Make Your Pet Instagram-Famous in 15 Steps
Is your fur baby just too cute not to share? While your friends on social media might have already had enough of the constant stream of your adorable pet’s photos, you can take it to the next level by sharing your pet with a more receptive audience. Fur parents like you flock to Instagram to share their photos and videos of their cute furbabies. So why not give it a try?
But to make it big on Instagram, you have to know the ins and outs of the platform. You have to maximize the most popular hashtags, make connections with other pet influencers, and, most importantly, consistently push out irresistibly adorable content. Are you ready to help your fur baby reach stardom? Don’t worry; we’re here to help you achieve your dream!
We have compiled a list of helpful tips to help your four-legged friend reach Instagram celebrity status. If this sounds good to you, scroll down and read our tips below!
How Can I Make My Pet Instagram Famous?
Tip #1 Carve Out a Niche
You’re not the first one to have had the idea to show off their fur baby on the popular image-sharing social media platform. In fact, there are already millions of dog and cat photos and thousands of pet accounts created on the platform. To say that the platform is already saturated with pet content is an understatement. So how can you and your pet stand out from the rest?
With so many pet profiles out there, it can really be difficult to make your fur baby stand out. What are your pet’s unique and quirky characteristics? Use these once-in-a-million traits and maximize them to attract followers and develop a loyal following. For instance, does your dog have a recognizable spot on its face? Use it to your pet’s advantage!
Tip #2: Pick an Iconic Name
Despite showing off your pet’s odd and unique physical characteristics, casual Instagram users might have a hard time finding their way back to your pet’s profile. They might vividly remember what your fur baby looks like, but your username simply slipped out of their mind. If you wish to build a loyal follower base, you have to help casual feed scrollers towards your profile.
One way to do this is to pick an extraordinarily memorable username. You can use tricks like alliteration or repeating the same letter or sound from your pet’s name. Avoid common names like Spot, Buddy, and Max. If your pet already has a common name, you can play around with its name using wordplay and attention-grabbing descriptors.
Tip #3: Write a Short but Sweet Bio
When the nonchalant Instagram user stumbles across an interesting photo of your pet, there’s a good chance they will head straight to your Instagram account. Aside from your pet’s Instagram feed, they will look at the bio right below the account’s username. Why not grab this opportunity to introduce your pet to your page’s visitors?
Instagram limits the number of characters that you can write in that precious real estate. That’s why you have to be witty and creative when writing your pet’s bio. At a single glance, your page visitor should be able to get a clearer picture of where your pet is from, what breed it is, its quirky traits, and even contact information for business-related inquiries.
Tip #4: Use a Creator Account
Recognizing the importance of influencers on the platform, Instagram introduced a new type of account called a Creator Account. If you wish to have concrete numbers concerning your page growth, then you will certainly appreciate what this account offers to influencers like you. You can use these tools only available to creators to expand your reach and fine-tune your content.
But what does having a creator account can do for you? If you have a content strategy, the daily reports on follows and unfollows from your account can help you tweak and refine your content. For instance, if you had a sudden surge of followers, then you might want to check your latest post and figure out what made it desirable for your Instagram audience.
Tip #5: Strategize Your Content
If you wish to take your fur baby to unprecedented levels of fame, then you also have to step up your game. Instead of posting photos and videos of your pet on an irregular and spontaneous basis, you must develop and stick with a content strategy. From this day forward, you have to come up with a cohesive theme for your content and a strict timeline for each upload.
You may want to have your own brand and be known for it. You can do this by making a consistent signature style that your audience will know you for. For example, you can have your pet’s photos taken in front of a popping bright background. If you do this consistently for a long period, you will eventually form a loyal base that loves your unique style.
Bonus tip: Your content strategy should keep up with the latest trends in the pet industry!
Tip #6: Adopt a Consistent Voice
If your pet were able to speak, what would be the first thing it would say? What tone of voice would your fur baby have? When creating and maintaining a pet Instagram account, always remember that it’s not your personal account. That’s why in writing captions, pretend to be your pet’s voice. By doing so, you add personality to your photos and videos.
Remember, your Instagram followers followed your fur baby and not you, its owner. When they read your captions, they wish to make some sort of connection with your pet. Unfortunately, your pet doesn’t have opposable thumbs and can’t use a smartphone. So if your pet has something to say to its loyal followers, it has to go through you!
Tip #7: Maximize Hashtags
One of the greatest innovations that came with social media is the use of hashtags. In the early days of social media, there wasn’t a convenient way to label your content and make it easily searchable and accessible to other users. They had to visit your page to enjoy your content. Today, however, hashtags made it convenient to consume content that suits your interests.
If you wish to enjoy dog-related content, you only need to type in #dog and similar hashtags in the search bar. Content from people you don’t even follow will appear in the search results. This can be another opportunity for your fur baby to stand out and gain followers. Make sure to use hashtags with thousands to millions of post volume, so you have a better chance of being noticed.
Tip #8: Seek Inspiration
Are you running out of creative juice? You can use hashtags and visit other pet Instagram profiles. Take note of those who have thousands and millions of followers. Try to see what their followers like the best about these profiles. You can turn this casual browsing activity into a learning opportunity! You can definitely learn a lot from Instagram profiles with a big following.
So what do you have to take note of? Observe the kind of content that has the most engagement, such as likes and comments. Also, notice how frequently they upload content. If you post too often, your followers might unfollow due to their feeds being flooded with your pet’s photos. If you post less frequently, they may think that your account has gone inactive.
Tip #9: Keep It Lively
Do you remember the excitement you felt when one of your favorite social media personalities sent you a like or replied back to you? Did it want you to keep engaging with their posts? Engaging with your followers is one way to keep them coming back again and again to your profile. If you notice their comments and feedback, you will certainly retain more of them.
Whenever you upload a photo or video, don’t leave your phone just yet! Watch the reactions and comments arrive. Reward your pet’s most ardent followers by replying back to their comments. They are the kind of followers who never miss out on any of your uploads. Aside from engaging on your posts as soon as they are uploaded, they also extend your reach by sharing your posts.
Tip #10: Take It Offline
There will come a time when your fur baby reaches semi-celebrity status. Of course, your loyal followers would want to see your pet in person. Akin to what pop stars do, you can arrange a physical meet-up. You can have your pet’s followers bring their own pets along and organize a walk around the park together. You, your pet, and its followers will surely have a great time!
Aside from your own content, the photos and videos that your followers will inevitably share with their friends and family will contribute to your Instagram page extending its reach. That’s why you always have to remind your followers through call-to-action (CTA) to encourage them to share and tag your page with their own social media circles.
Tip #11: Write Attention-Catching Captions
While your adorable fur baby is already attention-grabbing by itself, you also need to complement its cuteness with an equally adorable caption. Applying tip #6 above, write captions that emphasize how unique and one-of-a-kind your fur baby is. Strive to use the space to add flavor and context to your content.
For this tip, you have to squeeze every drop of creative juice left that you have. Aside from adopting the point-of-view of your fur baby, you also have to be witty with your captions. How about saying “fur real” instead of “for real?” Get it? Because your pet is covered in fur? We’re sure that you can think of funnier and more entertaining ideas!
Tip #12: Take Care of Your Pet
Do you know the secret to making your fur baby even cuter and more adorable? That’s right; it’s love! Outpouring your love to your beloved pet can come in the form of feeding it the best quality kibbles and wet food and taking care of its fur with only premium shampoos and soap. Believe it or not, your followers will notice how much love and care you are giving your pet!
Once your fur baby reaches stardom, don’t let the pressure of being Instagram famous get in the way of you getting your pet the proper care it deserves. That’s what many fur parents mistakenly and unknowingly do when the pressure of maintaining their popularity overwhelms them. Don’t be like them! Recall why you started this in the first place: your love for your fur baby!
Tip #13: Shoot Interesting Moments
Having more variety in your content will be much appreciated by your pet’s followers. If you keep shooting the same photos and videos in the same spot in your home, your audience will grow tired of them sooner. Why not try to get out of the house and get your pet some sunshine? You are bound to encounter more interesting moments if you let your fur baby outside!
For instance, if you regularly go to the grocery store, why not bring your pet with you? You will surely encounter many photo opportunities as your pet explore the new environment. On your morning walks with your fur baby, remember to take photos and videos as well. Don’t waste the priceless and once-in-a-lifetime moments that you might capture with your camera!
Tip #14: Make Connections
You can expand your reach by making connections with other famous fur parents on the platform. If you mention them in your posts and engage with their own uploads, there’s a chance that some of their followers will notice you and follow your page as well. If you reach a certain level of fame on Instagram, you can even make collaborations with other pet influencers!
Tip #15: Expand to Other Platforms
Aside from Instagram, you can also upload your pet’s adorable photos and videos on Facebook and YouTube. While this may require you to rethink your content strategy to include long-form content like vlogs on YouTube, it can definitely pay off in the long run. More people will discover your fur baby through other platforms and eventually turn into Instagram followers.
Bonus Tip: Perfect Petzzz
If you don’t have a pet yet and want to practice having one, getting yourself a Perfect Petzzz is definitely the way to go! Pet ownership is a huge deal and no ordinary task. It takes commitment and a strong sense of responsibility to take care of a fur baby. So why not practice with a life-like pet first?
Final Thoughts
Instagram is a great platform for sharing photos and even videos of things that you love. With the use of hashtags, people have formed entire communities dedicated to their hobbies and interests. However, the pet side of the platform has been saturated with more content than you can possibly consume. Luckily, there are tried and tested ways to break through!
We hope that the 15 tips we have shared helped you out in strategizing your fur baby’s way to Instagram fame!For your Perfect Petzzz needs, give our website a visit to get to know our life-like fur babies!