users, the standard like target audience of X are
definitely therefore like they want to get whatever's going on.
They want to get like the live tweets while there's
(11:29):
a sporting event going on. So yeah, I mean it's
definitely a lot. I don't know if it's fifty three,
if it's higher.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
But yes, it's true. And I actually expected it to
be higher than fifty three because I agree the people
who are on X and I like you don't use X.
They're there because they're like the ones who want it
to be in the know. They want to know whether
it's political or you know, reality TV related. They want
to get the latest news, and they get it from X. Okay,
(11:58):
so you're obviously you know you're stuff. You obviously are
an expert at social media. How did you end up
specifically working in the pet Niche So I actually came
about it. I feel like the opposite direction of how
a lot of people that I know who do B
to B for pet businesses came through a lot of
a lot of us started out as pet sitters or
(12:21):
dog walkers and then became the web designer, the bookkeeper,
whatever it was that they felt was missing from the
services that were available to them.
Speaker 6 (12:31):
I came back to the other way around. My mom's
been a web designer since nineteen ninety nine, so my
first job was being her assistant when I was like
twelve or thirteen. So I came into the marketing world
before the pet world, really, even though I had, you know,
have always had pets since I was like five, and
definitely always been a pet parent. But I started I
(12:55):
worked with her web design agency, and I started my
own my social media AZ in twenty fifteen, but it
was basically open to whoever I could get, right, So
I think a lot of us start out that way.
So I've worked with coffee shops and retailers and landscapers
and doctors and grocery stores.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
All over the map.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
And in twenty twenty, I just so happened to get
a client who was a pet supplement, and I think
it was kind of clicked in a way that it
happened before, Like, Oh, I'm finally in the target audience
that I'm trying to talk to, and I care about
the product. I believe it in a way that I
never did before. I'm getting better results, I'm enjoying the
(13:40):
work better because I'm finally like with my people. And
so after working with them, I decided in July of
twenty twenty to niche down and work with businesses, specifically
in the pet industry.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And that's when First Social was born.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Yes, previously it was scar Social because Scars for Scarlett
even for social awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Okay, so what do you think pet parents, Since you're
the expert in trying to reach pet parents, what do
you think pet parents tend to gravitate toward on social
media when it comes to pets and like kind of
living their love of pets online.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
So the answer to that is that it depends on
which pet parent, because everybody's going to gravitate towards something different,
and everyone every business is going to have a different
target audience that have different cares and different priorities. So
one pet parent may gravitate towards the organic, sustainable dog treats,
whereas one pet parent may gravitate towards the gluten free,
(14:40):
allergen free dog treats, or you know, they all have
different needs and different priorities. So knowing who your ideal
pet parent is is the first step. And for most
of my clients, knowing that you're talking to pet parents
and not pet owners is very important as well, because
(15:00):
the pet owner to me is the guy whose dog
lives outside and is like in a fence stin yard
and he buys gravy train and like, yeah, his dog
is not mistreated, but it is not a part of
the family. So for versus a pet parent who like,
my dog is my baby and I'm gonna get them
(15:22):
a pup cup every time I go to Starbucks, and
you know, whatever the specific priorities for that pet parent are.
But because in the pet industry it is almost never
the right idea to compete on price, you need to
reach people who care about more than price when it
comes to your products and services.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Of course, absolutely, you know, when it comes to our pets,
just like when it comes to our kids, we will
splurge on the good stuff knowing that there's going to
be payoff in their longevity, their health, their behavior, whatever,
it is whatever problem we're trying to solve, Like you said,
there are needs, how what solutions we find for those?
So when it comes to cat parent versus dog parents,
(16:02):
do you see how they engage on social media being different?
Because we hear at covered in pet hair, specialize in
dogs and cats, So how are they different when navigating
you know, the socials.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
So one thing that they all have in common, whether
it's dog, cat, rabbit, bird, one thing that almost all
of us have in common is that we are very opinionated.
And the more we are in line with that, hearing, more,
being willing to pay, more, want in quality, the more
opinionated we are about what that what quality means. So
(16:39):
that's that's the way that we're all alike. But ways
that we're different is, you know, we all have different
priorities in terms of what made us gravitate towards that
type of pet in the first place. So I'd find
that dog parents are usually how can I put this
on a scale of my pet is my best friend,
and my pet tolerates my existence. Dogs are over here,
(17:01):
cats are somewhere in the middle, Rabbits are way over here, okay,
And that is a very loving set of the rabbit
mom thing. I find that there's a very interesting, like
emotional connection that you have with each type of pet
and dogs, even just in my own personal experience, like
my dog is my buddy.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
My dog is my best friend.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
When I've had dogs, we go to the park together,
you know, we go out to eat together. When I've
had cats, my cat is my reading buddy. My cat
is the one that I want to cuddle when I'm sad.
My cat is the one that probably thinks they're better
than me, and I'm okay with that. And my rabbit.
(17:41):
If you're gonna love a rabbit, you have to be
willing to believe that they love you back, even when
they're being very bratty. Rabbits are not the right pet
for somebody who like is very attached to how cuddly
and happy to see you your pet is. You need
to be someone who is like very in tune with
(18:01):
the most subtle ways of communicating with your pets. And
I think that people who are in tune with that
subtletea with cats and dogs also make better pet parents
as well, because you learn to speak their language rather
than insisting that they learn.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
To speak yours.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
Absolutely, and I think you find a lot more of
that in the rabbit community as a whole. When you're
speaking specifically about people who have what we call house rabbits.
People who have a rabbit in the hutch in a
corner are in the pet owner category. In the pet parentgory,
are the people who like, my rabbit has their own
X pen that takes up half a room, or my
(18:38):
rabbit is free rome just like a cat would be.
And we're also the ones who are like, what do
you mean you fed your rabbit iceberg lettuce? How dare
you very opinionated? But it's yeah, I think that It's
hard to say because I've been a pet parent of dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, hamsters, mice, lizards,
(19:00):
and I am the same person and many people are
that well, but we still connect to each animal in
a different way. So it's very interesting to see, you know,
when I have had a client who was specifically a
cat's store and seeing how interacting with that and you
know what they care about and what the priorities are there,
(19:22):
how they can be similar and how they can be
different from a doll focused store.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, I am I agree. I think pet
parents are all looking for either entertainment, education, or solutions
on social media, but what they share, what they interact
with is very different. Like I I tend to perpetuate
those like cats hate humans like jokes on social media,
(19:48):
even though I don't believe that at all. Like I
know that I think cats make amazing pets. I think
they give you, like you said, a ton of love,
especially those cats that are like emotional support animals, where
they know exactly when you need them and they come
purring on your lap. But like, those are the things
that make me laugh on social so I share a
lot of that, like where the cats like making like
(20:08):
an angry face or whatever it is, like looking all
pissed at the human. And then you know the dog ones.
I honestly it's harder to find funny stuff with dogs
than it is with cats, just because of that like
sarcastic trope of cats being like angry, mean independent aloof whatever.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
I do agree the cats definitely cat parents in general.
There's more of like a tone of sarcasm and a
lot of audience there. And the rabbit world is like
except even further on the spectrum. There's a Facebook group
I'm in called rabbits or assholes. Ha ha, it's just
people who love their rabbits posting about terrible things the
(20:47):
rabbits did, like shoot a hole in the door, right right, yeah,
cheot their laptop cord or something like that, And it's like,
that's just the level of humor that you find with
that particular head.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
So that's very interesting.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Whereas with the dogs, it's more like, you know, behind
every strong woman is a dog who follows her to
the bathroom.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Right. The dogs always get the best edit like they
are the sweetest, happiest, most obedient of all the pets.
They please us no matter what, which is not always true,
which is why that whole dog shaming thing took off
a few years ago, because then we finally saw that, Okay,
dogs are a man best friend. But they took it
(21:26):
the assholes like you know that in their moments they too.
I know, I'm sorry Kira's she looked up when I
said that my dog, But you know they have their
moments too. One of the biggest things for me is
using social media for education. So do you actually think
people are learning even though they're maybe focusing on entertainment
(21:46):
and humor. Does education make its way to the right
person on social media.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Yeah, absolutely, especially if you've targeted who you want in
your audience correctly, and you have set up not just
education in general, but education about who you are as
a business, to build that relationship of what are your
core values so that you're attracting the right person who
cares about that education. So, for example, using the cat
(22:11):
client as an example, one of their core values is
they don't believe in obera cats. You know, they they
don't believe that, you know that that is good cat
parenting because it's dangerous out there and having them go
out there on supervise means they could never come back
one day. So that particular store has a very very
strong opinion about that, and they've shared that very openly.
(22:34):
So all the education about how to catproof your house,
how to build a nice cadio, things like that were
resonating with the right person because they've attracted the person
who shares that core value. And then, you know, if
it's food, you know, if you have shared your core
values on you know, do you believe in raw food diet?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Do you believe in this or that type.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
Of formula, you're attracting the right person so that when
you educate on how to balance that diet, what products
are shape, what products aren't, then you're getting the person
who cares about that specific thing. And I have what
I call the creator model for balancing what types of
content you use.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
And one of those.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Pieces the A is for authority, which is sharing educational content,
sharing where you've been featured in the media. I'll be
sharing this podcast, for example, on my social media and
that falls into the authority category, which is where I
put a lot of educational content. And there's a lot
of people. They'll follow you because they like you, and
(23:35):
then they'll stay because they get to know you, and
they trust you, and they believe that what you say
is something they can listen to and they care about
the education.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Absolutely, you're so right, and I love to hear that
because most of us, you know, the ones who speak
to the pet parent. First of all, we are only
speaking to the pet parent. The pet owner is not
our person at all. But we also know that even
pet parents with the best of intentions may have, you know,
a room for improvement, just like I do as a
pet parent every single day, strive to do better by
(24:06):
my pets. So that's the people that I'm always trying
to reach. For me, it's cats and dogs. For you,
it's bunnies, you know, for all of us, we share
a core value on rescues, and actually, when we come
back from this break from our sponsors, we are actually
going to talk more about your love of rescue and
how you think rescuers can leverage social media to get
(24:27):
more pets adopted. So don't go anywhere. I will be
right back with Scarlett Rockwood. Up for social.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Begging to hear more of your favorite show cool. Full
episodes of on our shows are available on demand. Go
to petlife Radio dot com to feed our entire lineup
of possum pet podcasts.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Also dig us up in iHeartRadio and iTunes. Let's Talk
Pets lived only from pet Life Radio, Let's.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Talk past, Let's Done pets on at Life Radio, pet.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Like Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Welcome back to Covered in pet Hair. I'm your host
Isabelle al Razerata, and today I have the pleasure of
having a drink in a chat with Scarlet Rockwood, who
is the founder of First Socials. She is a social
media guru that helps businesses get their name and core
values and products out to the public using social media,
(25:34):
and she has a heart for rescue, and she believes
that rescues can leverage social media to get more pets adopted,
to maybe increase donations, et cetera. Et cetera, says Scarlet.
If you are a game, I would like to put
you on the spot. I'm going to give you one
minute on my handy dandy clock for a game I'm
calling Rescuing Rescues, and I want you to just throw
(25:57):
out some creative ways that rest can use social media
to promote the pets they're trying to get adopted. Do
you think you're cool with doing that for us today?
Speaker 6 (26:08):
Oh? I don't think I can stick to one minute,
but I'll give it a try.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Ah, that's what I like to hear. All right, three, two, one.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Go all right.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
So the first thing you want to do is the
first thing that you're gonna usually.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Put out is that intake photo.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Right, take some time to make it more appealing and
get the personality of the dog to come out. I
know you guys are short on time, but that photo
of them inside the cage, inside the transport truck that
brought them there is not going to be their best face, right,
everyone think about your driver's license photo, the thing that
everybody hates, right, if you could take the time to
(26:44):
take a better photo, you would, So give them that
time because the more this is like their dating app photo. Okay,
So make sure that it's gonna be as best as
good of a light as it can be. And sometimes
that's not on intake days.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Sometimes that's after.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
They've had a bath, after they've had a little bit
of time to decompress. Take another photo and change out
that intake day photo.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
If you need to.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
Reach out and see if there's any photographers in your
area that would like to volunteer time to come take
photos of the pets, or even just give you advice
on how to take better photos on your phone as
one of the volunteers or rescue staff. And then when
you write up that intake, don't just put you know,
estimated two years old catahula heartworm positive.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
Must show proof.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Of you know whatever, like give us a story, tell
us what their personality is. If you don't know where
they came from, at least tell us like what was
bringing them in.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Like how have they acted the first few days?
Speaker 6 (27:42):
Because usually most rescues wait a day or two to
actually put out just to make sure, like the owner
doesn't come to get them those first few days in
the shelter.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
What have they have they been acting?
Speaker 6 (27:53):
What are the types of homes that you think they
would fit well in? What is if this cat is
an asshole? Make fat funny, like write a story about
grumpy cat and say, hey, this cat really needs to
go to a home that has no kids and no
other pets where they can be the diva that they
are taking the time to actually tell that pet story.
(28:13):
Like I said, write it like it's a dating app.
Don't just put it out there like it's a catalog.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Listing that's going to be filed away.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
And then take the time, if you have it beyond photos,
take videos of them playing in the yard or if
it's a cat, take videos of them, you know, playing
with some of the toys in your cat area, show
you know, their movement, their personality, things like that. And
then if you have any way to take them outside
of the facility, whether it's putting the cat into a
(28:42):
lobby area that looks more like a lot of places
like their lobbies a little bit more like a living
room set up than it is, like, oh, it's shelter.
Take them in there to get you know, them to
play with something, or take a dog out to the park,
or take them to get a cup at Starbucks or
something and get some videos that way.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
That will help a lot.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
And not just on social media. Taking them out in
public means people in your local area will see them.
Get them a harness this to adopt me.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Okay, you got to three minutes, but that is such
a good idea. I love that Harness. Adopt me in
your local area. That's such a good idea. And you
know what, I've never seen it done. I remember I
am seed an event ages ago and it was for
a rescue, and I had a friend's dog with me
and he was all cute in his bandana, and people
(29:32):
fought oh because of the context. Right, we were at
an adoption. We were at an event raising funds for
a rescue. There were no adoptable pets there, but the
fact that the person am seeing was holding this pet,
he had a bandana, Everybody was like, is he up
for adoption? He was adorable? Is he up for adoption?
So I agree like getting them front and center. If
(29:53):
Winston had needed a mom, he would have had a
mom that day, but he already had a fabulous mom.
He wasn't in the market. But I agree putting something
on the pet that kind of calls attention gives context
because if you just go down to Starbucks with an
adoptable pet, but he looks like your pet, nobody's going
to inquire. So I love that suggestion so much. So
(30:15):
obviously pictures are everything, but for the person adopting, how
much really emphasis should they put on the picture? What
do you say, not to the rescue, but to the adopter.
What should they be looking for that might that others
might miss that could match them with an amazing pet.
Speaker 6 (30:32):
So this does then't depend on how well the rescue
has done in writing up the pet's personality into their listing.
If they have done that, take those cues and think
about how that pet is going to fit into your
life and what if you can provide them what they need.
If you have a timey apartment and you're looking for
a great pure and eees, you may want to rethink
(30:54):
whether that's the right fit for you. But if you
are looking for if you got two cats and you're
looking for a third, look at whether that cat is
one that's likely to fit in well with your family,
or if you're looking at a cat that's clearly gonna
need its own space and need to be the only cat.
Taking those cues when the rescue gives them to you
(31:15):
is very important, and sometimes the rescue kind of works
a little bit too hard to spend things in a
positive light, So read behind the lines. If they're saying
things like you know takes time to get to know people,
or you know is a little greedy about food. If
are you willing to deal with a you know, are
(31:36):
you the right person who is equipped to care properly
for a food guarding reactive dog right which you are, great,
You might be the person for this dog in the
way that nobody else is going to be. But if
you're not be willing to accept that and find one
that you know, you're not gonna end up just taking
back if it doesn't work out. And then if they're
(31:58):
not great about it, if they are the one who
basically just lists age and heartworm positive or negative and
that's about it, and like estimated breed, then take the
time to just go meet them. It may be best
not to rely on the online listings and just go
to the shelter and say, hey, you know, these are
the things I'm looking for. Who do you think is
(32:20):
a good match for me? And meet a few. I
recommend meeting them before you just like, never decide based
on the social media picture or story, no matter how
great it is. Always go meet them because you never
know if you're gonna click, even if everything on paper
says that you are or aren't. So I highly recommend that.
And then there's a lot of places. This is actually
how I got started working with my local shelter that
(32:42):
do doggy dates. And the intention there is you take
the dog out for the day, you go wherever you
want to go home, the parks, Starbucks, the pet store,
and just see what it's like to spend time with them.
It gives you more than five minutes together. You can
spend a few hours or something that's even Let you
do the dates a few days to see how well
of a fit you are, and then you can bring
(33:04):
them back and decide whether you know this dog is
for you or not. And I recommend doing that. Also
if you're somebody who's not looking for a pet but
would like to get involved, Like for me, Whodini is
an only bunny, and he's made that very clear he
does not want any So we my way of being
able to, you know, get involved with helping dogs get
(33:24):
adopted since I can't foster is doing those doggy days
even though I have no intention of adopting the dog myself.
I get them out, I get them into the local area,
I you know, get eyeballs on them. And we do
have that harness, that yellow harness that says adopt me,
and the lead says the same thing. And that is
something where you know, at least one of the pets
(33:46):
I've taken out was adopted like that same day by
someone that I met in town. And for those that
don't necessarily meet that person that day, you do want
to take lots of pictures while you're out, take lots
of videos and post them on social media, provide them
to the rescue so that they can post them. And
that way, a lot of rescues, like I said, don't
have the time to get those good photos, those good videos,
(34:08):
or to take them out of the shelter themselves. You
can provide that as a volunteer by taking them out
and getting them in an environment where they're going to
show their personality better, where people are going to be
able to see them in a different light and you
can subconsciously get them out of that shelter space and
picture them in your backyard because you see.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Them running in part. Yeah, that's perfect.
Speaker 6 (34:31):
So yeah, that's definitely what I recommend doing, whether you
are looking to adopt the dog or you are just
looking to help as someone who can't adopt.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Rate. Yes, and actually speaking of people who cannot help
right now but want to do something specifically online, what
can somebody who's just scrolling in the evening dude to
help their local shelter? Is it sharing? Is it commenting?
Is it all of the above? Tell us how we
can help?
Speaker 6 (34:57):
Yeah, sharing is Karen. If you have an audience that
is local to that pet, then share with your audience,
Share with your friends, you know, hey, do I know
anybody who needs you know, who needs a cat or
a dog or whatever the post is. And then also
commenting also helps because the more you comment on their posts,
(35:18):
not only are you going to see more of them
so you can share more of them, but other people
are going to see more of them. That social media
engagement that we work so hard to get for businesses
is just as valuable for rescues because the more engagement
they get, the more people or other people are going
to see it exactly. So, yeah, the more you can
engage with that content like share comment, then that it
(35:40):
is going to help more people see that adoptable ped.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
That is perfect. Okay. So, and if anybody's listening online
and wants to engage your services, how would they go
about doing that?
Speaker 6 (35:50):
You can find me pretty much everywhere online at Scarlet Rockwood.
If I have a social media page, that's what it's
under on that channel, and then my website is Scarlettrockwood.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Awesome. Well, I just want to propose a toast to
you for sharing your knowledge with us. I've so enjoyed
our conversation. I do think we all have a place
where we can support local rescue and local businesses by
just engaging with them online. So here's toee you. Thank
you for being my guest, Thank you for having me.
I also want to propose a tost to my executive producer,
Mark Winter. Thank you Mark, and to our audience for
(36:23):
joining us for these awesome conversations. Whether you're a pet
pro or a pet parent or a hopeful pet parent.
I hope you found this very very helpful as well
as entertaining. Here's to a life Covered in pet Hair
because there's no better way to learn it. Cheers. To
learn more about Covered in Pet Hair, please visit Covered
in pet Haair dot com or pet life Radio dot com.
(36:43):
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlife
Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Then then then to temper
Pet Life Radio Let's Talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Covered in pet Hair, a boozy show for
pet lovers on pet Life Radio. I'm your host Isabelle
alber Zorana, and today I have the pleasure of having
a drink in a chat with a social media guru
who has a heart for animal rescue. I will tell
you all about her and introduce you as soon as
we come back from these messages from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Take a bite out of your competition, advertise your business
with an ad in pet Life Radio podcasts and radio shows.
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(01:07):
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visit Petlife Radio dot com slash advertised today.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Let's Talk Pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Welcome back to Covered in pet Haair on your host
isabel Alvarezarata and today I have the pleasure of pending
a drink in a chat with a pet parent. An entrepreneur.
She is a vet front office Adamin. She's a coffee lover,
a tea drinker, a geek. She says, she's a world
traveler that you to travel as a certified judge for
(02:02):
Magic the Gathering. She's from Albany, Georgia. She is wife
to a former rapper known as King David Cool by
the way, does not use social media, which you'll find
ironic as we go through this show. She is mom
to a bunny rabbit named Rince Houdini bunny Rabbit Rockwood.
(02:23):
She is Scarlet Rockwood and she is the force behind
at Rescue Rabbit Life and her own marketing firm that
she works with pet professionals in. I am so excited
to welcome you, Scarlet, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:42):
Hey is so great to be here. Thank you for
having me.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It is my pleasure. I love that you and I
met at the NAPS conference. We both hit it off.
We were both cheering each other on during our presentations.
I think that you have such a gift for social media,
which is why you know you're here today, teach us,
help us. But before we get into all that, I
want to introduce our drinking games. So anybody participating in
(03:06):
our drinking game today, anytime you hear this word, the
secret word is fun. Take a drink of whatever you're enjoying,
could be not alcoholic, alcoholic, whatever it is. But if
you are drinking, please never drink and drive, and always
drink responsibly. Wherever it is you're joining us from, make
sure you're of age. I'm not trying to influence miners
(03:26):
to be drinking, all right, don't put that on me.
So what are you joining us with today, Scarlett?
Speaker 6 (03:31):
I have a coffee that my husband would say it's
laughable to call coffee because it's out of sixteen ounces,
about four of it is French vanilla creamer.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
I was actually I love when I have coffee drinkers
on the show because I like to ask you what
it is you put in your coffee. So what's your recipe?
Speaker 5 (03:47):
I mean, that's it.
Speaker 6 (03:48):
I use a specifically a French vanilla flavored coffee, and
then just whatever your favorite brand of creamer is, just
French vanilla creamer, but an obscene amount.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Obscene them out of French vanilla creamer and it's just
like drip coffee American coffee as I would call it.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's probably Colombian or something like that. But
I just I have a couple of brands I really like.
I think it's called Magnolia Vanilla or something like that.
From goodness, now I'm blanking on the brand, but there's
It's Grounds and Hounds, Matta Gascar Vanilla is the flavor
I like from them.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
But you know, in a.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Pinch, if you don't want to wait on shipping, or
if you're on a budget like Walmart's Great Value forn
Rilla coffee is also good.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Ooh, that's good to know.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
I do.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I do love coffee, and I have not had my
coffee yet today. I've been struggling with a sore throat,
so I have tea, And honestly, as much as I
like tea, it doesn't hit the same as coffee. It
just doesn't for me at least. Tea is the reading,
not the energy drim exactly. Tea is the wine down
at the end of the day for me. Today I'm
actually gonna be teaching a yoga class this evening, so
(04:57):
I had to keep it non alcoholic, and so I
went with some kind of local. This is a Mexican
hand juice called Humex and it's strawberry nectar and it's delicious.
So cheers. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
No, I'm so excited for us to get back together
and chat about something that we both use in our
day to day life. You and I both help pet
businesses put themselves out there on social media online, and
I want to get to know you and how you
view social media and the Internet. But first I want
(05:31):
us to play a game so that we can all
talk about social media with specifics. So this is called
social stats, and it's a true and false game where
I'm going to give you some stats I found on
social sprout dot com about social media usage both in
the US and abroad. Are you ready to play? Yeah?
Sounds great. Okay, So you may not know the exact
(05:53):
details of this. This is very specific statistics as far
as usage, but they are twenty twenty four related, so
even if we don't know the answers, at least we'll learn.
I think it's pretty impressive what social media has accomplished
in a very short time. Really if you think about it.
(06:14):
So our first question is there are estimated to be
five point one seven billion total social media users worldwide.
True or false.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I'm gonna say true. That sounds about right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
That is true. The average person uses four point seven
different social networks per month. True or false.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
I'm gonna say true, but it actually sounds low.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
As mar girl, it is actually six point seven, and
I was like six point seven. So I was trying
to think what qualified, and from my understanding from six
point seven could be Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, snapchat, Telegram, Pinterest, Reddit, Skype.
(06:56):
Those are just a few of the oneet could be
in that sixth point seven. So you're right, four point
seven is just too low.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
And yet they're a little liberal with what I consider
social media network because like Reddit is more like a
traditional forum, and WhatsApp and Skype are really more chat
networks than social media, so the excuse it a little high.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
And that's the thing. I never thought of WhatsApp as
a social media network either. Telegram, I'm surprised has five
hundred million users, and I'm surprised Skype is still being used,
considering we have FaceTime and things like that now, But
obviously that's a global usage, so okay. Next one, the
amount of time Internet users spend on social media is
(07:37):
about one hundred and forty three minutes per day.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
All right, let me use simple math in my brain,
which is impossible a little over two hours at least.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, that is true, all right. Next one, TikTok is
the fastest growing platform, with as staggering one hundred percent
user growth rate between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two,
and between quarter ever read twenty twenty two and quarter
three twenty twenty three, TikTok's monthly active users through thirteen percent.
(08:07):
To those sound about right to you.
Speaker 6 (08:09):
I mean, the very first statement of the being the
fastest growing is definitely true. And it's also the easiest
to get the most reach on because they're completely indiscriminate
with who they show your content to.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Alright, so yeah, it is true. It's grown so fast.
One hundred percent growth between twenty twenty and twenty twenty two.
One hundred percent growth. That's crazy, all right. Next one,
the number of social media users worldwide decline from January
twenty twenty three to January twenty twenty four.
Speaker 6 (08:39):
See that one's tricky because if so would probably the
first time in a very long time that it did decline.
Speaker 5 (08:46):
But it's also where things are opening back up.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
There was such a big boom after COVID of internet
use in general. I'm gonna say that that's possible.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You're right, You're right on track. It's it's never not grown.
So that is another year where it grew. But you're right,
things were opening up, but still people went from the
couch to the bar. But they're still using their social media. Wow,
all right. Next one, Facebook is the most used platform
by marketers worldwide.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
According to this it is. Which one do you think
is it's runner up?
Speaker 6 (09:18):
I mean, I would say either Instagram or TikTok is
what I would expect. But I think the reason for
that that is that people believe you need to be
on Facebook, even if it's not your primary platform, the
same way you needed a website and you need a
phone number.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Like, if you're not on Facebook, you're not open.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Got it? Okay, So it says marketers, I'm assuming that
it's like marketing teams, not necessarily individuals. But the next
one is Instagram. It's so eighty nine percent of marketers
use Facebook and eighty percent of marketers use Instagram. The
next one, twenty seven point four percent of US Instagram
(09:55):
users are between twenty five and thirty four years old,
so a little over twenty five percent, and of Instagram
users are between twenty five and thirty five years old
in the US.
Speaker 6 (10:05):
That's a tough one because on one hand, I want
to say that it feels like you should be higher.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
On the other.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Hand, like the the top number for the age range
with people who are using it is getting much bigger.
People who are older are continuing to use Instagram, starting
to get into it. So yeah, let's let's go for yes,
it is true.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That is absolutely true. There are more than one billion
members across two hundred countries on LinkedIn.
Speaker 6 (10:33):
Definitely, Billy, Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Yes, you're rights. Next one, fifty percent of weekly users
have found a new brand or product on the platform.
True or false?
Speaker 6 (10:45):
Did you say fifty percent? M I feel like that
number should be higher.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
You're so smart. It is eighty percent. Eighty percent of
pinterest users find a new brand and that's the regular
printerest users that use it weekly. All right. Last one,
fifty three percent of X users formerly known as Twitter
use the platform to get the latest news true or false.
Speaker 6 (11:08):
That's tough because that is like X and TikTok are
probably the two platforms that I work with the least.
I mean, it's definitely if the people who are the
standard users, the standard like target audience of X are
definitely therefore like they want to get whatever's going on.
They want to get like the live tweets while there's
(11:29):
a sporting event going on. So yeah, I mean it's
definitely a lot. I don't know if it's fifty three,
if it's higher.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
But yes, it's true. And I actually expected it to
be higher than fifty three because I agree the people
who are on X and I like you don't use X.
They're there because they're like the ones who want it
to be in the know. They want to know whether
it's political or you know, reality TV related. They want
to get the latest news, and they get it from X. Okay,
(11:58):
so you're obviously you know you're stuff. You obviously are
an expert at social media. How did you end up
specifically working in the pet Niche So I actually came
about it. I feel like the opposite direction of how
a lot of people that I know who do B
to B for pet businesses came through a lot of
a lot of us started out as pet sitters or
(12:21):
dog walkers and then became the web designer, the bookkeeper,
whatever it was that they felt was missing from the
services that were available to them.
Speaker 6 (12:31):
I came back to the other way around. My mom's
been a web designer since nineteen ninety nine, so my
first job was being her assistant when I was like
twelve or thirteen. So I came into the marketing world
before the pet world, really, even though I had, you know,
have always had pets since I was like five, and
definitely always been a pet parent. But I started I
(12:55):
worked with her web design agency, and I started my
own my social media AZ in twenty fifteen, but it
was basically open to whoever I could get, right, So
I think a lot of us start out that way.
So I've worked with coffee shops and retailers and landscapers
and doctors and grocery stores.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
All over the map.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
And in twenty twenty, I just so happened to get
a client who was a pet supplement, and I think
it was kind of clicked in a way that it
happened before, Like, Oh, I'm finally in the target audience
that I'm trying to talk to, and I care about
the product. I believe it in a way that I
never did before. I'm getting better results, I'm enjoying the
(13:40):
work better because I'm finally like with my people. And
so after working with them, I decided in July of
twenty twenty to niche down and work with businesses, specifically
in the pet industry.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And that's when First Social was born.
Speaker 6 (13:55):
Yes, previously it was scar Social because Scars for Scarlett
even for social awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Okay, so what do you think pet parents, Since you're
the expert in trying to reach pet parents, what do
you think pet parents tend to gravitate toward on social
media when it comes to pets and like kind of
living their love of pets online.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
So the answer to that is that it depends on
which pet parent, because everybody's going to gravitate towards something different,
and everyone every business is going to have a different
target audience that have different cares and different priorities. So
one pet parent may gravitate towards the organic, sustainable dog treats,
whereas one pet parent may gravitate towards the gluten free,
(14:40):
allergen free dog treats, or you know, they all have
different needs and different priorities. So knowing who your ideal
pet parent is is the first step. And for most
of my clients, knowing that you're talking to pet parents
and not pet owners is very important as well, because
(15:00):
the pet owner to me is the guy whose dog
lives outside and is like in a fence stin yard
and he buys gravy train and like, yeah, his dog
is not mistreated, but it is not a part of
the family. So for versus a pet parent who like,
my dog is my baby and I'm gonna get them
(15:22):
a pup cup every time I go to Starbucks, and
you know, whatever the specific priorities for that pet parent are.
But because in the pet industry it is almost never
the right idea to compete on price, you need to
reach people who care about more than price when it
comes to your products and services.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Of course, absolutely, you know, when it comes to our pets,
just like when it comes to our kids, we will
splurge on the good stuff knowing that there's going to
be payoff in their longevity, their health, their behavior, whatever,
it is whatever problem we're trying to solve, Like you said,
there are needs, how what solutions we find for those?
So when it comes to cat parent versus dog parents,
(16:02):
do you see how they engage on social media being different?
Because we hear at covered in pet hair, specialize in
dogs and cats, So how are they different when navigating
you know, the socials.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
So one thing that they all have in common, whether
it's dog, cat, rabbit, bird, one thing that almost all
of us have in common is that we are very opinionated.
And the more we are in line with that, hearing, more,
being willing to pay, more, want in quality, the more
opinionated we are about what that what quality means. So
(16:39):
that's that's the way that we're all alike. But ways
that we're different is, you know, we all have different
priorities in terms of what made us gravitate towards that
type of pet in the first place. So I'd find
that dog parents are usually how can I put this
on a scale of my pet is my best friend,
and my pet tolerates my existence. Dogs are over here,
(17:01):
cats are somewhere in the middle, Rabbits are way over here, okay,
And that is a very loving set of the rabbit
mom thing. I find that there's a very interesting, like
emotional connection that you have with each type of pet
and dogs, even just in my own personal experience, like
my dog is my buddy.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
My dog is my best friend.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
When I've had dogs, we go to the park together,
you know, we go out to eat together. When I've
had cats, my cat is my reading buddy. My cat
is the one that I want to cuddle when I'm sad.
My cat is the one that probably thinks they're better
than me, and I'm okay with that. And my rabbit.
(17:41):
If you're gonna love a rabbit, you have to be
willing to believe that they love you back, even when
they're being very bratty. Rabbits are not the right pet
for somebody who like is very attached to how cuddly
and happy to see you your pet is. You need
to be someone who is like very in tune with
(18:01):
the most subtle ways of communicating with your pets. And
I think that people who are in tune with that
subtletea with cats and dogs also make better pet parents
as well, because you learn to speak their language rather
than insisting that they learn.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
To speak yours.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
Absolutely, and I think you find a lot more of
that in the rabbit community as a whole. When you're
speaking specifically about people who have what we call house rabbits.
People who have a rabbit in the hutch in a
corner are in the pet owner category. In the pet parentgory,
are the people who like, my rabbit has their own
X pen that takes up half a room, or my
(18:38):
rabbit is free rome just like a cat would be.
And we're also the ones who are like, what do
you mean you fed your rabbit iceberg lettuce? How dare
you very opinionated? But it's yeah, I think that It's
hard to say because I've been a pet parent of dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, hamsters, mice, lizards,
(19:00):
and I am the same person and many people are
that well, but we still connect to each animal in
a different way. So it's very interesting to see, you know,
when I have had a client who was specifically a
cat's store and seeing how interacting with that and you
know what they care about and what the priorities are there,
(19:22):
how they can be similar and how they can be
different from a doll focused store.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, I am I agree. I think pet
parents are all looking for either entertainment, education, or solutions
on social media, but what they share, what they interact
with is very different. Like I I tend to perpetuate
those like cats hate humans like jokes on social media,
(19:48):
even though I don't believe that at all. Like I
know that I think cats make amazing pets. I think
they give you, like you said, a ton of love,
especially those cats that are like emotional support animals, where
they know exactly when you need them and they come
purring on your lap. But like, those are the things
that make me laugh on social so I share a
lot of that, like where the cats like making like
(20:08):
an angry face or whatever it is, like looking all
pissed at the human. And then you know the dog ones.
I honestly it's harder to find funny stuff with dogs
than it is with cats, just because of that like
sarcastic trope of cats being like angry, mean independent aloof whatever.
Speaker 6 (20:27):
I do agree the cats definitely cat parents in general.
There's more of like a tone of sarcasm and a
lot of audience there. And the rabbit world is like
except even further on the spectrum. There's a Facebook group
I'm in called rabbits or assholes. Ha ha, it's just
people who love their rabbits posting about terrible things the
(20:47):
rabbits did, like shoot a hole in the door, right right, yeah,
cheot their laptop cord or something like that, And it's like,
that's just the level of humor that you find with
that particular head.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
So that's very interesting.
Speaker 6 (21:00):
Whereas with the dogs, it's more like, you know, behind
every strong woman is a dog who follows her to
the bathroom.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Right. The dogs always get the best edit like they
are the sweetest, happiest, most obedient of all the pets.
They please us no matter what, which is not always true,
which is why that whole dog shaming thing took off
a few years ago, because then we finally saw that, Okay,
dogs are a man best friend. But they took it
(21:26):
the assholes like you know that in their moments they too.
I know, I'm sorry Kira's she looked up when I
said that my dog, But you know they have their
moments too. One of the biggest things for me is
using social media for education. So do you actually think
people are learning even though they're maybe focusing on entertainment
(21:46):
and humor. Does education make its way to the right
person on social media.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Yeah, absolutely, especially if you've targeted who you want in
your audience correctly, and you have set up not just
education in general, but education about who you are as
a business, to build that relationship of what are your
core values so that you're attracting the right person who
cares about that education. So, for example, using the cat
(22:11):
client as an example, one of their core values is
they don't believe in obera cats. You know, they they
don't believe that, you know that that is good cat
parenting because it's dangerous out there and having them go
out there on supervise means they could never come back
one day. So that particular store has a very very
strong opinion about that, and they've shared that very openly.
(22:34):
So all the education about how to catproof your house,
how to build a nice cadio, things like that were
resonating with the right person because they've attracted the person
who shares that core value. And then, you know, if
it's food, you know, if you have shared your core
values on you know, do you believe in raw food diet?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Do you believe in this or that type.
Speaker 6 (22:56):
Of formula, you're attracting the right person so that when
you educate on how to balance that diet, what products
are shape, what products aren't, then you're getting the person
who cares about that specific thing. And I have what
I call the creator model for balancing what types of
content you use.
Speaker 5 (23:14):
And one of those.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
Pieces the A is for authority, which is sharing educational content,
sharing where you've been featured in the media. I'll be
sharing this podcast, for example, on my social media and
that falls into the authority category, which is where I
put a lot of educational content. And there's a lot
of people. They'll follow you because they like you, and
(23:35):
then they'll stay because they get to know you, and
they trust you, and they believe that what you say
is something they can listen to and they care about
the education.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Absolutely, you're so right, and I love to hear that
because most of us, you know, the ones who speak
to the pet parent. First of all, we are only
speaking to the pet parent. The pet owner is not
our person at all. But we also know that even
pet parents with the best of intentions may have, you know,
a room for improvement, just like I do as a
pet parent every single day, strive to do better by
(24:06):
my pets. So that's the people that I'm always trying
to reach. For me, it's cats and dogs. For you,
it's bunnies, you know, for all of us, we share
a core value on rescues, and actually, when we come
back from this break from our sponsors, we are actually
going to talk more about your love of rescue and
how you think rescuers can leverage social media to get
(24:27):
more pets adopted. So don't go anywhere. I will be
right back with Scarlett Rockwood. Up for social.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Begging to hear more of your favorite show cool. Full
episodes of on our shows are available on demand. Go
to petlife Radio dot com to feed our entire lineup
of possum pet podcasts.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Also dig us up in iHeartRadio and iTunes. Let's Talk
Pets lived only from pet Life Radio, Let's.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Talk past, Let's Done pets on at Life Radio, pet.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Like Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Welcome back to Covered in pet Hair. I'm your host
Isabelle al Razerata, and today I have the pleasure of
having a drink in a chat with Scarlet Rockwood, who
is the founder of First Socials. She is a social
media guru that helps businesses get their name and core
values and products out to the public using social media,
(25:34):
and she has a heart for rescue, and she believes
that rescues can leverage social media to get more pets adopted,
to maybe increase donations, et cetera. Et cetera, says Scarlet.
If you are a game, I would like to put
you on the spot. I'm going to give you one
minute on my handy dandy clock for a game I'm
calling Rescuing Rescues, and I want you to just throw
(25:57):
out some creative ways that rest can use social media
to promote the pets they're trying to get adopted. Do
you think you're cool with doing that for us today?
Speaker 6 (26:08):
Oh? I don't think I can stick to one minute,
but I'll give it a try.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Ah, that's what I like to hear. All right, three, two, one.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
Go all right.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
So the first thing you want to do is the
first thing that you're gonna usually.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Put out is that intake photo.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Right, take some time to make it more appealing and
get the personality of the dog to come out. I
know you guys are short on time, but that photo
of them inside the cage, inside the transport truck that
brought them there is not going to be their best face, right,
everyone think about your driver's license photo, the thing that
everybody hates, right, if you could take the time to
(26:44):
take a better photo, you would, So give them that
time because the more this is like their dating app photo. Okay,
So make sure that it's gonna be as best as
good of a light as it can be. And sometimes
that's not on intake days.
Speaker 5 (27:00):
Sometimes that's after.
Speaker 6 (27:01):
They've had a bath, after they've had a little bit
of time to decompress. Take another photo and change out
that intake day photo.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
If you need to.
Speaker 6 (27:08):
Reach out and see if there's any photographers in your
area that would like to volunteer time to come take
photos of the pets, or even just give you advice
on how to take better photos on your phone as
one of the volunteers or rescue staff. And then when
you write up that intake, don't just put you know,
estimated two years old catahula heartworm positive.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
Must show proof.
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Of you know whatever, like give us a story, tell
us what their personality is. If you don't know where
they came from, at least tell us like what was
bringing them in.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
Like how have they acted the first few days?
Speaker 6 (27:42):
Because usually most rescues wait a day or two to
actually put out just to make sure, like the owner
doesn't come to get them those first few days in
the shelter.
Speaker 5 (27:50):
What have they have they been acting?
Speaker 6 (27:53):
What are the types of homes that you think they
would fit well in? What is if this cat is
an asshole? Make fat funny, like write a story about
grumpy cat and say, hey, this cat really needs to
go to a home that has no kids and no
other pets where they can be the diva that they
are taking the time to actually tell that pet story.
(28:13):
Like I said, write it like it's a dating app.
Don't just put it out there like it's a catalog.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Listing that's going to be filed away.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
And then take the time, if you have it beyond photos,
take videos of them playing in the yard or if
it's a cat, take videos of them, you know, playing
with some of the toys in your cat area, show
you know, their movement, their personality, things like that. And
then if you have any way to take them outside
of the facility, whether it's putting the cat into a
(28:42):
lobby area that looks more like a lot of places
like their lobbies a little bit more like a living
room set up than it is, like, oh, it's shelter.
Take them in there to get you know, them to
play with something, or take a dog out to the park,
or take them to get a cup at Starbucks or
something and get some videos that way.
Speaker 5 (29:01):
That will help a lot.
Speaker 6 (29:02):
And not just on social media. Taking them out in
public means people in your local area will see them.
Get them a harness this to adopt me.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Okay, you got to three minutes, but that is such
a good idea. I love that Harness. Adopt me in
your local area. That's such a good idea. And you
know what, I've never seen it done. I remember I
am seed an event ages ago and it was for
a rescue, and I had a friend's dog with me
and he was all cute in his bandana, and people
(29:32):
fought oh because of the context. Right, we were at
an adoption. We were at an event raising funds for
a rescue. There were no adoptable pets there, but the
fact that the person am seeing was holding this pet,
he had a bandana, Everybody was like, is he up
for adoption? He was adorable? Is he up for adoption?
So I agree like getting them front and center. If
(29:53):
Winston had needed a mom, he would have had a
mom that day, but he already had a fabulous mom.
He wasn't in the market. But I agree putting something
on the pet that kind of calls attention gives context
because if you just go down to Starbucks with an
adoptable pet, but he looks like your pet, nobody's going
to inquire. So I love that suggestion so much. So
(30:15):
obviously pictures are everything, but for the person adopting, how
much really emphasis should they put on the picture? What
do you say, not to the rescue, but to the adopter.
What should they be looking for that might that others
might miss that could match them with an amazing pet.
Speaker 6 (30:32):
So this does then't depend on how well the rescue
has done in writing up the pet's personality into their listing.
If they have done that, take those cues and think
about how that pet is going to fit into your
life and what if you can provide them what they need.
If you have a timey apartment and you're looking for
a great pure and eees, you may want to rethink
(30:54):
whether that's the right fit for you. But if you
are looking for if you got two cats and you're
looking for a third, look at whether that cat is
one that's likely to fit in well with your family,
or if you're looking at a cat that's clearly gonna
need its own space and need to be the only cat.
Taking those cues when the rescue gives them to you
(31:15):
is very important, and sometimes the rescue kind of works
a little bit too hard to spend things in a
positive light, So read behind the lines. If they're saying
things like you know takes time to get to know people,
or you know is a little greedy about food. If
are you willing to deal with a you know, are
(31:36):
you the right person who is equipped to care properly
for a food guarding reactive dog right which you are, great,
You might be the person for this dog in the
way that nobody else is going to be. But if
you're not be willing to accept that and find one
that you know, you're not gonna end up just taking
back if it doesn't work out. And then if they're
(31:58):
not great about it, if they are the one who
basically just lists age and heartworm positive or negative and
that's about it, and like estimated breed, then take the
time to just go meet them. It may be best
not to rely on the online listings and just go
to the shelter and say, hey, you know, these are
the things I'm looking for. Who do you think is
(32:20):
a good match for me? And meet a few. I
recommend meeting them before you just like, never decide based
on the social media picture or story, no matter how
great it is. Always go meet them because you never
know if you're gonna click, even if everything on paper
says that you are or aren't. So I highly recommend that.
And then there's a lot of places. This is actually
how I got started working with my local shelter that
(32:42):
do doggy dates. And the intention there is you take
the dog out for the day, you go wherever you
want to go home, the parks, Starbucks, the pet store,
and just see what it's like to spend time with them.
It gives you more than five minutes together. You can
spend a few hours or something that's even Let you
do the dates a few days to see how well
of a fit you are, and then you can bring
(33:04):
them back and decide whether you know this dog is
for you or not. And I recommend doing that. Also
if you're somebody who's not looking for a pet but
would like to get involved, Like for me, Whodini is
an only bunny, and he's made that very clear he
does not want any So we my way of being
able to, you know, get involved with helping dogs get
(33:24):
adopted since I can't foster is doing those doggy days
even though I have no intention of adopting the dog myself.
I get them out, I get them into the local area,
I you know, get eyeballs on them. And we do
have that harness, that yellow harness that says adopt me,
and the lead says the same thing. And that is
something where you know, at least one of the pets
(33:46):
I've taken out was adopted like that same day by
someone that I met in town. And for those that
don't necessarily meet that person that day, you do want
to take lots of pictures while you're out, take lots
of videos and post them on social media, provide them
to the rescue so that they can post them. And
that way, a lot of rescues, like I said, don't
have the time to get those good photos, those good videos,
(34:08):
or to take them out of the shelter themselves. You
can provide that as a volunteer by taking them out
and getting them in an environment where they're going to
show their personality better, where people are going to be
able to see them in a different light and you
can subconsciously get them out of that shelter space and
picture them in your backyard because you see.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Them running in part. Yeah, that's perfect.
Speaker 6 (34:31):
So yeah, that's definitely what I recommend doing, whether you
are looking to adopt the dog or you are just
looking to help as someone who can't adopt.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Rate. Yes, and actually speaking of people who cannot help
right now but want to do something specifically online, what
can somebody who's just scrolling in the evening dude to
help their local shelter? Is it sharing? Is it commenting?
Is it all of the above? Tell us how we
can help?
Speaker 6 (34:57):
Yeah, sharing is Karen. If you have an audience that
is local to that pet, then share with your audience,
Share with your friends, you know, hey, do I know
anybody who needs you know, who needs a cat or
a dog or whatever the post is. And then also
commenting also helps because the more you comment on their posts,
(35:18):
not only are you going to see more of them
so you can share more of them, but other people
are going to see more of them. That social media
engagement that we work so hard to get for businesses
is just as valuable for rescues because the more engagement
they get, the more people or other people are going
to see it exactly. So, yeah, the more you can
engage with that content like share comment, then that it
(35:40):
is going to help more people see that adoptable ped.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
That is perfect. Okay. So, and if anybody's listening online
and wants to engage your services, how would they go
about doing that?
Speaker 6 (35:50):
You can find me pretty much everywhere online at Scarlet Rockwood.
If I have a social media page, that's what it's
under on that channel, and then my website is Scarlettrockwood.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Awesome. Well, I just want to propose a toast to
you for sharing your knowledge with us. I've so enjoyed
our conversation. I do think we all have a place
where we can support local rescue and local businesses by
just engaging with them online. So here's toee you. Thank
you for being my guest, Thank you for having me.
I also want to propose a tost to my executive producer,
Mark Winter. Thank you Mark, and to our audience for
(36:23):
joining us for these awesome conversations. Whether you're a pet
pro or a pet parent or a hopeful pet parent.
I hope you found this very very helpful as well
as entertaining. Here's to a life Covered in pet Hair
because there's no better way to learn it. Cheers. To
learn more about Covered in Pet Hair, please visit Covered
in pet Haair dot com or pet life Radio dot com.
(36:43):
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
Speaker 4 (36:47):
Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlife
Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Then then then to temper
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