Social Media Dogfluencers - How to Add Value and Build Your Community
Over a third of households in the United Kingdom own a dog. Many of these homes will own multiple dogs. So, it comes as no surprise that in a world of growing social media influencers, this also includes our dogs too. For many of us, our dogs are a part of our family. They depend on us and bring joy to our lives. In return, we want to do what is best for them and we want to enhance their lives as much as we can and bring them joy in return. When I had hyperemesis gravidarum with our daughter, it was our border collie, Callie, who would come and cuddle up with me. When I was upset with hormones, it was her who would lick away the tears and when I was jumping for joy, she was right there dancing with me. I would do anything I can to build a better life for my dogs, and to do this I engage with others online too. I research everything I can about dogs and how to enhance their well-being. I pay attention to dogfluencers online, when they have advice, a product or an experience which could bring value to my dogs life too.
Does follower-count matter?
In a nutshell, yes and no. However confusing that may be, hear me out. Many social media followings are fake. This does not mean all are, or even the majority. But, I have seen a well-known social media ‘dogfluencer’ post a guide on how to grow their account, immediately after purchasing their last thousand or so followers. I have also worked with small accounts who have brought immeasurable value to my business. The dogfluencers I follow and pay the most attention to online are usually micro-influencers. Those with either a small or medium-sized following. I also very rarely pay attention to follower count when seeing dogfluencers online both from a business and a personal perspective.
A question - what brings you more value?
Option One: a dogfluencer who has 500 followers. They post dog-safe recipes, dog-friendly places to visit in your area and thorough, authentic and truthful reviews about new and innovative dog products available on the market.
Option Two: a dogfluencer who has 50,000 followers. They post random photos that are very cute, but don’t hold resonate much to your life and experiences. They don’t normally include captions in their posts. But, you find their dog very cute and you like their photos.
For us, and I believe the majority of people, option one stands out immediately. If both of these dogfluencers were to post a product recommending it, I would take the recommendation of the first person over the second. This is purely because I perceive a lot more value from their content. I would feel seen and heard in their posts, as they are relevant to myself and what I am looking for. Hands up if you’ve ever searched for dog friendly places in your local area… I know we are not the only ones!
Defining your niche
Whilst writing this post, I have had multiple people inform me that they don’t have a niche. They feel this way as they have never defined one for themselves. But, when I look at their social media profiles I see their niche, even if they cannot. Let’s take some of Woof and Snout’s ambassadors as examples.
Beth with Maple the Cavalier
When viewing Maple’s Instagram profile, it’s easily seen she is a beautiful small King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. What makes her unique is that the majority of her photography is taken in nature. She embodies cute, but aesthetic style in what she wears and instantly it’s apparent that she supports non-restrictive, ethical dog apparel through wearing ergonomic harness designs. In addition, it is lovely and extremely unique to see such a small cavalier dog alongside larger breed dogs such as the Labradors Maple lives with and their features on her page. When looking in more detail at her page, Beths positive and welcoming personality shines through each of her captions, alongside her love for supporting small businesses within the community.
Bethan with Gingie the Border Collie and Paolo the Labrador
With Bethan and her boys, immediately I am struct by a gorgeous red-coated collie alongside a very happy sandy coloured Labrador. With the majority of border collies being black and white, this coat variation instantly makes her account stand out. There is a focus on enrichment and mental stimulation sharing aesthetic enrichment mats. She also shares what ingredients she has used to make these mats which adds further value to her page. Finally, her page is predominantly overtaken by outdoor photos with a focus on the beach and the seaside. This attracts me to her page as it is very different to the countryside haven in which we are based.
Taylor with Goji and Goose, the Working Cocker Spaniels
The primary word which comes to mind when viewing the Gooseberry Cockers is pure and simple joy. Goose and Goji are always smiling and happy jovial dogs focused on enrichment, wellbeing, laughter and adventures. They speak often about rescuing dogs, advice and information on owning working breeds and their experiences with the breed. Whilst I don’t own a spaniel myself (although half our ambassadors are spaniels and we adore the breed), I can find a lot of value in the joy and aesthetic of her profile. In amongst so much sadness and despair on the internet, it is lovely to find a little cove of happiness and joy. This draws me to them. There is nothing brighter than Taylor and the girls winning personalities.
April with Maple and Bramble, the Short-Haired Dachshunds
I am absolutely in awe of this tiny little vibrant duo. Usually, when looking for dogs who explore, it is normal to find larger breed dogs and working dogs. However, it is so refreshing and incredible to see two members of one of the smallest dog breeds living their life to the fullest. April, Maple and Bramble have an outstanding and talented focus on dog photography on their profile. The dogs winning personalities shine through every capture, and Aprils incredible talent for capturing these moments is inspiring. Their page is proof that great things come in small packages.
Creating Engaging Content
This links directly to your niche. If you are unsure what to post, consider what makes your dog unique. Do you love to dress your dog up in the most fashionable harnesses which also promote the well-being of dogs? Do you have invaluable dog training information, advice and experience you are able to share? When I was studying, my lecturer told me something so valuable and true, I still think about it and refer to it often. “The greatest source of diversity is within people themselves”. This applies to our dogs too, potentially more so than humans.
We own two border collies, Callie and Penelope (Poppy). Whilst they are both border collies, they are so incredibly different within themselves. Callie is a working line, show line cross who we were completely unprepared for. Particularly as she has reactivity within her genetic line and we were misadvised by dog trainers who didn’t have experience with the breed. When her reactivity began to show we were advised to stop socialising her – a decision we are still working to correct to this day. But, because of all the training we have done and the bond we have, Callie is extremely well-trained. She adores doing tricks and is the perfect house guest. With her large fluffy white paws she reminds me of a bear a lot of the time. Although she is reactive, she is also the sweetest girl in the world and your best friend when she trusts you.
Poppy is a one-year-old show-line border collie. She has been bred for temperament. This was extremely important to us after seeing the difficulties Callie has faced. We have a running joke in our home that the show-line border collie is more suited to working than the working line collie. Whilst Callie loves learning new tricks and training, she can get frustrated easily during the process of learning harder tricks. This means it take a lot longer for her to learn new skills. With Poppy, she learns new skills very quickly. I have been trying to teach Callie “shy” for four years. Poppy has learned “shy” within two weeks! But, whilst Callie was never one for jumping up, Poppy will happily rebound kick you into the next town trying to jump up for a cuddle. All I can say is… we are working on it.
You can see the differences in the two. Both are border collies. Both are unique. We are usually very busy with the business which means we do not have the chance anymore to share a lot on our personal social media channels. However, there is a huge variety of engaging, high-quality content we could post for the girls. Especially content highlighting their unique personalities and differences.
Six Great Content Ideas for Dogfluencers:
- Post playful, fun moments with your dogs. If your dog has a funny trick or a goofy smile, share it! Show your dogs personality and let others fall in love with them too.
- Share training tips. We regularly watch how-to training videos online. I love seeing new tricks and ideas dogs have learned online and take ideas to train my own dogs.
- Share how-to videos. Much like above, you could share a “how to stop your dog from trying to run out of the front door” video. You could also post “how-tos” featuring advice on working from home with your dog, preparing enrichment mats or fitting apparel properly for dogs.
- Create dog-safe recipes and teach others how to make them too! Being able to create healthy, nutritious recipes for dogs brings us a lot of joy. It’s not just us, our dog-safe recipes section has proved very popular with our community so far too. Plus, posts discussing the health benefits of certain foods can be great to build engagement and value in your content.
- Product reviews. Finding businesses you can trust can be very difficult in a world where you are overwhelmed with choices. I recently read that the average person is exposed to over 4000 adverts a day. Posting honest and authentic reviews on products and businesses boosts your credibility.
- Heart-warming, wholesome stories and moments. This one speaks for itself. Joy is infectious. If you bring joy to peoples day through your content, it will create an incredible bond between you and your audience and spread some happiness too.
When posting, remember to be consistent with your content. Whilst the odd off-topic post can add value to your profile and give more depth to yourself as a creator. If you are known mainly for posting incredible dog-friendly recipes and nutrition and then someone cannot find these when they view your page, your contents value can decrease. Also – make sure to engage with your audience! I have unfollowed people personally when I have tried to connect. I have reached out to accounts who ask for advice, and then they never reply. This can be especially true within the photography niche. I adore talking about photography and am a part of some great photography chats full of like-minded people. However, when I try to message people individually, usually it can be met with no reply. Needless to say, my view of the content then changes. This then results in me losing interest in the content and unfollowing. The best connections are those that are reciprocated too.
I hope you have found this post informative and interesting. In order to support us to continue creating content to add value to our community, please consider liking or sharing our social media pages. Or, if you are in need of some exceptional dog supplies, please take a look at our store. Woof and Snout is a small, family business from the Yorkshire Wolds dedicated to enhancing dogs well-being and creating a great community we adore. Thank you for taking the time to read our post on how dogfluencers can add value and build their communities.
Photography Credits:
Cocker Spaniel (show) - Arlo. @cocker.arlo
King Charles Cavalier Spaniel (miniature) - Maple. @maple_and_sisters
Labrador - Paolo. @gingie.and.paolo
Orange Roan Cocker Spaniel (working) - Goji @gooseberry_cocker
Dachshunds - Maple and Bramble. @wandering_with_maple_bramble
Border Collie - Penelope. @pawsupforpenelope
Cocker Spaniel (working) - Winnie. @winnieworkingcocker
The Beatiful Trio! - Tori, Poppy & Stan. @tails_of_toriandstan