Every pet owner thinks their fur baby is the cutest, and thanks to social media, sharing your adorable dog or cat with the world is easier than ever. Some of the cute animals attract enough eyes to their photos to start making money off them. If you’ve ever wondered how much pet influencers can make, the answer is that it depends primarily on how many followers they have on their accounts.
In this article, we’ll give you an estimate of how much money pet influencers make and what they do to earn it. We’ll also talk a little about what it takes to break into the world of pet influencers, including a few words of warning.
How Much Money Can Pet Influencers Make?
When examining social media, you’ve probably paused your scrolling at an adorable animal photo or video. You’re not alone either; companies from around the world have noticed that users adore pet videos.
The more followers a pet influencer has, the more eyes a company can get on its product or service advertisements. Because of this, the most popular accounts earn the most money. In 2018, the top-earning influencer, a Pomeranian with nearly 10 million followers, made $32,045 per sponsored post.
Influencers with a less impressive following, around 100,000, for example, may earn only a few hundred dollars per post. Creating and posting videos can earn a higher payout because they take more time to produce.
How Do Pet Influencers Make Money?
The primary way that pet influencers make money is through sponsored posts. For a sponsored post, a brand or company may ask the influencer to post content with a new product they want to promote. Brands may also produce their own content featuring the pet influencer.
Once pet influencers start to build their brand, they can generate additional revenue by selling merchandise or signing a book deal. Successful pet influencers often earn enough to fully support their humans, even with the expense of paying for talent agents or other representation.
How Does a Pet Become an Influencer?
If it sounds like a dream come true to make a living posting cute content featuring your pet, you should probably know that it’s not as simple as that. The pet influencer market is far more crowded than it was even a few years ago, and breaking in isn’t easy.
To become a pet influencer, you’ll need a hook beyond “my pet is cute.” Come up with a unique angle or spin, and be consistent across the content you post. Build your brand to the point that companies want to work with you and start paying you for your content.
A Word (or Two) of Warning
If your pet has what it takes to be an influencer, give it your best shot but keep a few things in mind.
Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not just because you want to make a quick buck. This is still your beloved pet you’re working with, and their well-being should be your priority. Not all pets will be into wearing costumes or posing for content, so don’t force them to continue if they seem unhappy or anxious.
In addition, don’t buy or adopt an animal simply because you think they’ll be a successful influencer. While this might sound far-fetched, the founder of a pet influencer management company reports that she’s received inquiries from people asking this very question. They wonder if a specific breed is more likely to gain fame or whether a pet with a physical disability has an advantage.
Owning a pet is a lifelong commitment and responsibility that shouldn’t be made based on whether the animal can become “Internet famous” or not.
Conclusion
Companies have always pursued marketing and advertising to help their products stand out and convince the public to spend their money a certain way. Pet influencers and social media are one of the newest ways to make that happen. If watching cute animals online is always going to make people happy, the brands figure, why not get them to look at our products at the same time?
Going viral isn’t just for humans anymore. Pet influencers continue to find new and inventive ways to earn money by doing what the average pet owner does every day: force everyone to look at cute photos and videos of their animal.
Featured Image Credit: Ruslan Shugushev, Shutterstock
