BarkBox: The Subscription Service for Busy Pet Owners
There are hundreds of subscription companies that cater to different needs individuals have. Whether that’s delivering meal prep foods, makeup, hair products, or even dog toys, finding a target audience is essential for creating a successful subscription and delivery service. If we look at these subscription companies that have been around for quite a while now, we can notice that each of their products are catered to specific individuals based on their wants and needs.
What is BarkBox?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with BarkBox, BarkBox is a dog subscription company. Every month, dog owners pay a fee to receive a monthly box full of goodies such as chew toys, stuffed toys, and yummy snacks for their dogs. Each month one receives completely different products, and each box follows a specific, fun, and seasonal theme. For example, during Thanksgiving, you might receive a stuffed turkey toy. During the summer, you might receive completely different toys. Snacks are also correlated to that month’s theme.
Not only is BarkBox very fun and exciting for dogs and owners, but the personalization and convenience of the service is something owners enjoy a lot. For example, if one is looking for new snacks for their dog, but they have a food allergy, going to the pet store and looking through every product trying to find one that doesn’t carry that specific ingredient isn’t always the easiest way to go about it. BarkBox allows you to take a quiz when signing up and sends you snacks that correlate to your dog’s dietary needs. The service seemed so convenient that even I have been a user since I adopted my dog a year and a half ago.
To whom does BarkBox cater?
BarkBox is perfect for any dog owners that not only love to treat their dogs to new goodies every month, but love the convenience of receiving fun toys and snacks for their pet without having to leave their home. With this pandemic going on, fewer people are wanting to leave their homes, so subscription companies are at an all time high. BarkBox is perfect for busy dog owners too. I, myself, go to school full time, but many dog owners are full time workers or parents. They don’t always have time to go out of their way to find new toys that often get destroyed by their pets or snacks they want to use to train their pet, so this service is perfect for those busy pet owners.
What makes BarkBox so special?
Though there are many dog subscription services, BarkBox’s monthly theme seems to be quite iconic and fun for not only dogs, but owners too. Owners can look forward to unboxing their themed box and you never know what you’ll get.
Chewing is a major dog habit, so if your pet is an extreme chewer, BarkBox also caters to those needs. Not only do they supply toys that fit your dog’s needs, but if for some reason your dog is not satisfied with a toy, BarkBox seems to have a great customer service team. They’ll always make sure you get a bang for your buck.
Pricing is also a huge factor as to why BarkBox is a great option. When compared to other subscription services, such as PupBox, BarkBox is instantly a cheaper option by $10 every month. PupBox seems to be more catered specifically for puppies, while BarkBox feels more universal as it caters to dogs of all ages.
Lastly, convenience and uniqueness are also key factors as to why many love BarkBox. All toys that are sent are nowhere to be found in stores because these are uniquely made by BarkBox and tested on their own dogs.
How can we target our target audience?
The points stated above have made it very clear that BarkBox can be very beneficial to those busy pet owners. Signing up is also easily convenient as they can do it from their own personal devices from home. Mentioning the points stated above as to why BarkBox is unique to pet owners can be very beneficial. For example, pet owners can be reached via social media platforms (which is where I first heard of them), through media influencers, and celebrities who have pets of their own. For example, Ariana Grande has a very popular dog who has been featured in many advertisements. Ariana Grande is also known to be a very popular and busy celebrity with a full schedule. Showcasing Ariana Grande benefiting from BarkBox and how this caters to her needs can be a great tactic in reaching our target audience of busy pet owners.
It is clear that having a target audience is very important in creating direction for a company. Without a target audience, companies wouldn’t know who to reach out to and how, which will cause slower growth to the company. Target audiences are essential for creating an effective marketing plan to make content that is tailored to that specific audience.
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