BarkBox Proposal

BY ANNA BOWMAN
Everyone wants to spoil their dog -- it's only natural, especially with such a cute pup, and seeing their excitement when their BarkBox shipment arrives at their doorstep is one of the biggest benefits to ordering the box.

BarkBox is a subscription box catered specifically to dogs, where you receive a box each month with toys and treats based on different themes. Approximately 600,000 people receive a box monthly, and this is shown by how much engagement they receive on their social media. Not only does Bark (the parent company) and its two sub-companies (BarkBox and SuperChewer) have strong social media presence, but BarkBox itself has very popular profiles on Twitter (310.5k followers), Facebook (2,994,942 total likes), Pinterest (6.4m monthly viewers), and Instagram (1.6m followers). Across all platforms, BarkBox posts very frequently and receives plenty of engagement from its followers, but Instagram appears to be the most active of the four with new posts practically every day.

Client Report

BarkBox started in December 2011 on the premise of being "by dog people, for dogs (and their people)." They enjoy making dogs happy and believe in bringing the "world's best products" to satisfy every dog's personality and preferences. The industries it would most belong to would be pets and entertainment, since the company caters specifically to dogs -- but also ensures the owner has a pleasurable experience with getting the box every month, too.

Bark, the parent company, produces the monthly subscription box that offers a collection of two toys, two bags of treats, as well as a chew, all of which encompass an unique theme each month. The company takes special care in curating a box its subscribers' dogs would like, deciding toys based upon answers to questions about the size of the dog as well as any allergies or preferences it may have with treats. Additionally, they offer returns if the dog ends up not enjoying the treats or toys it receives, and would send any replacements to hopefully give the dog something they like.

Dog owners are the focused consumer group that BarkBox aims to cater the most to, but given its social media presence, it narrows that group down primarily to dog owners who also fall into the young adult category. Most of the content on BarkBox's profile are humorous memes or relatable images, which are popular with the primary demographic -- young adults -- on the Internet.

Top Posts

The one BarkBox social media profile I chose to analyze was its Instagram, considering how actively they post. While they post a mixture of videos, photographs, and Twitter screenshots, I chose to pick the top five between the latter two since videos are difficult to determine engagement with! 

Post #1

The post with the highest likes by far is a reposted drawing from a user on Reddit. Since its initial posting on March 11th, the post has garnered 22,096 likes and 428 comments altogether. The drawing is a play on the current COVID-19 pandemic, which urges people to not touch their faces; it compares this jokingly with the cones most dogs go through post-surgery, and flips the cone to be put on the dog owner. This is both relevant and timely since the pandemic is still ongoing, and also provides humor -- a big part of BarkBox's social media. Obviously, its followers enjoy funny posts, especially since the pandemic is something everyone is currently experiencing.

Post #2

The second highest post was a screenshot of a tweet from BarkBox's Twitter, which was posted on March 20th and has received 18,595 likes and 596 comments. It's a diary entry from a dog's perspective, and can also be related to the current quarantine most people are experiencing: since people are home all day, dogs want to spend more time playing, yet their owners may be occupying their time on their phones and computers instead. It's humorous, relevant, and timely, but this--alongside several other top posts--shows that BarkBox's followers don't mind posts that are simply screenshots from other social media platforms.

Post #3

Posted on March 13th, this Twitter screenshot received 14,400 likes and 177 comments. It's another funny post and is relatable to BarkBox's expected audience: dog owners who care for their dogs! BarkBox's social media managers know they can cross-post from their Twitter and receive just as much engagement--if not more--on their posts as their typical posts.

Post #4

Another funny post created by the social media team of BarkBox. This slideshow are all images of dogs with photoshopped human thumbs, and was posted on March 4th and received 7,102 likes and 168 comments. This is another post that's funny, but also brings a unique perspective to the profile by showcasing content made by the social media team rather than being reposted images from followers or Twitter. This post received slightly less comments than the aforementioned posts, but this could be explained by the disparity in likes between them. Overall, the social media managers could consider this a successful post that brings a fresh look to the page!

Post #5

Yet another Twitter screenshot, explaining a situation many dog owners likely experience. This was posted on March 6th and received 8,048 likes and 130 comments -- similar ratios to the last post. Again, it is relatable to many dog owners and is also humorous, and shows that followers still don't mind Twitter screenshots being posted to Instagram.

Overall, according to Scrunch's blog post on Instagram engagement rates, BarkBox's Instagram page received a total of 178,314 hits (comments and likes) of engagement so far in March. If I did the calculations right, that means their engagement rate falls around 2%, which is considered average/good in Scrunch's conditions.

Proposed Post

This is the post I created for BarkBox's Instagram! It targets humor and relatability to the demographic BarkBox caters to the most. One of the running jokes with subscribing to BarkBox is that your dog eventually gets to the point where they believe every single delivery that arrives at the door is a BarkBox, no matter if it actually is or not. The dog in the photo is my dog, Bandit Bacon, who has gotten a BarkBox each month for a while now and does this exact same thing. 

The post would be successful because, no matter the content of the post, BarkBox seems to receive a baseline of 5,000 likes per post on their Instagram, as well as a decent amount of comments. It doesn't matter if it is a video (though these appear less likely to be liked), photograph of a dog like this, a Twitter screenshot, or a funny image with a caption. Their audience likes cute dogs and humor, and this caters to both!