Pet influencers: they are charming, non-judgemental, and absolutely adorable.
Pet influencer marketing is the next big thing in the digital marketing landscape and brands of all kinds are eager to have these furry friends advocate their products.
After all, everyone likes seeing cute animals promote products.
But why influencer marketing, in the first place?
Social media platforms have become the ultimate destination for business owners to build their brand presence. After all, nearly 57% of the world’s population uses social media.
And social media influencers have emerged as one of the most formidable weapons for businesses to build brand awareness and drive engagement. Marketers are also consistently improving the ways through which they can use influencers to drive sales. The new addition to this band of influencers are pet influencers.
Image Source – YouTube
That’s right, pets have risen to the status of celebrities on social media and marketers see an opportunity to collaborate with these animal influencers to market their brands.
If you’ve never heard of pet influencer marketing, you may be reluctant to explore it for your brand. You might even be asking yourself ‘is influencer marketing the right strategy for my business?’
That’s understandable.
That’s why in this blog post, we attempt to not only get you acquainted with pet influencer marketing, but also share valid reasons why you should consider it for your brand.
So, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Concept of Pet Influencer Marketing
The National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association in 2021-22 says that 70% of American households own a pet.
What’s more?
As many as one in three people adopted a pet during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dogs, cats, fish, and even squirrels have become an integral part of families, bringing them joy and positivity.
And pet owners love talking about their cuddly companions on social media.
So much so that these pets have risen to the status of celebrities, having millions of loyal fans.
This has given rise to the concept of pet influencer marketing. Pet influencers are ruling every social media platform you can think of. Take Jiffpom, for example, the most followed dog on Instagram.
Image Source – Instagram
Pet food, pet personal care products, pet insurance, pet accessories, and many other pet product brands are teaming up with pet bloggers to influence millions of pet owners.
Bloggers who have celebrity pets can create adorable and engaging content showcasing their pets using such products and inspire audiences too. Such influencer-generated content works as social proof for brands to enhance their credibility.
Such brand partnerships may be obvious, but several marketers are thinking out of the box.
And guess what?
They are stretching their creative limits to partner with pet influencers to market brands and products that are not related to pets at all.
An increasing number of brands realize the marketing potential of pet influencers. Strategically designed pet influencer marketing campaigns can surely help your brand achieve fantastic goals too.
Why Should Your Brand Invest in Pet Influencer Marketing?
Pet influencer marketing is rapidly making a space for itself in the digital marketing industry. Whether you are planning for TikTok influencer marketing, YouTube, or Instagram, pet influencers can help you gain a huge advantage.
We give you 5 reasons why leading brands are investing in pet influencer marketing and why you should give it a try too.
Here they are.
1. Everyone Adores Animals
Pets come in all sizes and they are all so adorable. Animals will love you back without any condition or expectation.
Do you know that a simple act of petting an animal can elevate your mood and help you relax? A study even shows that dog-assisted therapy can reduce symptoms of depression.
The bottom line is, humans and animals share an emotional connection and this love for pets can be seen everywhere on social media.
The pictures and videos of cuddly animals work as stimuli to generate warm and happy feelings.
After all, who won’t feel happy seeing this cute click of Jill the Squirrel?
Image Source – Instagram
Pet influencer marketing leverages this capacity of animals. When pet influencers are shown interacting with your brand or products they can trigger positive feelings.
This, in turn, can drive your brand awareness and engagement.
2. Pet Influencers Generate High Engagement
Even pet influencers can be categorized as micro-influencers, macro-influencers, or mega influencers.
Pet influencers have thousands of followers and a few of them have already crossed the million mark. These numbers not only indicate their popularity but the wider audience that can be reached by investing in pet influencer marketing.
Experts say that when you compare a human influencer and pet influencer with the same number of followers, pets score higher on engagement. For instance, here is Doug the Pug promoting Petco, and the post has got 24k+ likes.
Image Source – Instagram
And what does better engagement mean for your brand?
It indicates that more people are showing interest in what you have to offer. Additionally, it opens a door for you to have further conversations with your target audience.
3. Pet Influencers May Help Generate Better Leads
Furry pets have the ability to make your posts go viral. They can get people talking about your products as much as or even more than human influencers.
Mars Petcare US says that 30% of pet owners follow celebrity pets on social media. Many more may follow several micro pet influencers too.
But why do they follow them?
The reason is that they are genuinely interested in the adorable content showcasing pet activities and the products they are using. And that’s why pet influencer marketing has the capacity to generate better leads for your brands.
For example, Zymox collaborated with Nala the Cat to promote their pet care products, and to lure potential customers, they even offered an exclusive promo code.
Image Source – Instagram
Pet owners who follow these famous animals on social media may go ahead and try the promoted pet brands selling products like pet food, accessories, toys, and so on to pamper their pets too. This would help generate sales for your brand as well.
4. Pet Influencers are Less Likely to Trigger Negative Emotions
Human influencers are a great choice to build your brand’s presence on social media in a natural way. But one of the factors marketing experts point at is that users may be more judgemental about human influencers than pets.
While followers may scrutinize the personal lives, actions, and decisions of human influencers, the chances of them doing so for pet influencers are a lot lesser. This has a direct implication on how users respond to the brands these influencers are promoting.
And this means — you guessed it — successful campaigns.
Pets lead a simple and lovable life. They are less likely to trigger negative emotions in their followers. That’s why they can successfully create a positive image for your brand through pet influencer marketing campaigns.
5. Pet Influencers are Great Ambassadors for Brands Unrelated to Pets
That’s true. Pet brands are often seen collaborating with celebrity pets to create amazing pet influencer marketing campaigns. But that doesn’t mean that other brands can’t collaborate with pets.
Several brands attract eyeballs by partnering with pets and they have nothing in common with pets. They can also partner with pet influencers to reach their target audience.
Here is a great example where Electronic Arts (EA) collaborated with a widely followed fox on Instagram, Juniper, to promote their latest game.
The pet owner smartly personalized the entire post and asked her followers to try the game too. The number of views this sponsored video has received is spectacular! This would help drive purchases for the game too.
Image Source – Instagram
It’s fair to say that almost any lifestyle brand under the sun can leverage pet influencer marketing.
That said, you want to be creative and think out of the box when creating campaigns with pet influencers.
FAQs
1. How do you become a pet influencer?
Here is how your furry friend can become a pet influencer:
- Select the social media platforms you want to be active on and create a profile for your pet
- Create a content plan that includes a unique and entertaining voice
- Record their cute actions in the form of images and videos
- Post the snaps and videos regularly on social media
- Share informative, engaging, and refreshing content that will please your fans
- Interact with fans regularly
- Collaborate with the right brands to partner in their pet influencer marketing campaign.
2. How much do pet influencers make?
The compensation for pet influencer marketing varies widely. A pet influencer can make anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars or more per sponsored post.
The two most important factors in determining the compensation are the number of followers these pet influencers have and the engagement they generate.
3. Who are the top pet influencers?
Here are the top 10 pet influencers reigning over social platforms in 2022:
- Jiffpom
- Nala the Cat
- Doug the Pug
- Juniper the Fox
- Grumpy Cat
- Marutaro
- Lil Bub
- Smoothie the Cat
- Tucker
- Tuna
4. Can an animal be an influencer?
As crazy as it sounds, the answer is a resounding YES. Pet influencers are real and they are doing a great job spreading positivity and joy.
Of course, animals can not create their own social media profiles. It is the pet owners who create profiles, post content, and interact with fans on behalf of the celebrity pet.
From Instagram to YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and others, pet influencer marketing works well on any social media platform where animal lovers are active.
5. Is pet influencer marketing relevant in 2022?
Yes, pet influencer marketing is very much relevant in 2022 and beyond. The number of households with pets has increased in the US and these pet owners happily follow animal influencers on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and elsewhere.
For brands considering investing in influencer marketing, pet influencer marketing opens up a whole new horizon for marketers to experiment and showcase brands in a refreshing and entertaining manner.
Are You Ready to Team up with the Top Pet Influencers?
All in all, pet influencers are a valuable addition to any digital marketing strategy. The influence of these furry celebrities reaches beyond just the pet industry.
That’s what makes them a fabulous ambassador to any brand. All you have to do is find the right pet influencers on the right social media channel to launch your campaign.
Are you ready to give some pet influencers a try in 2022?
If you want expert help in finding and partnering with the right pet influencers for your brand, feel free to reach out to our team and we’d be glad to help.
