Social Media Marketing for Cat Lovers: Jackson Galaxy & The Power of Online Product Reviews

As a marketer, I always scour reviews online before I purchase any product or service. However, I seem to find more and more legitimate product reviews through Facebook pages. I'm an animal lover and love my kitties! I have an older rescue cat who has been having some health issues, specifically skin and allergy problems. She's been in and out of the vet for other health problems, including a pricey dental cleaning. She's been itching and biting her fur a lot which has worried me so I went right to the source, the Cat Daddy himself, Jackson Galaxy. Jackson is an awesome animal behaviorist who appears on the Animal Channel ("My Cat From Hell" show). I follow his Facebook page and check out his page for helpful hints about cats, especially concerning cat health issues. As a result, I stumbled upon his natural holistic health products that cat owners really praised. Wow, their personal product testimonials really caught my attention! Jackson merely posted a link to his Spiritual Essence products on his Facebook page. His fans couldn't say enough great things about a particular product (the one I ended up purchasing).

I'm not trying to talk you into using natural health products (a very personal decision) for your pets, but my story shows that online product reviews and testimonials are powerful tools. Testimonials from your fans base/customers can easily help you market services and products - without really trying.

 As a result of the rave reviews and browsing through the site (a holistic DMV/vet and Jackson created the product line together so there is a medical/vet backing to the products), I bought two of his natural remedies for my rescue cat, fluffy Blue Eyes. Why did I buy these particular products, especially when there are tons of other brands and cat health remedies I could buy? Because of his active Facebook page AND the genuine testimonials/rave reviews from every day cat owners like myself who are experiencing the same health/skin allergy issues with their cats. My kitty is a "senior" cat so it was even more comforting to know that these cat owners have found success with his products. Yes, I paid more than I normally would  but as someone who personally believes in the power of holistic remedies, I feel it's well-worth the investment if it's a good product AND helps my cat feel better.

The moral of the marketing story? If you have a loyal fan base on your social media and they love your products/services, let your fans do the talking (and the reviewing of your products and services) for you. Obviously, Jackson Galaxy has a HUGE following from cat lovers and owners from around the world BUT my personal experience shows the strength of his brand. People trust and believe in his cat/animal behavior advice, knowledge and his products. Jackson Galaxy is another example of a successful branding and marketing story! 

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jackson's products and hopefully, the remedies do the trick for itchy, scratchy Blue Eyes! :) 

Justin Bieber Is Not Newsworthy: Why Twitter Isn't Relevant Anymore

Justin Bieber has been in a lot of hot water lately, but is the Biebs really considered newsworthy? With everything else happening in this world, our crazy weather, etc., my vote is NO! This New York Times article agrees that Twitter isn't about the most important and relevant news anymore. Justin Bieber is definitely NOT considered relevant (big shocker):

"But by far, the most common refrain was something like this: “Why is this news??”

The simplest answer is that it wasn’t — at least not the most important news happening on that particular day. But Twitter isn’t really about the most important thing anymore — it stopped being about relevancy a long time ago. Twitter seems to have reached a turning point, a phase in which its contributors have stopped trying to make the service as useful as possible for the crowd, and are instead trying to distinguish themselves from one another. It’s less about drifting down the stream, absorbing what you can while you float, and more about trying to make the flashiest raft to float on, gathering fans and accolades as you go."

According to the article, Twitter really isn't about how many followers you have anymore:

"What does matter, however, is how many people notice you, either through retweets, favorites or the holy grail, a retweet by someone extremely well known, like a celebrity. That validation that your contribution is important, interesting or worthy is enough social proof to encourage repetition."

This article makes me wonder what's in store for Twitter's future, and social media in general. Will the "tweeting" novelty eventually wear off for the average social media user? Obviously, tweeting is still going strong. Celebrities are always getting in trouble for posting nasty tweets and "questionable" selfies on their Twitter. Is it all just a big publicity stunt these days, especially for celebs and those in the limelight?

Is Twitter really a popularity contest that feed people's inflated egos, and gives them personal validation through "likes"? My vote is a resounding yes. This applies to Facebook as well. Social media is a valuable marketing tool, in my opinion, but some people view and use social media as their own shallow beauty/popularity contest. And that gets old fast.

Do you use Twitter as a social media marketing platform? Do you think that Twitter has gone down the tubes?