Booked out at Christmas, quiet in May
Pet boarding has one of the sharpest demand curves of any local business. Christmas and the January school holidays can be booked out months in advance, Easter and the other school holidays fill quickly, and long weekends spike. Then the quiet months arrive and the kennels or cattery sit half empty. Dog daycare smooths this out a little with weekday regulars, but it has its own rhythm around working patterns and school terms.
Good marketing for a boarding or daycare business works with that curve. In peak periods, the job is managing demand: clear booking windows, deposits, minimum stays and waitlists. In the off-season, it’s about filling nights and daycare spots with new clients who will come back when the holidays roll around again.
How owners choose who looks after their pet
Pet owners are anxious buyers. They’re handing over a family member to strangers, and most want to see the place before they book. Searches tend to be local and practical: “dog boarding near me”, “cattery Hills District”, “doggy daycare Marrickville”, “dog boarding over Christmas”, “dog minding for anxious dogs”, “cat boarding with vet nearby”. Many also compare you with home-based sitters on platforms like Mad Paws, so your website needs to show what a dedicated facility offers that a sitter’s spare room doesn’t.
Facility tours are often the deciding step. Make them easy to book online, set tour times that don’t disrupt the dogs, and follow up after the tour with booking dates and the paperwork needed. A tour that ends without a next step often ends with the owner going elsewhere.
Where boarding and daycare marketing helps most
- Peak holiday booking windows and waitlists
- Facility tours that convert to bookings
- Daycare packages for weekday regulars
- Cattery and specialist care pages
- Off-season promotions to fill quiet nights
Paperwork belongs on the website, not at the front desk
Boarding businesses run on requirements, and owners get frustrated finding them out at drop-off. Put these on a clear “before you book” page:
- Vaccination requirements. Most kennels ask for proof of current C5 for dogs and F3 for cats, with dates.
- Flea, tick and worming expectations
- Whether daycare dogs need to be desexed above a certain age
- Temperament assessment or trial day for daycare
- Food: whether you supply it or owners bring their own
- Medication handling and any extra cost
- Deposit, minimum stay and cancellation terms for peak periods
In NSW, commercial boarding establishments are covered by Animal Welfare Code of Practice No 5, which sets standards for dogs and cats in boarding. If you’re in another state, check what applies to your facility. Owners don’t need the detail, but mentioning that you follow the relevant code is reassuring.
The Google profile and photos
Choose categories that match what you do. “Dog day care center”, “Kennel”, “Pet boarding service” and “Cattery” are separate, and the right primary depends on where most of your revenue comes from. Photos should show the actual runs or suites, outdoor play areas, the cattery if you have one, staff with dogs, and the front entrance. Owners look closely at cleanliness, shade and space, so take photos on a clear day after cleaning.
Reviews often mention individual staff and how the dog came home, which is exactly what new clients want to read. Ask at pick-up, when the owner is relieved and the dog is excited, and send a follow-up text the next day with a review link.
Daycare regulars and the follow-up loop
Daycare clients are your steady base. They book the same days each week, often for years, and they’re the first to book boarding when holidays come. Offer weekly packages, make it easy to change days, and send photo updates during the day. Quinn’s Simple CRM can handle bookings and vaccination expiry reminders, so owners know before their certificate runs out rather than at the gate.
Holiday bookings need early warning. Send existing clients a message when Christmas or Easter bookings open, well before you advertise to the public. Regulars get first pick, and you fill much of the peak period without paying for ads.
Paid ads, carefully timed
Ads during peak periods are often a waste once you’re full. Put the spend into the shoulder months instead, when new clients can trial daycare or a short stay before the holidays. Our Google Ads campaigns for boarding businesses get scaled back as peak dates fill, and we lean on local SEO for the year-round “near me” searches. The marketing budget guide explains what drives the cost.
Numbers to watch
- Occupancy by night, month and season
- How early peak periods book out compared with last year
- Tours booked and tours that turn into stays
- Daycare regulars and average days per week
- Trial day dogs that become regulars
Questions about pet boarding and daycare marketing
When should we open Christmas boarding bookings?
Many facilities open Christmas bookings months ahead, and regulars expect to hear first. Send existing clients a message with the opening date and terms, give them a short priority window, then open to the public. Publish the deposit, minimum stay and cancellation rules on the booking page. Track the date each peak period books out each year, since that tells you when to open and how much demand you’re turning away.
Should we advertise during school holidays when we’re full?
Usually not. Ads that bring enquiries you can’t take frustrate owners and waste budget. Pause or cut paid campaigns once you hit capacity, and switch the website to a waitlist with a clear message. Put the money into the weeks before each peak, when owners are planning and you can still take new dogs for a trial day or short stay first.
What should a pet boarding website show to build trust?
Real photos of the runs, suites, play yards and cattery, with staff in shot. A clear list of vaccination and health requirements, feeding and medication details, and how you handle emergencies, including the vet you use. Tour booking, daily routines and pricing for stays and daycare. Owners are nervous, and a site that answers their questions before they ask feels safer than one that says “call us for details”.
How does a boarding or daycare business start with Quinn?
Apply for our free marketing audit and let us know your capacity and busiest periods. We’ll check how your facility shows up for local boarding and daycare searches, how tours and bookings work on a phone and what owners have to hunt for. You’ll receive a clear list of fixes, ordered so the most useful changes land before your next peak period. Help with implementation is quoted separately.