An Introduction to the World of Pet Influencers

We spend a lot of time at Captiv8 talking about how brands can partner with some of the world’s best-known creators. But up to now, a lot of our content has focused mostly on humans. The truth is that there’s a “non-human” segment of the creator audience that marketers can no longer ignore: pet influencers. As explained in a 2017 feature in the New York Times, a growing number of furry friends are gaining huge audience followings on social media, helping them to collect huge marketing sponsorship deals in the process. But who are these furry superstars? And why do they make such great partners for brands? Let’s take a closer look at the world of “pet influencers.”

Why consider a pet influencer?
It’s natural that many marketers are skeptical about pet influencers. After all, why pick a cat, dog or hedgehog for their next spokesperson when they could just as easily have a human partner? Here’s why a pet may be the perfect content partner:

• Pets Can Sometimes Be More Budget Friendly: The owners of today’s most popular pets often charge less per campaign than their human peers. While individual campaigns can vary based on the brand and deliverables, a number of marketers report that pet-focused social campaigns often can cost anywhere between $2,000 and $3,500.
• Pets are universal: No matter who you are, where you are from or what you believe in, seeing an adorable animal will bring a smile to your face and a warm, fuzzy feeling to your heart.
• Pets are a great fit for digital campaigns: The internet and pets have always been meant for each other. Cats helped kickstart some of the web’s most influential “meme culture.” In addition, humans have a natural inclination to engage with cute animal content. According to one University of Hawaii study on ad effectiveness, pets are simply more engaging to consumers. “From a behavioral perspective, animals are important visual tools to prompt purchasing of the product/service. Simply stated, animals have a positive allure to them and they grab viewers’ attention.”

Who are some of the top pet influencers?
We’ve established some of the benefits of working with a pet influencer. But who are some of the most internet-famous pets online today? We took a closer look at the Captiv8 insights tool to see which pet accounts had the biggest audience reach. Here’s what we found:

• Grumpy Cat: Arguably one of the internet’s most famous pet “celebrities,” this permanently-frowning feline first rose to fame in 2012, thanks to online communities like Reddit. Today Grumpy Cat boasts more than 12 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
• Doug the Pug: Known as the most popular pug on the internet, this online-famous dog has more than 10 million followers and celebrity fans like Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber
• Jiff the Pomeranian: This adorable Pomeranian has won a legion of loyal fans, a following that now exceeds 8 million people on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
• Nala the Cat: half tabby and half Siamese, feline-famous Nala has won a devoted group of cat-loving followers, now numbering more than 6 million people.

Whether your brand is looking for the perfect dog, cat or pig to star in its next campaign, a pet influencer may prove to be the perfect companion. Ready to explore more pet influencer options? Reach out to the Captiv8 team to get started.