Last week was a challenge, to say the least.

A week ago Friday, I woke up to the sound of Layla (our dog) collapsing at midnight. I got her back to her bed, and then she was vomiting at 1 am. After cleaning all that up and getting her back to bed again, she was cowering in the corner of the room, vomiting blood at 2 pm. That's when I grabbed my cell phone and searched “Emergency Vet by me!” I called the closest one, they were open and said to bring her in. I lifted her into the back of the car and drove as fast as I could. When I arrived, they took her in the back and came out an hour later.

The doctor told me that she was in anaphylaxic shock. It could be from a bug bite or something she ate on her walk, but her life was in danger, and she would have to stay at least two days. The drive home at 4 am seemed like hours. You hurt and feel helpless when your fur babies are sick. You blame yourself… “What did I do? What did I miss?”

Recovery Road

I was able to bring her home on Sunday, but that was both comforting and challenging. She still had diarrhea and had to be let outside every 30 minutes, we were told to do a bland diet for a week, and she needed some meds. I went to the grocery store to get chicken to boil and pumpkin and rice for fiber. We cooked it up and she ate a little, which was encouraging, but when we made a small dinner, she refused to eat.

Then, all that night, she got up every hour on the hour to go outside. Talk about sleep deprivation! The next morning, I cooked an egg and added that to the chicken and rice, and she ate most of it.

The rest of the week was a struggle of adding broth, removing rice, and mixing in dog food to find a combination that she would eat and then refuse. It took almost the entire week to get her to sleep through the night and to eat regularly. She is slowly getting back to normal.

The Social Dilemma

Layla has a Facebook fan club because I constantly post pictures of her on walks, at doggie daycare, or just being cute at home. When I posted about her being in the hospital, we had hundreds of comments and likes. When I posted about the food struggle, people offered up their experiences and what worked for them when their dog was sick. We even got advice about how to clean up the carpets naturally after the messes.

The problem with posting that to social media is that people are still seeing the hospital stay and the feeding issues for the first time a week later. I always respond, but I can't keep up—explaining that it was last week, and she is 90% back to normal now. The other thing is that, like people, every dog is different and likes different food. Factor in Layla's ever-changing tastes and condition; it got old trying to respond that we tried that or she wouldn't eat that before she was sick. She has always been a quirky eater. One day she would love french fries and a week later, she would spit them out. She just has too many quirks to spend the time playing whack-a-mole with well-meaning advice.

While life is chronological, social media serves it up based on user interactions and algorithms. You can't count on social media to promote your event or webinar unless you do it way in advance. If people see it too soon, they may ignore it saying, “I will do that later,” and then never see the post again.

That is why I say your strategy, especially for events with specific dates, needs to use email to ensure that at least some people see it and engage before it's too late.

Community

I think there are a few business lessons in what was a life event. The first is that a silent community has been built through constant social media posting. The second is that this community aligned itself to collectively engage in a caring and proactive way.

It was amazing how hundreds of people came out of the woodwork to share their experiences with their pets. They saw my frustration as a call for help, offering everything from recipes to get Layla back to health through meals that worked for their dogs to eco-friendly carpet cleaning methods.

I think it's clear that people love their pets and would do almost anything to keep them healthy and safe. The one thing that was also clear is that each pet is like a person. They have quirks and personalities that cannot be lumped into a uniform response. Layla has always been a picky eater, and we tried almost everything suggested in one form or another. It worked for one meal, and then she would reject it the second or third time.

While the community is aligned, there is a diversity of cultural, economic, and individual experiences. While the collective has tremendous power, some grace must be given to the fact that individuals may have different levels of experience and success.

The Case for Collaboration

If I were in the pet industry, I would see an opportunity to bring this group together to collaborate on helping other people and pets. A real-life example is Facebook groups. While thousands of people may join a group, only 100 or fewer actively engage. The rest just watch and observe.

I think that creating a live forum like a weekly or monthly Zoom meeting could be a great way to get some of those people to engage even more and then use that collective power to help others in the background by posting the replay to the group. People who align with a specific topic or concept may be willing to become more actively engaged if they feel they could help or benefit from a short discussion or forum.

The goal is to have a unifying message while embracing the diversity of personality, experience, and individual expression. I admit it can be a challenge not to let one or two people overtake the crowd, but I have learned over the years why and how to divert to others to help limit the group being overtaken by strong members with big personalities.

Closing Thought

As of this post, Layla is almost 100% back to her happy, energetic, and food-hound self.  She is going back to doggie daycare (where they send pictures I use to post to social media to entertain her fan club).

The post comments and likes are still coming in, offering prayers, likes, and even advice on how to get her to eat. I still engage with each of those because those people took the time to engage, and they deserve to know that their efforts are appreciated and being heard (even if it's late in the game).

I think it's safe to say that Layla's fan club has grown, and I expect the level of engagement to stay high… at least for a while… which everyone appreciates and enjoys.

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.