8 Reasons Why Pet Influencers Are Essential in Creator Marketing

They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are furrier than others. Some you can hold in your hand, and some you cannot. We’re talking about pets.

Happy National Pet Day! Go and post a picture of your furry friends.

Most people have a soft spot for “adorable” content, and pets will fur-ever fill that niche. Not only will pet owners post their beloved pets on their personal accounts, but many will create entirely separate social media accounts for them. Some of these pet accounts have become well established and have caught the attention of both humans and brands.

It’s no surprise that many have made it a career and have become pet influencers.

What are Pet Influencers?

As you’ll see later in our campaign examples, Petfluencers, aka “pet influencers,” go beyond just dogs and cats. Many pet creator accounts include bunnies, turtles, squirrels, horses, hamsters, and hedgehogs (to name a few).

Pet influencers are technically humans who post pet-related content on social media platforms. Just like with regular content creators and influencers, every picture or video is aimed at a specific audience and is designed to elicit a reaction and response.

Why are Pet Influencers Essential in Creator Marketing?

Pets gather crowds!

Have you ever seen a puppy in public? People flock! The same happens on social media. Thousands of people will stop scrolling. Millions actually! The top 10 pet influencers globally have collectively over 37 million followers. Now that deserves a round of a-paws!

Pets start trends!

People don’t just stop scrolling for a puppy. Meet this 13-year-old pug that went mega-viral in 2021. In just two weeks, the TikTok account gained 2 million followers, and now they are sitting at 4.5 million.

@jongraz the Bones have spoken!! #pug #adoptdontshop #nobones #noodletok #mondaymotivation ♬ original sound – Jonathan

You might have heard of ‘Bones day’ on TikTok. This viral pug named Noodle will apparently predict how your day will go. Noodle was a cessation that inspired TikTok creator marketing hashtags like #nobones, which has over 911.4M views, and #bonesday, which has over 422.6M views. Millions of people were dueting, commenting, sharing, and making memes.

Pets have higher engagement rates!

Posts with pets outperform human content. Did you know that pet influencers have higher engagement rates than human influencers? That’s even the case when they both have the exact same reach on their social media platforms.
People like to engage more with pet content by commenting, liking, and sharing instead of ignoring it and scrolling.

Why is that the case?

Pets evoke strong emotional feelings!

The association of a pet has a positive influence on the mental health of humans. Countless studies show that engaging with animals (even birds and fish) helps reduce blood pressure, lower anxiety, decrease depression, and even increase the hormone oxytocin.

Even when humans are shown pictures of animals or say they see a cute one on their feed, the pleasure and reward part of their brain gets triggered and reacts almost instantly.

Science proves it, but we all know from experience that pets make our feelings come out.

What does this mean for marketers?

There is the opportunity to tie these strong emotional feelings in with your brand. The most famous example is from Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercials. This heartwarming commercial series started in 2014 and depicts a puppy befriending a horse. It has been rated the most popular ad ever to air in the 50-year history of the NFL’s premier event.

Pets draw crowds, start trends, drive higher engagement rates, and promote strong positive feelings.

Now that you know of the many benefits of pets in the creator marketing industry, you might be wondering how to integrate them into your marketing strategy.

That’s where an influencer marketing agency like Open Influence steps in to help. We’ve worked with pets on numerous campaigns. Take a look:

Top 8 Pet Influencer Campaigns to Inspire You

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Open Influence can help you reach a new pet-obsessed audience. Contact us for the best creator marketing strategy.