It’s no secret that the Honest team are animal lovers, so when we were appointed by the independent dog drink brand, Furr Boost, to launch its tasty smoothies for pooches into the pet market, we were understandably super excited to get stuck in!

As Furr Boost was a start-up business, our challenge was two-fold. Step one was to introduce its products to the industry and create a buzz around the launch, and step two was to build brand awareness and grow its online community of ‘Furr Boosters.’

We devised a social media and influencer strategy with multiple aims:

• To establish and build its media and online presence
• To educate dog owners on the importance of healthy hydration
• To increase Furr Boost’s social proof and brand awareness
• To create ambassadors and generate user-generated content

After kicking things off with a brand voice workshop with founder Louise to establish the brand’s identity and tone of voice (queue dog puns aplenty!), we got stuck in delivering our strategy. Our mission was to create thumb-stoppable content to get tails wagging and build an online community of engaged Furr Boosters.

To make Furr Boost’s social platforms stand out in a busy market space, our approach included everything from enlisting our four-legged friends to create reels and imagery, collating customer reviews to generate testimonials, reaching and retargeting potential customers through paid activity and delivering an influencer barketing campaign.

Working closely with our ambassador dog-fluencers, Puggy Smalls, Pugyay, Its Pomegranate, and Pops Sausage, who boast a combined following of 300,000 followers to date, we coordinated the creation and delivery of some seriously pawsome content each month. Assets included everything from seasonal-themed photoshoots (think happy Howl-oween and Santa Paws!), to educational content demonstrating the many ways Furr Boost can be used (paws up for frozen pupsicles or winter warming puppucinos!).

As you can see we also became pros at coming up with dog-based puns…

To further the brand’s reach, we embarked upon building a network of micro-influencers, managing a monthly product gifting and affiliate scheme with some of Instagram’s furry finest to increase brand awareness and generate a pool of content for use on Furr Boost’s platforms.

We also coordinated a series of regular collaborations with established brands in the pet market, such as Lickimats, Waggs, and Nature Diet (to name just a few!), launching social media competitions and creating guest content to further the brand’s reach.

In just one year, Furr Boost went from a start-up business launching new products to market to winning a host of industry awards, appearing at Crufts, and being stocked in leading pet shops – not to mention becoming a firm favourite among dogs and their owners across the country.

As a result of the social media and influencer strategy delivered, Furr Boost’s Instagram following grew by over 700%, rising from 422 followers to an impressive 3,400 followers, while its Facebook page likes increased by 340% from 250 to over 1,100 likes. It now receives hundreds of tags from Furr Boosters every month, allowing us to have built a bank of user-generated content to use across all marketing materials. What’s more, social platforms drive on average at least a third of monthly sessions to the Furr Boost website, contributing significantly to sales and growth of the business, and resulting in hundreds of healthy, happy and hydrated Furr Babies!