By Natalie Lester, PetSafe Brand Communications Specialist 
Put yard signs in heavily trafficked areas and at the home of your future dog park.
Bark For Your Park finals are one of our favorite times of year (if you don't believe us, watch this video). This year, our fifteen finalists have the opportunity to use the Templates and Downloads page, as well as the Finalist Kit they receive, to leverage every possible space in their community to get as many parks as possible.
Use the tips below for each item to help your city win a PetSafe dog park!
1. Desktop Wallpaper: By setting computer backgrounds to this wallpaper, users will have a daily reminder to vote for your city in Bark For Your Park.
- Work computer screens can remind you to vote as soon as you get to the office each day.
- Home computer screens assure each of your family members remember to vote each day, too.
- Local libraries and college campuses are popular places for families and students. Encourage public computer labs to set their screen backgrounds to promote the contest!
- For assistance in setting your desktop wallpaper on a Mac, click here. For assistance in setting your desktop wallpaper on a PC, click here.
2. Facebook images: Social media is all about visual content. You can gain votes quickly with the simple change and share of a picture.
- Change the cover image and profile picture on your personal page to show your friends you’re barking!
- Create a fan page for your city’s Bark For Your Park campaign. Use these images so those interested can quickly understand what your page is about.
- Share these images on other social media sites beyond Facebook with a link back to contest information. Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are very popular with pet parents. Also, tag @PetSafe to help them learn even more.
3. Poster: Posters can go anywhere so the options are endless!
- Many parks have announcement boards that citizens check to find out what is going on in the community. Since they are already in a park, these neighbors are perfect voters to help you win a dog park.
- Find the public bulletin boards in the schools to promote parent participation in the contest.
- Community centers, animal shelters, churches, libraries and town halls also have announcement boards and high traffic to draw more barkers for your community.
- We have provided two poster variations. One is blank for easy customization. The other includes all details about the contest. These are standard 11x17" posters and can easily be printed at your local print shop. To find your area Kinkos, click here.
4. T-Shirt Design: There is nothing better than being a walking bulletin board for a cause you believe in. Wearing a Bark For Your Park t-shirt lets you take the contest message with you wherever you go.
- Wear your t-shirt as many times as possible during the contest. The gym, civic meeting, casual Fridays at the office and volunteer shifts are all great places to spread the word.
- If you’re hosting a specific Bark For Your Park event, print extra t-shirts to give away to the first 10, 20 or 50 people to register for an account and start voting. Then, they can take the message with them too!
- To print t-shirts, provide your local print shop with this downloadable graphic, or print the graphic as an iron-on decal and create your own shirt at home! Cafe Press is also a great option for creating your own t-shirts.
5. Sticker: Similar to posters, but better! Stickers also have endless opportunities.
- If you can’t wear a t-shirt everywhere you go, you can still get by with a sticker. Wear one every day May 1 to July 26 to encourage everyone you meet to log their two votes every day.
- Pass out stickers at any event you have the opportunity to attend. Even if they can’t register and vote onsite, they will remember to when they take the sticker off when they get home! Plus, they can share the contest with anyone they meet along their way.
- If you’re passing out information about another event or cause, add the sticker to the brochure and cross-promote to drive interest!
6. Web Banner Ad: Run these small promotional ads on your website to promote the contest and get more votes for your city.
7. Yard Sign: Top 15 Finalists will be getting a few yard signs in your starter kit. Use this file to print additional signs to place around your city.
- Place yard signs around your city to promote the contest and gain votes. Put one at the location of the future dog park to build excitement.
- These are standard size yard signs and can easily be printed at your local print shop. To find your area Kinkos, click here.
8. Large Banner: Use banners as a great way to get people talking about the contest and gain votes for your city.
- Hang the banner on a fence near the location of your future dog park, carry it in a parade or hang it at sporting events.
- This banner can easily be printed at your local print shop. To find your area Kinkos, click here.
9. Ad Template: Communities are full of newspapers, newsletters and various other printed materials. Fill in your city’s information, and use this ad to share Bark For Your Park with as many audiences as possible.
- Send the template to your local schools’ secretaries to run in the school newspaper or newsletter. Many students have pets at home and will encourage their parents to vote for them to win a park.
- Run the ad in your local newspaper.
- Include the ad in your local shelter's newsletter.
