Tuesday, May 22, 2012

5 Ways Pet Bloggers Are Like Mommy Bloggers

dogs-waiting-for-treatsAt the recent BlogPaws conference for pet bloggers, the advertising and monetization panel that Paris presented on also included Jane Cuoto from MomGenerations.com. Jane brought up a great point: pet bloggers are part of the large and very successful “mommy blog” phenomenon. These blogs, aimed at mothers (often with young children), have become an important part of the internet world, especially in the eyes of advertisers.

Which started us thinking: in what ways are pet bloggers like mommy bloggers?  We were surprised at how very much we are like the mommy bloggers:

  1. Pet bloggers reach a market of buyers. Moms wield huge buying power as do pet owners. Pet owners are most often the ones pushing that grocery cart and making those purchasing decisions. And the purchasing decisions are not minor ones: in 2010 the American Pet Products Association estimates that $47.7 BILLION will be spent in the US alone in the pet industry.
  2. Readers often have a new member of the family. As with mommy blogs, readers often turn to pet blogs for advice with the arrival of a new family member. They’re looking for help with many problems shared by young families: teething, training, feeding, crying (or barking) in the night, the list goes on.
  3. Readers are looking for products to make life easier. Like young families, pet owners are faced with a barrage of products. Which to trust, which to buy? They’re turning to trusted sources: bloggers who face the same challenges as their own family.
  4. Readers are looking for ways to extend their purchasing power. Both human and pet mommies are looking for ways to stretch that dollar. They’re interested in special promotions, sales, coupons, and other ways to save. Besides a bargain, though, they’re also looking for value and turn to bloggers to learn which products are of good value.
  5. Pet bloggers write from their heart. Like Mommy bloggers, pet bloggers are writing about a subject that’s far more than dollars and cents; they’re writing about their family members. They share events, from funny to frustrating, touching to tearful, that their family experiences. In the process, pet bloggers document their lives with their pets, helping readers to enrich their own lives with their pets as well.

Of course, the pet bloggers and mommy bloggers are two different creatures: if only because of the difference in the leg count and the hair coverage of their dear children. All in all, though, the similarities far outnumber the differences. Whether two- or four-legged, the subject of these blogs is all about family.

About Paris Permenter and John Bigley

DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.

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  • http://www.petcarebev.com Bev

    This is spot on!!

  • http://www.championofmyheart.com Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart

    I had lunch with Jane after her session at BlogPaws, and I told her that this idea intrigued me because my fellow bloggers (especially those who, like me, are professional writers) seem to find blogging about pets a bit outside the norm.

    Using her cred, I’m reaching out to show how what I do really isn’t that different from moms, foodies, travel experts, etc. who blog.

    Thanks for this post! I’ve bookmarked it.

  • http://www.dogtipper.com Paris and John

    Thank you…it was a fun post to write! Hopefully advertisers will start to think of pet blogs as a niche within the mommy blogger market, much like they now think of niche mommy blog sites that specifically cover twins, stepfamilies, etc.

  • http://www.dogtipper.com Paris and John

    Thanks, Roxanne! Jane really had a good point on the panel; pet blogs aren’t different than blogs that reach other niche markets, especially the family niche. We’ve been running travel websites for 10 years and find the pet market easier to reach thanks to the networking and social media interaction. There’s such a great sense of community in the pet world! -Paris

  • http://www.dogtipper.com/bloggie/2010/05/bloggers-without-makeup-day.html Bloggers Without Makeup Day | DogTipper: Tips, Dog News, Photos & More

    [...] month I wrote about how dog bloggers are like mommy bloggers. Well, today many mommy bloggers are recognizing Bloggers Without Makeup Day. I decided it’s [...]

  • http://blog.fidofriendly.com Carol Bryant

    Love this post and agree. I learn so much from Dogtipper and we are glad to see such a great comparison.
    .-= Carol Bryant´s last blog ..DogTipper Features FIDO Friendly giveaway =-.

  • http://www.dogtipper.com Paris and John

    Thank you SO much, Carol!! Big woofs!!

  • http://www.lazyghosthunter.com erin

    Yes! Totally agree!! My dog Ace is the best and I blog all the time about him on my lazyghosthunter.com site!!!

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