It has now been both well documented and well parodied that cats and the web seem to have been made for each other. The reasons for the success of this match up is a question for the ages, but any quick web search will reveal that the internet + kittens = viral popularity.
So if your real life mission is to find adoptive homes for cats that need them, one of the best tools in your arsenal is clearly the web.
Kitty Harbor is a rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption facility in West Seattle. The location is a little odd; its nearest neighbor is the steel mill and other heavy industry of Harbor Island. The back of the building is on stilts, hovering over rail tracks that transport rusty steel back and forth all day. But inside the cedar-shingled building the atmosphere shifts as you walk into their screened-in sun porch, where dozens and dozens of kittens and cats sleep and play together, oblivious to the loud clanging below them.
Because Kitty Harbor is a non-profit, it relies fully on volunteers. Two of these volunteers, Anna Sweet and her husband Jess Cliffe, realized that their background in the tech industry might be the best way they could help. In June of 2010 they set up a new website, began marketing using social media, and delved into Craigslist, Petfinder and Adopt-A-Pet.com.
What really took off though, and what attracted me to Kitty Harbor’s story was their Facebook page. They have over 5,000 followers and each post gets nearly 70 likes and between a dozen and two-dozen comments. Yet surprisingly, Sweet says that their social media strategy is relatively simple: “We normally go in once a week to get photos of all the new kittens. My husband takes all the photos and I hold the kittens. Taking the photos takes about an hour, then it takes another hour to process the photos. After that, we post them to our website and post 3 – 4 photos a day to Facebook. All added up, we probably spend around 3 hours a week working on our blog posts and Facebook posts.”
The part that really makes the posts effective is the extremely high-quality photos of the cats. Many other shelters rely on simple snapshots and bad flash photos tend to turn the cats into red-eyed devil’s spawn. All of the photos Sweet and her husband take are naturally-lit, cat-calendar-worthy images.
Delyn Kosbab, who runs Kitty Harbor, contributes her talent for coming up with names. Combining great names with great photos and Sweet’s posts, which personify the cats, has proven a simple, but completely effective social media strategy. Anyone who likes the Kitty Harbor Facebook page now gets a daily feed of gorgeous kitten photos.
So has the supercharged combination of adorable cats and the internet paid dividends in actual adoptions?
“Oh absolutely!” says Sweet, “We’re always amazed each week when people come to the shelter and know all the names of the cats from the website and Facebook page.”
She’s also tried using targeted ads through Facebook, which she says has seemed far more powerful than traditional newspaper ads.
“It seems that people have become really attached to the Facebook community over time. When we first started the page we tried to do a donation drive and got virtually no response. But after a year of running the page, we did another request for donations, and this time we raised over $1000. I think that people appreciate the photos and updates on our cats, and it makes them more willing to help our cause.”
So for small businesses or busy non-profits that rely on volunteers, it is good to remember that a social-media strategy doesn’t have to be complex. Just use what you have effectively. Kitty Harbor was smart enough to realize that fuzzy kittens sell themselves, especially on the web.
After all, there is even a new site called writtenkitten.net that fights writers block by rewarding users with a fresh kitten when you reach your word count. But why go to all that trouble when Kitty Harbor already rewards you with fresh kittens everyday?
Oh, and if you are in the market for a real rather than virtual kitten experience, Kitty Harbor’s last adoption weekend this year is December 18th.
Catvertising!
http://youtu.be/IkOQw96cfyE
So simple, yet so effective. Cool story.
This reminds me of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, which has also been taking in and adopting out kittens (which is what makes the name so appropriate). Like the Kitty Harbor site, the photos on the website is what makes it so engaging. Plus, the blog is updated on nearly a daily basis, meaning I can come back frequently and there will be new photos of kittens that need a home. It’s a well-designed site that really speaks to me. And clearly, they are ahead of the curve when it comes to kittens.
As a supporter and past volunteer, this warms my heart! I also have 2 wonderful Kitty Harbor kitties, and love the Facebook site. I hope the remaining kittens find a home next weekend. Kitty Harbor’s last for the season.
I’m glad that the folks running Kitty Harbor recognized a few simple principles in digital–create compelling content and hitch it to a paid campaign. The photographs are lovely and they’re of kittens…easy score there. Plus the additional use of Facebook tools to put the kittens front (or right) and center with potential cat lovers is a genius idea fueled by low-cost paid placements. Ultimately, this small organization got right what major brands struggle to do–content is still king and only after that should an organization (big or small) think about where to put that content.
And if I didn’t already have a house full of pets–I’d probably be picking up another kitten this weekend.
This is a great article Shanna, thanks for sharing! It’s a great reminder to those who have technical skills that there are many opportunities out there to apply those skills for a good cause. I’ve thought about volunteering at shelters before (more physically), but sometimes I forget there’s other ways I can lend a hand too, like photography and web assistance.
It’s also interesting to see here that the high quality pictures of the cats really helps their popularity. This is just like having a food blog and providing high quality pictures – it’s so important.
Now I just wish I was in the market for a kitten.
This basically sounds like my dream job. You all are well aware of my love of cats at this point. Thanks Shanna! You’ve shown my top recruiting haven for my budding catvertising business! I want to hire all of them! Is that kind of like adoption? Do you think there are kitten labor laws?!
When I saw this FTP post pop up in my email, I really thought it was Dacia who posted it
@ Kim – Ha! There many of us cat lovers out there . . . I just keep it a little more close to the vest . . .
Thank you Shanna for a purrfect article and for recognizing the talents of my volunteers, Anna & Jess. They are an asset to Kitty Harbor. We place over 20 homeless kitties into homes each week end. My life long passion has been blessed with 22 wonderful volunteers with the same committment that makes it happen. I also appreciate the people that have shared their home and love by adopting the kitties. We have 32 gorgeous kitties available for our last week end of the season, December 17th & 18th.
Many purrs to you.
Delyn
A great example of using digital media to achieve a goal. As a trained photographer with a degree in commercial photography, I practically cringe every time I see Facebook “pictures” shot with camera phones. You may have heard the expression “the best camera is the one you have with you”. That may be true, to a certain point. However, with just a little more effort, you can achieve so much more. I just love the expressive faces and eyes on those kittens’ faces.