PetSmart Achieves 61% Organic Visibility Through an Influencer Strategy Worth Barking About

August United refreshed PetSmart’s YouTube channel and drove results worth barking about.

The Situation

PetSmart faced a challenge: their YouTube channel was stagnant. Outdated training videos were no longer resonating with the audiences they needed to reach. PetSmart wanted to breathe new life into their YouTube channel, so they turned to August United to create new and exciting content that would appeal to a younger demographic of millennial “pet parents”. August United knew that these videos needed to be more than just promotional—they needed to answer new pet parents’ questions, live comfortably on PetSmart’s YouTube channel for years to come, and provide engaging, fun content that would keep viewers coming back for more.

The Strategy

August United worked directly with YouTube to find the top search terms for puppy training videos in order to pinpoint exactly which topics pet parents cared about the most. PetSmart and the August United team then worked together to create an informative training curriculum that would provide answers to the most searched questions new pet parents had. August United found the perfect host to bring PetSmart’s training videos to life. Through a thoughtful and strategic round of influencer identification, August United partnered with acclaimed YouTube creator, Aaron Burriss, from Lazyron Studios. A new pet parent himself, Aaron brought his adorable young pug, Guppy, to work with one of PetSmart’s top trainers, Shannon Erickson.

Together, PetSmart, August United, and Aaron created a series of 10 videos designed to inform and entertain with video spots supplemented by Aaron, showing behind-the-scenes vlog that drove more traffic to PetSmart’s channel. He added an engaging scavenger hunt and a strong call to action that helped to drive even more viewers to PetSmart’s new training playlist. His fun, witty, out-of-the-box style endeared viewers instantly and the episodic nature of the videos helped to create one of PetSmart’s strongest performing social tactics of 2017.

The Results

The results spoke for themselves. This two-tiered approach made the most of our influencer partner’s reach while creating an immersive and informative experience for the audience that they could only experience by visiting PetSmart’s YouTube Channel. Gartner Research even recognized the campaign in a recent study for earning significant reach in organic engagement. They found that the video had incredible organic visibility by appearing for 61% of all key pet search terms (L2 Gartner Digital IQ Index US Big Box, December 2017). In summary, the campaign combined the perfect personality, engaging storytelling, and helpful advice that new pet parents connected with. The influencer partnership was so successful we were awarded The Shorty Awards Audience Honor (2018) for both the Pets & Animal and YouTube Partnership categories. Now, that’s something to wag your tail about.

• 2.7M+ Views on PetSmart’s YouTube series
• 61% Organic Visibility for key puppy-related search terms
• 465K+ Views on Aaron’s Behind-the-Scenes Vlog
• 42K+ Clicks on the PetSmart Puppy Training Playlist