In what geographies should THS spend its marketing?

@Silversitters, fair point. But I have been astonished at the diversity of circumstances, preferences and objectives within the housesitting community. Sometimes we read of housesitters being very excited at listings that we would not consider! No right or wrong choices. Just preferences. I rather suspect that some members of the THS housesit community may consider Italian housesit in warmer summer months. Sure would seem marvellous to have more Schengen, including Italy, listings to even consider applications.

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Right? Like I absolutely do NOT want a sit with a pool. I find them - terrifying. Do I have to clean it? What if the animal falls in? I will not apply to a sit that has a pool. But some people think that is the best amenity EVER.

@KittySitter, great example. In contrast, we’ve completed nany housesits with pool or hottub. We typically (if useable at sit seaaon) perceive such attributes positively. It’s wonderful that the housesitter community has different preferences as presumably helps Pet Parents to find a great fit.

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Ditto!! I would absolutely use TH in the EU/Schengen areas while traveling.

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Hi everyone!

This is a super interesting discussion - thanks to you all for sharing your thoughts.

I just wanted to let you know that we did pass your feedback directly to the Marketing team.

Jenny

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Newer sitter responding:

This may even be worthy of its own topic. I’ve been running into neighbors on my pet walks, & being a chatty person, we get talking…I mention I’m the petsitter, they mention they need a sitter sometimes & would I be interested/how much do I charge, I tell them about THS & how it works…yada yada.

This happens often, & I’ve been thinking it’d be great to have a THS card in business card format to pass out…preferably with a QR code (for the referral bonus), as well as an optional shortcode/Bitly link to my personal THS profile for those who’d like to reach out to request me specifically. (Because if I’m there, it usually means it’s someplace I wouldn’t mind coming back to.)

I’ve thought about submitting it as a suggestion to THS, but the posts I’ve seen seem to indicate there isn’t a great way to submit feature requests…or at least, that they don’t have a real process for such dialog.

I really feel like this would be a win-win…free & effective marketing, with direct benefits to existing members (both sitters & HOs.)

You are so right — because I actually actively look for sits in warm climates with a pool on site. Those are the sits I don’t mind if I never even leave the house, other than to walk the dog & grocery shop :laughing:

I’ve wished more than once that ā€œpoolā€ was on the Search form, tbh…or in your case, the ability to search for ā€œNO poolā€ would be great.

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@MerryPuppins, @KittySitter - perhaps there’s a neat way to combine the related topics of Refer-A-Friend incentives and THS Priority Marketing.
By way of illustration, say THS were to determine that it wanted to attract Pet Parents in Schengen Area. THS Refer-A-Friend standard incentive is two months for a new member signup. Perhaps if the new member were within THS Priority Marketing (Pet Parents in Schengen Area in this case) then Refer-A-Friend incentive could be higher, say six months or twelve months :innocent:.
Such a concept would seem a win-win as THS members proactively assist THS marketing strategies.

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This is a good idea too.

I recently got invited to the new Trailblazers program, only to learn that it requires a social media account with 1000+ followers to join. I don’t ā€˜do’ most social media sites due to data privacy concerns. And while influencers may get the THS name out in bulk, I don’t know that I think mass amplification is the best way to gain new sitters or HOs.

That’s why I wanted a card with a QR code & Bitly. I feel like the personal invite to someone who’s already expressed interest is far more likely to gain a member - and I can use my judgement about whether it’s someone who seems like they’d understand the spirit of the service…although I also thought about asking my local small pet-store & my vet if they’d set them out as well.

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Yes, I think having social media with ā€œxā€ number of followers is a very narrow way of looking at it.

I’d far rather have an account with 300 followers that are all pet related and/or travel related, with good engagement and who trust that person. Many of the people I know who have more than 1000 followers are just annoying, self-centered, and attention-seeking. Always out there promoting this, that, or the other product. Their goal is to be an ā€œinfluencerā€. I’d far rather have a quiet person who likes pools and dogs and who understands that the more people we have on this platform, the more opportunities ALL of us will have for good HO-sitter matches. An ā€œinfluencerā€ with 1,000+ followers may very well be more interested in their own well-being rather than that of the community. And I say that as someone with 3,000+ followers on multiple platforms, which is more a factor of time on those platforms - I joined super super early when social media was not yet a thing. I would 100% never use my social media accounts to promote THS, in part because I don’t want people to know where I’m traveling, for safety reasons. But I tell everyone I meet in person about it and I know at least five people who have signed up because of me, and not because of the referral bonus. I don’t really care about that and I suspect lots of other folks don’t either. In fact, I feel weird that my friends might thing I’m doing the referral to get free months rather than because I genuinely believe it is a great service.

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@MerryPuppins If you use the spyglass in top right corner and type in referral code QR you can see threads related to this. There was a template of the THS name and logo provided where members could have their own cards made but it didn’t include a QR code. However, all a person needs is the RAF 6-digit code on that card.

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