At any given time on Petfinder.com, the largest online database of adoptable pets, there are more than 320,000 pets waiting for someone to give them the home they deserve. This year, Petfinder turns 15 years-old and celebrates more than 17 million adoptions since 1996. To drive awareness about how many pets are in need of a family – while pursuing the goal of securing 2.5 million adoptions this year – CooperKatz helped Petfinder kick off its 15th birthday celebration with "Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day" on March 15.
This online campaign was created with one simple goal: for as many people as possible to see faces of adoptable pets all across the Web during this 24 hour period, drawing attention to the vast number of homeless pets in North America. With the help of CooperKatz, more than 300 websites and online properties pledged their support to feature Petfinder adoptable pets that day, including Oprah.com, PEOPLEPets.com, AOL Paw Nation and PetSugar. In addition, ICanHasCheezburger.com created a dedicated Petfinder tab on its LOLBuilder for fans to caption their favorite Petfinder photos, and give these pets a spotlight on the homepage on March 15. And a companion Facebook campaign targeted ‘donations’ of Facebook photos and statuses.
The initiative was a huge success, securing 350 placements across the Web – many on high profile sites and 185 of which were posted during that one-day span. Meanwhile, the photo caption contest on ICanHasCheezburger drew 1,462 votes, giving Petfinder pets the chance to shine. Petfinder pets also ruled the social media world as animal lovers everywhere showed their support for pet adoption by donating their Facebook status and photo to an adoptable pet, or sharing them on Twitter.
From a social media perspective, the initiative surpassed expectations. On Twitter, users tweeted a combined 1,593 comments in support of Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day. Petfinder’s Facebook page saw a 300 percent jump in daily likes. In addition, traffic to Petfinder.com from referring sites increased by 6.6 percent while the number of new visits increased to 9.9 percent. ‘Adopting’ the internet for just a single day proved a great way to kick-off the 15th birthday celebrations.
The success of Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day illustrates the power of online campaigns in uniting people behind a meaningful cause. CooperKatz helped Petfinder connect to a broad group of people who cared about pet adoption so much, that they continued spreading the message themselves.
Now, that’s good PR.
