How Bark Captures the Attention of Online Customers and Their Four-Legged Friends

Tailor content for each platform.

Each Meta technology has unique characteristics that can be used to help guide content creation.

"On Facebook, I think people are much more primed to sit down and actually take in some information," says Alexis. "My advice for Facebook usage is, you're given a little bit of extra space to play with, use it."

Putting this into practice, Alex and her team use Facebook to dive deeper into long-form storytelling through blog-style posts. Alternatively, their Instagram account (@bark) focuses more on sharing visuals that excite and inspire with short, but sweet, post captions.

Leverage user-generated content.

"Our toys change every single month, and social media moves really quickly, so I feel like inherently they work together very well for us when it comes to marketing a subscription service," says Alexis.

User-generated content, often abbreviated as UGC, is a powerful tool on social media, which is why Bark created a system to help them easily identify and share their customers' most engaging posts.

Behind this system is a hashtag strategy that encourages customers to include the #barkbox hashtag when posting content. Since starting the hashtag, it has been mentioned over 4 million times on Instagram alone. It also helps Alexis and her team to sort through posts and dog memes to reshare with their audience as part of a monthly UGC roundup.

Create memorable moments.

Adding even more fun into the mix, Bark created its own social media holiday called National Squirrel Day.

Every year, the company launches a social campaign to make it seem as if their Facebook and Instagram accounts have been hacked by every dog's biggest enemy: the neighborhood squirrel. Between the engaging content and playful messaging, this year's campaign helped generate over 6 million impressions on Instagram and a bump in subscriptions.

If Bark's approach to social media resonates with you, get started by taking a free course from Facebook Blueprint on a variety of topics. If you're ready to keep leveling up your social media skills, check out previous Social Skills episodes featuring brands like Target, Havaianas, Benefit Middle East and Parade.