3 Things You Should Send Your Pet Licensees Annually

Renewal letters shouldn’t be the only touchpoint you have with pet licensees throughout the year. In order to keep your pet owner community engaged (and pets licensed), it is important that relevant communications are sent throughout the year. DocuPet’s full-service solution includes a variety of communications including bi-weekly newsletters, renewal notifications, detailed program benefits, targeted advertising, and video content on local shelter operations. 

We believe that there are 3 fundamental things you should send pet licensees annually. 

1. Information About Your Program

In most jurisdictions, the majority of pet license revenue goes to animal care services at the local shelter. We believe that at least twice a year, organizations should take the time to communicate the great work being done by your shelter so that each pet owner can learn for themselves that they are improving the value and the condition of the local animal community each time they license. Further, letting each licensee know that pet license records are used to get lost pets home, often at no cost to the pet owner, can increase their perceived value of a license. Lastly, ensuring that information about the program is easy to locate and understand helps pet owners license with ease.

DocuPet provides the opportunity for licensees to donate to local animal welfare initiatives upon checkout, additionally, they donate 20% of all product purchases through their Safe&Happy Fund. This helps licensees recognize how their contributions directly affect local animal welfare. DocuPet also takes the time to explain how their HomeSafeTM lost pet service works by sending out detailed program inserts and by providing comprehensive online resources. Lastly, through robust welcome packages that explain membership benefits, DocuPet ensures that pet owners are familiar with all program aspects.

2. Thank You For Registering

Taking the time to thank pet licensees for their responsible pet ownership and contribution to local animal safety can increase their likelihood to renew year after year. Saying thank you makes you approachable, grateful and personal. If you have the systems in place, ensuring that your thank you communications call out pet owners by name, and mention their licensed pets can add a personalized touch to your messaging, helping to improve customer experience. 

DocuPet strives towards recognizing each and every pet owner who licenses by adding inserts into the membership packages that explicitly thank our pet licensees. It is crucial to remind folks that their license is important and makes a difference in their community.

3. Renewal Notifications

Although we don’t believe renewal notifications should be the only communication you send to pet owners annually, they are still quite effective and necessary. Attracting a new licensee is often much more difficult than marketing to pet owners who have previously licensed their pets. Therefore, it is important to keep these pet owners inside the loyalty loop, providing ongoing, annual value to them and their pets. 

DocuPet’s renewal program has been optimized over the last 5 years of operation through extensive testing in over 40 of our partner communities. DocuPet’s system now offers streamlined renewal reminders and warnings through email, mail and optional robocalls. DocuPet’s sophisticated software removes administrative burden by automatically generating emails, letters and phone messages to licensees. Our renewal communications strive to provide personalized and concise information so that our system addresses pet owners by name and automatically calculates the cost of their renewal. Getting the messages, timings, and processes just right has been a long and systematic process that we continue to optimize. Certainly, this is just one of the many reasons we have been able to increase sales by more than 100% annually across our system.

Although DocuPet communicates in several ways year-round to their licensees, we recognize that pet licensing organizations often do not have the resources or time available in order to implement comprehensive communication plans. However, by ensuring your program is explained in detail, pet licensees are thanked, and renewal notifications are systematic, you have covered the basics needed to deliver communications that work.