Top Zoom Virtual Backgrounds for Pet Industry Professionals Available for FREE
- Andrea Fischetti
- May 14, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 6
Need a free virtual background for your next pet industry Zoom call? Easily hide the background clutter, embarrassing family photos, and other unmentionables in your current working-from-home location by downloading one of these free virtual backgrounds.
Almost everyone in the pet industry meeting virtually is using Zoom for video chats and teleconferencing while working from home. Zoom even has a setting that allows you to easily swap out your actual real-life physical background for a professional clean virtual background. No green screen or special equipment is required.
Zoom does offer a few default virtual backgrounds, but why go with boring when you can easily upgrade your background with just a few clicks for FREE???? You can customize your virtual background by downloading a free Zoom background and up your game considerably. Some pet industry office cultures have even adopted a competitive streak with trying to out-Zoom each other with who can show off the best background. While IKEA backgrounds are fun, our pet industry clients often use stills from their own production hub shoots as backgrounds to keep their product front-and-center during retail meetings.
At ReelPaws, we even created custom ones showing our Chicago studio space, RP Studio. I found myself taking more calls in the bedroom as our home office door didn't have a lock. So, to prevent our two very young children from coming in unexpectedly during a professional business call, I was working and taking meetings from a desk in the bedroom. However, I didn't like that the bed was partially viewable behind me, ENTER: the virtual Zoom background. It was super easy to install and I liked the professional look it gave during client meetings.
We also scoured the internet to find the best sources of free professional virtual Zoom backgrounds for pet industry so you don't have to, and here's what we recommend:
Good Housekeeping Find a professional background to fit your personality from popular TV shows, Pixar, or classy West Elm furniture behind you (sitting poolside, anyone?)
Pocket-lint More awesome free backgrounds, including work by famous artists, well-known locations from hit television shows and award-winning movies, as well as pop culture references...Tiger King anyone?
Ikea Show your love of clean lines and Scandinavian design with these free backgrounds offered by the wildly popular furniture company.
Modsy Choose from re-imagined Friends lofts, Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment from Sex and the City, Seinfeld living rooms, even Claire's Oval Office from House of Cards, and more.
Why Custom Professional Branded Virtual Backgrounds Matter for Pet Brands
In the pet and veterinary industry, your professional digital presence is often the first "handshake" a retail buyer or potential business partner experiences. While a generic living room or a Scandinavian furniture catalog background is functional, it misses a massive opportunity for your brand reinforcement. When you are pitching to a distributor or a major retailer like Chewy or Petco, every pixel on the screen should communicate authority. Using a custom virtual background, ideally a high-resolution professional shot from your own production hub or a clean, branded studio environment, does three things:
Signals Infrastructure: It subtly reminds the viewer that you have a physical pet industry operation, a professional studio, and the resources to handle large-scale demand.
Ensures Brand Consistency: Using your pet brand’s primary colors or a subtle logo watermark keeps your identity top-of-mind, even when your product isn't physically on the table.
Removes Distractions: A "curated" background allows the focus to remain entirely on your data and your pitch, rather than the environment behind you.
The ReelPaws Edge
At ReelPaws, we don’t just use virtual backgrounds to hide clutter; we use them to showcase our Chicago studio's assets and style. Many of our pet industry clients use stills from their commercial photo or professional video shoots as their permanent Zoom backgrounds. It’s a subtle way of saying, "This is the quality of work we produce."
Agency Pro-Tip: If you’re using a background of your own facility or product, ensure the lighting on your face matches the "lighting" in the photo. If your background is a bright, sunlit studio, sit near a window so you don't look like you’re floating in a dark room. This small detail is what separates a "DIY" look from a professional agency partner.
HOW TO ADD YOUR PROFESSIONAL VIRTUAL BACKGROUND:
Select and download the background from one of the above to your computer.
Open up Zoom and go to Settings
Under the Virtual Background tab in Settings, click the (+) button next to Choose Virtual Background to add your image
Select the name of the file that you just downloaded to your computer
Now you're ready to use it on your next Zoom call!
Alternatively, you can change your virtual background while on a Zoom call
When on your next Zoom chat, you can change your background by:
Select and download the background from one of the above to your computer
Click on the arrow next to the start video/stop video button
Select choose a virtual background
Click the plus (+) button on the right and select the name of the file that you just downloaded to your computer
Now you're ready to impress your pet industry colleagues and clients with your awesome professional new Zoom self!
