In recent years influencer marketing has spread from fashion, travel, and fitness to pets. The leading role, above all, is taken by the dogs. Their levels of engagement, followers and sponsorships have nothing to envy those of human influencers. Thanks to their owners who are dedicated to sharing their stories, these dogs have the ability to reach large audiences and form an emotional bond with people.
Influencer dogs come in many breeds and sizes, and each has its own personality. But one thing everyone agrees on is that they are an effective tool to advertise brands and their products . For this reason, many brands abandon traditional advertising techniques and advocate the commercial use of influencers. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective strategies out there. However, one of the challenges marketers face is finding the right influencers for their brands – and many have found the solution in petfluencers. The appeal of these animals is obvious: dogs cannot help being authentic, they cannot pretend. They are what they are; noble and loving creatures.
Dogfluencers can do much more for brands than sell food and accessories for dogs. It is already common to see them starring in advertisements for the gaming, travel and fashion industries. A clear example is Bodhi, a Shiba Inu who models for brands such as Gucci, Levis and Next Menswear.
Why brands demand the services of influencers dogs?
Almost everyone likes animals
Many people have pets and consider them a member of the family. These emotional ties that are developed with pets have great benefits for people’s physical and mental health: they reduce stress, blood pressure, improve the levels of hormones associated with well-being and increase self-esteem.
Dogs have a high level of engagement
Something that can testify to the enormous popularity of dog influencers is their high number of followers: they number in the millions. Furthermore, canine influencers have much higher engagement rates than humans. They get a lot more likes than people. In the same way, users are also much more likely to tag their friends or share posts with animals. Although animals do not read comments or reply to followers as such, it has been shown that people like to interact with their content more by commenting and sharing it with other users.
Dog posts easily go viral
As a result of the level of engagement they get, it is easier for this type of content to go viral. For this reason, brands that opt for petfluencer marketing trigger active communication between consumers and exponentially increase the reach of their content.
In addition, influencer dogs have a greater influence on buyers’ decision-making than more traditional advertising techniques. For this reason, the viralization of these contents represents a huge return on investment, since it is the users themselves who distribute them at no cost.
Dogs receive more attention on social networks
One of the evils of social networks is the oversaturation of content. Millions of users and brands publish millions of content daily. And so, it is very difficult to stand out. Therefore, not all dogs that have an Instagram account are influencers. Like people, only a few manage to make a place for themselves in this world.
Faced with this constant bombardment of content, it is normal for users to have a tendency to ignore part of the information they receive. Thus, it is essential to make the brand stand out in a positive way from the rest. And in this sense, dog influencers are a good bet to get attention.
Animals are sincere and funny. Almost everyone feels empathy for them and they transmit positive vibes . Therefore, it is normal that people tend to pay more attention to pets on social media.
Dogs provoke emotional responses
Studies have shown that animals do not cause negative feelings in people. Quite the contrary, animals arouse warm feelings of happiness, tenderness, and understanding. And this for brands is the opportunity to associate these positive stimuli with their products or services.
Also, using dogs in ads makes them feel less promotional. Which is undoubtedly more attractive to the public. In addition, all of this has a positive impact on users’ purchasing decisions.
The Best Dog Influencers You Must Follow
Jiffpom
With over 10 million followers on Instagram and more than 20 million followers on TikTok, Jiffpom is one of the most followed petfluencers. Last year he was one of the highest paid TikTokers, charging around 84,000 euros per post. In addition, he has several Guinness records and has appeared in commercials, movies and even in Katy Perry’s Dark Horse video clip. Jiffpom has many other feats, including the record for the fastest dog on two legs. He also supports social responsibility campaigns and shares suggestions with his followers.
MenswearDog
This adorable golden-haired Shiba Inu’s name is Bodhi, but his 400,000 (and counting) Instagram followers know him best as @MenswearDog . One rainy afternoon, his owners Yena Kim, a fashion designer for Ralph Lauren, and David Fung, a graphic designer, decided to take a picture of Bodhi dressed in men’s clothing for entertainment. They posted the photos on their personal Facebook pages, and the rest is history.
Doug the Pug
With 13 million followers across different social media platforms, Doug the Pug is undoubtedly the most famous pug on the internet. He has made appearances with various celebrities and participated in music festivals and movie premieres. Celebrities who have met him include Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, BTS, Billie Eilish, John Legend, Cole Sprouse, Brendon Urie, actors from Netflix’s Stranger Things series, and more. The puppy was also the winner of the People’s Choice Award in the 2019 Animal Star category and named the No. 2 Most Influential Pet of the Year 2018 by Forbes.
Bonus
For dog influencers, the sky is the limit when it comes to creativity. If you’re still not convinced that dogs can influence you, think again. Although Ece Targıt’s dog Maddie doesn’t have her own page, she’s the lead of an inspiring ad for Cambly – even learning English.
Which dog influencers are you following? Do you think dog influencers are more convincing than humans or is that unreasonable? Reach us in the comments section below or from our socials and let us know what you think!