In this second installment of a two-part blog series on pet food nutrition, TBE explores the multi-channel nature of pet owners who are researching their pets’ food.

What will be the differentiator between pet food brands that find retail success and those that fail to do so? Thriving in this competitive market takes both a solid product strategy and a brand strategy that offers pet owners a way to connect to their own beliefs about food and nutrition.

Seven leaders of the veterinary profession came together to form one of the country's greatest organizations: the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). It was and remains the only institution that accredits companion veterinary hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. It was built on the premise that pets deserve nothing less than the very best veterinary care.

By now most of us have heard of goat yoga, the animal-snuggling fitness sensation that has taken the nation by storm. But how did it become a craze seemingly overnight?

Many veterinarians have expressed concern about pet owners using the internet to seek advice about pet healthcare rather than visiting a veterinarian for an examination of their pet by a professional. Veterinarians fear that pet owners may even reduce their visits to the clinic due to the abundance of information readily available online. These concerns are understandable. But need veterinarians fret?

The battle for pet pharmaceutical sales has grown to a point where brick-and-mortar retailers and Internet/mail order retailers accounted for a combined 42% of the nearly $8 billion in national pet medication sales in 2014 according to a report by the market research firm, Packaged Facts. The same report forecasts that pet pharmaceuticals will be one of the highest growth areas of pet retailing over the next 10 years due to increased over-the-counter drugs and interest by chain retailers.

If you play a role in marketing today you’ve likely heard the attention span of the average human has shrunk to only eight seconds. Last year, the New York Times published a story that stated our attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish. Since we are exposed to seemingly endless choices and messages every moment of every day, it’s no wonder our ability to focus has decreased. As a result, marketers are constantly seeking new ways to effectively reach out to their audience and gain their attention.

Having too few options in life can be limiting and frustrating. This is especially true in the pet pharmaceutical market where pet owners want more prescription options from both a price and convenience standpoint. We uncovered this trend in our recent Pet Pharmaceutical Market Study, which revealed a shift in pet pharmaceutical revenue from the veterinary pharmacy to online pharmacies and brick-and-mortar retail pharmacies.

The conference season is right around the corner. Conferences are incredibly valuable as they enable brands to drive highly engaging connections to a very targeted and captive audience. According to Forrester Research, trade shows and events are the second most effective tactic in the marketing mix, after the company’s website.¹ But just having a booth and being present at these conferences isn’t enough when you’re up against a sea of competitors all vying for the same eyeballs.

Marketing your company, or its products or services, can be a stressful job. There is a lot at stake, and every move you make as a marketer is scrutinized by, well, everyone. It’s a natural tendency to want to please everyone and play it safe when it comes to messaging, advertising, web content and anything else used to communicate with your audiences. But the truth is you need to fight that human tendency to be “normal.”