Pet copywriter and UK pet trade marketing consultant

Polly Kay: pet copywriter and British pet care industry marketing consultant

You might well have found me because you’re looking for a marketing consultant to the UK pet industry, a specialist pet copywriter, or a veterinary copywriter.

This is my key niche, and the sectors within which I have the most extensive range of experience. I chose to specialise in pet copywriting and marketing due to my lifelong love of dogs and cats, and personal interest in canine behaviour and companion animal veterinary care.

Throughout my career I have undertaken specialist pet copywriting projects for a huge range of pet-related retailers, pet advice sites, cat and dog magazines, animal training course providers, and both the veterinary and animal nutrition sectors, to name just a few.

I am also the author of over a thousand pet advice articles created over the course of the last decade for the UK’s largest pet advice and classified ads platform, largely pertaining to dog training, behaviour, and health, but encompassing cats, horses, and other animals too.

Put simply, I can count some of the biggest and best in the business among those that come to me for pet copywriting and/or marketing services; a few of the clients I am permitted to publicise and in some cases, examples of my work for them can be found at the brand links incorporated into this page.

I undertake pet copywriting projects such as writing packaging blurb for dog and cat food labels and veterinary medications, dog-related blog content, product descriptions for pet accessory retailers, website content for veterinary clinics, dog groomers, and pet product manufacturers, and much more.

Serving as a specialist pet marketing consultant I have developed and actioned campaigns for SMEs catering to dog and cat owners, and also advised larger corporations on how to plan campaigns involving animals or aimed at animal lovers.

I have also served as an independent consultant to a handful of pet-related household names seeking to launch new product lines or target new audience sectors.

My background, hands-on experience, and pet-related qualifications

As a pet copywriting authority and experienced UK pet industry marketing consultant, my extensive hands-on knowledge of both marketing and companion animal care have cemented my reputation within the British pet copywriting niche.

I grew up with a whole menagerie of cats, dogs, horses, and more, and animals have been my constant companions since childhood and throughout my adult life. I began working with animals professionally at the age of 18, studying canine behaviour and dog training whilst working first as a security industry dog handler, and later, dog trainer and trainer of dog handlers.

I then expanded my skillset into the field of veterinary medicine, qualifying as a veterinary nurse early on in my career. Today, I fuse my love of pets and interest in canine behaviour with my passion for marketing and consumer behaviour, in my role as a pet industry copywriting specialist and marketing consultant.

The responsible portrayal of pets in the media: why you should care

I pride myself on both my reputation and experience within the pet marketing niche, and my commitment to supporting responsible pet ownership via my work.

I believe in the responsible portrayal of pets in the media, whether used to promote pet-related products directly, or simply as part of more general promotional trends.

The widespread use of French bulldogs and other flat-faced breeds for marketing purposes is one area of particular interest and sometimes, concern to me, given the regularity with which brands choose dogs with exaggerated facial features that are potentially detrimental to their health.

The Dachshund (another breed for which conformation and health are inextricably linked, this time in terms of exaggerated body lengths resulting in a propensity to spinal problems) is in its turn experiencing a burgeoning demand from puppy buyers, and general interest in the breed is building rapidly too. Consequently, the use of Dachshunds as a marketing device is both reinforcing and increasing the trajectory of the breed's exposure and popularity among consumers as a result.

These are the types of things that brands that fail to hire a specialist dog copywriter or pet industry marketing consultant often don’t realise, which can have a highly damaging impact on their brand reputation.

This is where the role of a pet copywriter and marketing consultant comes in. I can add value by both tuning you into the current media trends where pets and pet products are concerned, and helping you to avoid the backlash that can come from inadvertently choosing an animal or portrayal that might be harmful, controversial, or problematic.

Why hire a specialist pet copywriter rather than just a general-purpose copywriter?

In terms of specialist pet copywriting for UK dog owners, you need a copywriter who knows all about both the animal in question and the owners of said animals too.

As an example, the type of information, tone, and style you might use to sell products designed for a Chihuahua or pug would be vastly different to that which would resonate with the owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier or greyhound respectively!

This might seem obvious, but unless you hire a pet copywriter who knows not only copywriting but dogs, dog breeds, and dog owners inside out, you’re doing your brand a disservice and are potentially going to miss the mark by quite a long way.

The same is true for cat copywriting, and content written for the respective owners of all other types of companion animals too; even more so when choosing between hiring a specialist veterinary copywriter versus a general purpose copywriting service.

Failing to hire a professional pet copywriter is a mistake that even some of the big pet brands have made, to their detriment; creating advice articles and even product descriptions that are inaccurate and in some cases, harmful to pets. This in turn harms the brand’s reputation, and damages public perception of them for the long term too.