Pet Influencer Marketing: How to Get Famous on Instagram

Pet influencer marketing – you might think it’s as easy as finding a dog, taking a picture of it, posting, and repeating.

I can tell you right now that it’s not that simple. My coworker, Stephanie Love, is a social media expert, and she tried to become a pet influencer. She’ll tell you firsthand that it’s a long, hairy (or furry) road that involves a lot of hard work and definitely some luck.

In this post, I’ll explain how to become a pet influencer and what you need to do to create tail-waging Instagram content. I’ll also share a list of influencers in the pet market to draw inspiration from as a content creator.

What is pet influencer marketing?

A pet influencer is a social media account dedicated to a pet or its owner. These accounts promote products and services on behalf of pet brands, using both direct and indirect marketing strategies.

Pet influencers are present across all social media platforms, including Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok. Instagram is one of the most popular channels for pet influencer marketing because it’s a visual platform that leans into photos and videos. It’s a perfect medium for sharing memorable moments with your pet.

The most successful pet influencers are amazing content creators who understand their audience and how to connect with followers. If you want your furry friend to get famous on Instagram, you must create relatable content that captures people’s attention in the first few seconds.

Here are a few tips we gathered from Thryv’s social media team.

How to Become a Pet Influencer

Below are pet influencer marketing tips from experts Stephanie Love and Ed Balusek.

Get the right account handle.

Account settings play a significant role in social media marketing. Your username or account handle is how you get discovered on social, and if you don’t have the right name, it might confuse people or make it hard to find your account.

Thryv’s social expert, Ed Balusek, recommends “securing a username that aligns with your other social media handles.” If this is your first account, “secure a username that aligns with your business.” Your account handle should be memorable and easy to find on all social media platforms.

Focus on engagement rates.

It doesn’t matter if it’s pets, plumbing, or polka music – if you want to be a paid influencer, you have to generate engagement.

Engagements are interactions with followers, such as likes, comments, shares, and saves. These actions prove your content is interesting – at least enough for someone to react. They’re great for measuring your effectiveness and showing brands you’re a valuable account to partner with. The more engagements you have, the more valuable your account is for cross-promotions.

Engagement isn’t just about posting, either. It also has to do with commenting on other people’s content. Stephanie Love recommends the following:

Capture attention in the first few seconds.

The best way to generate engagement is to immediately capture your audience’s attention. Social media content is easy to overlook because feed scrolling gives users the power to move on to new posts with just a tap of a button. You have to give people a reason to stick around and do that quickly, whether it’s a video, story, or a collection of photos.

Show off your pet’s personality.

Here’s the fun part. Since your pet can’t do it themselves, you get to pick what their personality will be. Their “personal brand” humanizes them and makes your content more relatable.

Here’s an example from Tesla, Stephanie Love’s dog.

Stephanie likes to personify Tesla by posting his thoughts and reactions to different situations. Your account can do the same or take a different approach, like this one, with the owner reacting to the dog.

Let your pet’s personality shine through, whether innocent, playful, or intense. This perspective will help your pet sound more human, making it easier for followers to engage with you.

Measure your performance.

If you want to make money partnering with brands, you have to measure the performance of your content over time  – specifically engagement. As we mentioned earlier, the more engagement you have, the more valuable your account is, which means you need a way to prove that your posts consistently generate engagement.

Fortunately, plenty of tools can help you manage social media accounts. You can build interactive dashboards that track performance across Instagram, Facebook, and any other platform your brand uses. You can package all of your findings into a neat report that shows exactly how effective your social content is.

Need some inspiration for creating that content? Below is a list of pet influencers and what you can learn from them.

10 Influencers in the Pet Market

Our team follows a few pet influencers. Each has their own marketing strategy and has built a loyal following through eye-catching content. In the section below, let’s review what we can learn from each one.

1. Loki the Wolfdog: @loki

Instagram Followers: 1.8M

Loki the Wolfdog is Stephanie Love’s favorite pet influencer. Loki’s owner partners with pet brands, like the ones in this post, to promote food, toys, services, and more. He’s even built a big enough following to sell Loki products like merch and kibble bags. It’s a great success story that shows you how valuable pet influencer marketing can be.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Partner with brands that sell relevant products to your followers.

5. Nala: @nala_cat

Instagram Followers: 4.5M

Nala holds the record for the most followers on Instagram by a cat influencer. Her content is sweet and wholesome, and she promotes products like pet food and cat toys.

Nala’s content is very traditional. She often lets the visuals speak for themselves, using short social media captions that draw attention to the visual rather than the text.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Posting consistently on social media will help you gradually build a following.

3. Doug The Pug: @itsdougthepug

Instagram Followers: 3.6M

Doug The Pug is one of the most famous pet influencers on the Internet. He’s been famous since 2014 and has his own line of merch, charity foundation, and pet care products. You can even find Doug on Netflix as a “voice actor” in the movie The Mitchell’s vs. The Machines.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Offer your followers pet care tips, like this post, in which Doug talks about his favorite weight-loss snack: watermelon.

4. Mr. Pokee: @mr.pokee

Instagram Followers: 1.6M

Mr. Pokee is a hedgehog with over a million Instagram followers. This little guy is constantly pictured (sometimes with his feline companion) in cute poses like this one, which is hard to scroll past.

This content is effective for two reasons. First, it’s adorable. Second, it’s excellent picture quality. The images are incredibly clear, and they practically pop off the screen. That makes the posts more eye-catching and interesting to the user.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Use this social size guide to optimize the quality of your Instagram posts.

5. Winnie: @winnie.blueberry_

Instagram Followers: 19.5K

Winnie is a blue Staffordshire dog based in the UK. Her account posts adorable pictures of her cuddling and walking in the woods. It’s wholesome content that’s hard to scroll by – especially for a dog lover like me.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Wholesome content can build an emotional connection with your followers.

6. Esther The Wonder Pig: @estherthewonderpig

Instagram Followers: 519K

Esther was a “micro piglet” expected to grow to the size of a dog. To the owner’s surprise, she grew into a 600-lb pig and an even bigger social media icon. Esther passed away in 2023, but her account still posts daily.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Most pet influencers are dogs and cats, but that doesn’t mean other pets can’t become famous.

7. Popeye the Foodie Dog: @popeyethefoodie

Instagram Followers: 377K

This Instagram account combines pet influencer marketing with restaurant reviews. Rather than having humans post about a restaurant, they have Popeye do it instead.

The account posts pictures of Popeye with different plates and writes up cute little blurbs about their experience from his point of view. It’s a creative content strategy that appeals to foodies and dog lovers.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Marketing to multiple audiences can expand your reach and help you advertise to more people.

8. Dexter: @dexterboycat 

Instagram Followers: 329K

Sometimes, you win the pet lottery – like getting a giant cat. This account shares how they care for such a big cat and what the owner does to keep him happy and healthy.

This content also creates a perfect opportunity to partner with pet food brands like the ones in this post.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Embrace what makes your pet different and unique. It will help you create compelling social media content.

9. Crusoe the Dachshund: @crusoe_daschund

Instagram Followers: 888K

Crusoe is a dog influencer who has been active on social media for over ten years. He chronicles all his journeys with his owner, from deep sea fishing trips to beach vacations to walks in the woods. He even shared his comeback from a leg injury and thanked his followers for their support.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Share the good experiences as well as the bad ones. Everyone can relate to both as pet owners.

10. The Dark Lord: @the.dark_lord

Instagram Followers: 201K

This account shows us how valuable pet personalities can be. The Dark Lord is a cat that looks a little mischievous, so the owner gives him a dark, but not very menacing, persona on Instagram. It creates funny posts like this one where the cat is trying to be tough but really just looks cute.

Pet Influencer Marketing Tip: Create a personality and tone of voice that fits your pet. It will make a big impact on the effectiveness of your content.

Be the Purrfect Pet Influencer

If you’re trying to become a pet influencer, my best advice is to be patient. It won’t happen overnight; it will take some experimenting before you find the right niche. Remember to engage with your followers consistently and track your performance over time. If you get stuck, check out the influencers on this post for more inspiration.