Showing posts with label Social Media Influencers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media Influencers. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Is YOUR Pet A Social Media Millionaire?


Can you turn your fabulous pet into a social media millionaire?

Pets with a huge online fanbase can reportedly earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions, a year. In 2014 numerous publications claimed that internet sensation Grumpy Cat, the feline with a frown from Phoenix, Arizona, earned $64 million in two years from her own line of products, including books and a film and sponsorship deals.



Tabatha Bundesen, the cat's owner, later said the figure was "inaccurate" although she refused to disclose her pet's true income. Grumpy Cat, whose miserable expression results from the winning combination of dwarfism and an underbite, has a huge online following - 2.3 million followers on Instagram, 8.7 million on Facebook and 1.3 million on Twitter.

The sour puss's career began when she was just a few months old when a picture was posted on Reddit, the story-sharing website, and users questioned whether it had been altered. A video was then posted on Youtube, which received more than a million views in 24 hours, according to Forbes magazine.


Grumpy Cat's empire now includes a range of branded merchandise including mugs, clothing, pillows and greeting cards and she was recently cited as the most influential pet online in Forbes 2017 list.

Grumpy Cat is not the only pet to achieve online success, although the earning potential for other owners who want to push their pets into the spotlight is likely to be less impressive - and hard work.

Nicole Lane's three-year old pug, Barry, has a following of 41,000 on Instagram her earnings amount to a few hundred pounds for a Virgin Media campaign. Ms Lane, 29, started to post pictures of Barry on her own social media accounts when he was six months old but decided shortly afterwards to upload them to his own platform.

She said she saw his account as "kind of photo diary" to which she uploaded photos on a daily basis. She said she liked the idea of looking back on them as he grew older.



As Barry's online following grew Miss Lane, who lives in Coventry, said she began to be contacted by companies that had found him on Instagram and offered to send her free products, such as dog treats and pet bandanas, to be included in her photos. Other firms have offered perks in return for videos of Barry that they can use in their promotional campaigns.

Ms Lane said she had turned down companies that had offered her cash to share one of their adverts with Barry's followers.

"They have nothing to do with Barry and I don't think direct adverts are particularly engaging. People don't follow Barry to have adverts pop up and I don't want to lose them," she said. 

Last year Ms Lane signed Barry up to PetLondon Models, a modelling agency, and he became the face of Virgin Media's online adverts. He has also recently featured in a Cineworld advert to promote the new film Kingsman: The Golden Circle.



Ms Lane was paid £50 expenses for the Virgin Media audition in London and when he got the part she received another £250 plus £50 to cover food and travel. The Cineworld job, which was also in London, paid £200 plus £50 expenses.

Thanks to her pet's popularity on social media Ms Lane is now able to negotiate fees with companies that approach her. She charges £35 for a photo post, £65 for two photos and £85 for three photos or videos, figures that she calculated on the basis of Barry's following.

Audience reach is what drives the fee. Loni Edwards, founder of The Dog Agency in New York, which manages celebrity pets, said animals with millions of followers could earn between $10,000 (£7,459) and $15,000 per post because their reach was incredibly valuable to companies.

But Ms Edwards, a former lawyer and "momager" to her own dog Chloe, a miniature French bulldog with 178,000 Instagram followers, said it could take years to build enough of an online presence before an owner could give up their day job.



Animal "influencers" pets with access to a large consumer audience, began to be approached by companies with advertising agendas around three years ago, according to Ms Edwards, and are now far more valuable to firms than traditional marketing routes.


Having large numbers of followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook is attractive to companies looking for a star for their latest adverts because it gives their campaign more reach, said Melody Lewis, director of PetLondon Models, as owners are likely to share the pictures with their pets' fans on their social media platforms.

If you're keen for your pet to model, some companies may ask the agency for animals with a large social media following.

Ms Edwards said: "Influencers are trusted on social media because they are real people. Their audience is tailored - their fans are choosing to follow them because of their content and brand."

"She said pets with large followings on social media were especially worthy of companies' attention as animals "generate positive responses" and are "universally appealing."

Ms Edwards said that, as with any trends, it was difficult to predict which animals would be in vogue from one year to the next.

Ms Lewis said last year it was "all about the pugs and French bulldogs" while this year cats were all the rage.



Q&A: how can I make my pet a social media goldmine?

Does my pooch have to have a strange face?

Don't worry if your precious pet doesn't have a snaggletooth grin, an evil stare or squint.

The more unusual your pet is, the more memorable it will be, but a funny face isn't the be-all and end-all of animal fame. There's a place for the average Joes of the animal kingdom in showbiz.

Who knows - next year could be the year of the generic Jack Russell or tabby cat. Generally your pet's popularity will depend on the quality of the content and how good you are at engaging with other users on social media.



What Kind of Content Should I Post?

You'll need decent photos and videos that "incorporate your brand". Yes, you will need to think about what message you want your pet to embody.

Is your chihuahua all about the glamour? Does your sausage dog like to travel? Is your pomeranian an absolute joker? This should be reflected in your posts. The content needs to be good quality and creative, but essentially it's ultimately a matter of trial and error.

How Do I Build Up My Following?

Social networking is really important, although Ms Lane said it took up a lot of time.

You'll need to focus on engaging with other users on Instagram by commenting on their posts and tagging branded accounts. Your messages need to be genuine or it'll look like you're spamming other users, which will annoy them.



Another way to get exposure is to collaborate with other users. For example, Ms Lane invited a number of dog owners from Instagram to Barry's birthday party and took photos of the event, which they could all share and tag each other in. Tag company accounts too when relevant.

Ms Lane said taking photos was the easy bit - she just snaps Barry doing what he does. Her most popular post featured him peering through the bathroom door at her like "some weird stalker". Post on a daily basis - between one and three times a day is what to aim for.

Ms Lewis said people liked following an animal's story so get creative with yours and start posting when your pet is young.



What About Hashtags?

Hashtags will also extend your reach and attract new followers. Look for the most popular ones. Ms Lane said she used #pugs and #pugsofinstagram for Barry's posts and checked to see what was trending at the time.

Does my pet need special skills?

If you want to push your pet into a modelling career it needs to be well behaved and should be able to sit and stay.

If it has "talents" - hula hooping, skateboarding, singing - this could be a bonus, especially if the company is after a skilled pet for a film or advert.

Ms Lane said she was that confident Barry could sit and stay at the Virgin Media audition but worried that he wouldn't be able to complete a number of additional tasks such as playing with a football on command.

However, after a piece of chicken was taped to the football Barry excelled himself.

Guest Authored By Amelia Murray. Amelia Murray is The Telegraph's senior personal finance research journalist. She joined from MoneySavingExpert. Follow Amelia on Twitter.




“Does my pet need special skills?

If you want to push your pet into a modelling career it needs to be well behaved and should be able to sit and stay.

If it has "talents" - hula hooping, skateboarding, singing - this could be a bonus, especially if the company is after a skilled pet for a film or advert."

    • Authored by:
      Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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    Monday, May 19, 2025

    Social Media Influence And Big Dollars?


    The internet has given birth to a plethora of online sensations — from the Turkish chef who became a sensation as 'Salt Bae' just by seasoning meat.

    To Jeremy Meeks, the felon whose viral mugshot catapulted him into a modeling career..



    For many, social media can be a cruel and harsh place. Yet others, like non-celebrity "influencers" able to ride the wave of viral content to high follower counts and visibility, can easily make big money creating their own brand and promoting others.

    According to Influencer marketing agency Mediakix, Instagram's influencer market is worth $1 billion, and shows no signs of slowing down. The firm predicted recently that by 2029, that figure would double.

    "The fastest growing influencer marketing platforms are Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook, and YouTube," Jeremy Shih, head of marketing at Mediakix, told CNBC recently. For now, there's no comparable market for Twitter and the live video application Periscope.

    Yet Periscope was a saving grace for Amanda Oleander, an artist based in California. In 2015, Oleander shot to fame on the platform by live streaming herself — eventually parlaying that into a six-figure income.



    "At age 25, I [wanted] to be my own boss," Oleander told CNBC in a recent interview. When she first signed up for Periscope, she had recently been laid off and never considered being an internet entrepreneur.



    After one week of being on Periscope, she became the most followed woman on the entire app.

    "It kind of happened overnight," she said..

    Live streaming herself painting exposed Oleander to a new class of clientele, with many viewers purchasing the illustrator's work, which costs an average of $5,000. Some of her clients include T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who owns two of her paintings — both of which he bought while tuned into one of Oleander's live painting sessions.

    The artist told CNBC that her audience feels connected to the pieces she creates live, which encourages them to purchase the art. For example, Legere waited two years for Oleander to complete a $20,000 painting.

    "I think people are attracted to that [rawness]," Oleander told CNBC. "A lot of the people who buy my pieces, they see the process," she said.



    How To Elevate Your Influencer Game

    Anna Rosenblatt, vice president of cultural strategy at advertising agency sparks & honey, recently told CNBC that to build a following, "live streaming works especially well for activities such as painting, gaming, and things people want to feel like they're there with you."

    Otherwise, "Instagram is a top platform for micro-influencers, people who may not have millions of followers, but tens of thousands," Rosenblatt said.

    As a result, micro-influencers are flourishing as brands increasingly unplug from people with far larger social media followings.

    In recent years, some influencers have been able to purchase followers, enhancing the appeal of accounts with smaller followings but more targeted (and real) audiences. Rosenblatt explained that not only do micro-influencers tend to have a greater engagement with their niche, but are a cheaper deal: On average, most charge less than $500 per post.



    Still, experts said the most successful micro-influencers are those who specialize in a small niche — such as art — versus a larger market like fashion. To encourage engagement with her fans, Oleander has meetups, giveaways, creates affordable prints for her viewers and even has a curated "peri-fam birthdays" list on her website.

    If you are an individual and you want to get an influencer deal, you have to build an engaged and large following in a specific topic," said Matt Britton, CEO of Crowdtap, a marketing tech platform that aligns influencers and brands.

    Britton told CNBC that the key between being an influencer and actually profiting from the industry is signing on to an influencer network, since "brands are not going to work with individuals directly," he said.

    There's a definite hierarchy, Shih at Mediakix explained, as large influencers — defined as accounts with more than 100,000 Instagram followers and/or at least 300,000 subscribers on YouTube — usually get explicit overtures from brands.



    "Influencer marketing companies and agencies, as well as networks, also work closely with brands to identify the right influencers for a given initiative/campaign," he said.

    Meanwhile, smaller fish in the social media pool can use marketing platforms, which allow influencers to apply for specific campaigns, to get their own deals.

    More importantly, once influencers get a deal, according to Rosenblatt, it's imperative that the brand deals align with their values, and that taste arbiters continue to stay true to themselves and exercise transparency.

    That way, the audience does not feel like the influencer sold out.

    "Credibility is key," Rosenblatt said. "We live in an era of trust over truth."

    Guest Authored By Denise Garcia. Denise is a Freelance Photographer and Journalist. Follow Denise on X.





    If you are an individual and you want to get an influencer deal, you have to build an engaged and large following in a specific topic..

    • Authoredby:Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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    Wednesday, May 7, 2025

    Influencing The Social Media Influencers?


    Social media offers an almost endless stream of data for businesses to collect on their customers..

    But what good is data without a smart way to apply it? The latest research from Gad Allon, Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions, offers a lifeline for firms drowning in the deep waters of social networks..




    Social media offers an almost endless stream of data for businesses to collect on their customers.

    But what good is data without a smart way to apply it? The latest research from Gad Allon, Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions, offers a lifeline for firms drowning in the deep waters of social networks.

    Allon and his team devised an analytics model that can help businesses identify high-value customers. The paper, “Managing Service Systems in the Presence of Social Networks,” was co-authored with Washington University professor Dennis J. Zhang. He talked with Knowledge@Wharton about the process.

    Knowledge@Wharton: Tell us about what you studied and the main questions you examined?

    Gad Allon: We’re looking at the intersection between social networks and service providers, and we're asking, “How should service providers think about these social networks?" Now, social networks have existed for many years. Think about reading clubs, churches and so on. But the emergence of the new social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, allowed firms to not only look at what customers do, but track it over time.



    Nowadays, firms have presence on these social networks. But more importantly, consumers use these social networks to communicate among each other and tell others about the experiences they had. Why is that interesting? In the past, we had key opinion leaders who had access to maybe The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal and wrote there about food and so on. Now, we have more and more people that have access to, let’s say, 1,000 followers on Twitter. So, we have to think about the idea of influence in a more nuanced way.

    “Technology enabled firms to micro-target and offer very segmented, differentiated services to customers.”

    That's on the social network side. From a service provider side, technology enabled firms to micro-target and offer very segmented, differentiated services to customers. They can offer upgrades based on who you are, your history, what you've done.

    The combination of the two & the fact that firms can look at customers not only in terms of the value they bring, but also how they influence others on social networks poses very interesting questions.

    The main question we’re trying to answer is: How should service providers allocate scarce resources, whether these are priorities or better service, to customers based on their value, but also their social network presence, and how they're influenced and being influenced by others?



    Knowledge@Wharton: What did you find, and how can your findings be applied in business?

    Allon: First, we built a model of how customers tell others about their services, how they form beliefs about the quality of the service based on their own experience, but also what other people tell them. We’ve identified and indexed an idea we call “centrality of the customer.” The economically adjusted centrality of the customer. It looks at not only the value they bring, but also how they influence others and how they are being influenced by others.

    The main takeaway is that firms should think about ranking their customers according to this index. Essentially, a customer should get high priority, or a better service, if they fit into one of three categories: they have many friends; they have very few friends, but these friends bring very high economic value; or this customer himself brings very high economic value, but is not being influenced by others. If he’s being influenced by others, I'm better off giving it to one of their friends.

    One of the main things that this doesn’t have in it is this idea of “friends of friends.” As you notice, you need to look only at the closed circle. That stands in stark contrast to what we know about products or political opinions. The reason for that comes from the nature of services. The nature of service means that I'm offering a customer a service only when they are there, which means that I can provide a very differentiated quality of service, which means that when the customer comes, I don’t have to really think about how this information is going to propagate. The moment they bring their friend, I can then decide on the right quality of service to provide. What it means is that it makes it much easier for a firm to track and to combine this information into the decision-making process.



    Knowledge@Wharton: How does this interface with the concept of customer lifetime value? It sounds similar.

    “While many firms track the lifetime value of their customers, very few understand how their customers interact on social networks.”

    Allon: While many firms track the lifetime value of their customers, very few firms understand how their customers interact among themselves on social networks. Should firms really go and obtain this information? We say that for firms to obtain this information, this information needs to be valuable. We look at the correlation between the economic value and social value. Surprisingly, we see that for some businesses, there is positive correlation. This means the more vocal customers are also the ones that have higher lifetime value. In which case, it’s pretty easy. I know that I need to target those with high lifetime value.

    However, the situation we see in many businesses is that it’s negatively correlated, meaning you have highly vocal customers and customers with very high lifetime value. In this case, knowing the social network and how it interacts with the lifetime value is crucial. In fact, we’ve obtained data from Yelp that showed for restaurants that are above-average in terms of their pricing, they're very likely to have negative correlation between the two. In which case, knowing not only the lifetime value, but also the exact way that your customers interact with their friends, is going to be crucial to obtaining better value from providing better service to the right customers.



    Knowledge@Wharton: What’s next for this research?

    Allon: The main question we try to answer now is: How should firms think about the difference between pure information and opinion on these social networks?

    There are many more markets for influencers, what we call key opinion leaders, where firms try to ask these people to tell their friends, tell other people, maybe celebrities, tell their audience about a product. But what part of that is purely informational? The goal is to bring additional volume. What part of that is really trying to shape customers’ opinion?

    Clearly, if you hear about a celebrity that got an amazing service from United, you’ve heard of United before. The question is, can this information shape your opinion about a firm that you already know something about? Is it only for an emerging market, or is it for a market that already exists? What we try to do is, both empirically and theoretically, disentangle these two effects.

    Guest Authored By The Wharton School. The Warton School is committed to sharing its intellectual capital through the schools online business journal, Knowledge@Warton. Follow Knowledge@Warton on Twitter.





    "The main takeaway is that firms should think about ranking their customers according to this index.

    Essentially, a customer should get high priority, or a better service, if they fit into one of three categories: they have many friends; they have very few friends, but these friends bring very high economic value; or this customer himself brings very high economic value, but is not being influenced by others.

    If he’s being influenced by others, I'm better off giving it to one of their friends.."


      • Authored by:
        Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
      F
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      Tuesday, March 25, 2025

      Social Media Automotive Influencers?


      Celebrity shine brightens brands on social media..

      Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner and Floyd Mayweather have millions of social media followers. And for the brands of exotic cars they drive, a little celebrity spillover on Instagram is a good thing.



      High-priced rides always have gone hand in hand with the stars of movies, music, sports and reality TV.

      But it is now the accepted custom for celebrities to post photos of themselves with their very uncommon rides. Or the paparazzi is always available to do it for them.

      "When you have celebrities considering your brand, considering how many opportunities they could have, we're proud to be in the list," said Alessandro Farmeschi, COO of Automobili Lamborghini America. "It means our brand is working and is well-received."

      In the age of the all-seeing Internet, fame and vehicle are intertwined more than ever.

      The website CelebrityCarsBlog regularly updates when a celebrity posts a new photo of their vehicle or is spotted in a new set of wheels.



      When Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant left the team's headquarters in April after being released, the web universe was immediately notified that Bryant drove away in his black Bentley Bentayga.

      The sports-star gazing scene at MLB spring training has expanded into a pseudo auto show as fans and media focus on who's driving what in the players' parking lot.

      The heightened awareness is playing out at Aston Martin, which has broadened its celebrity linkups.

      "Historically, we've only really had one brand ambassador, and that's been James Bond," said Simon Sproule, chairman of the Americas at Aston Martin. "Conventional wisdom says that your brand ambassador is not a fictional character. But our relationship with Bond remains stronger than ever."



      However, the British automaker has worked with tennis legend Serena Williams.

      And last year, it hired one of the most recognizable athletes in all of sports: Tom Brady of the NFL's New England Patriots.

      "He loves Aston," Sproule said of the star quarterback. "We found a very natural way to work together because he was keen on creating cars and getting more into our business.

      We were looking for somebody who would take us into new places in the U.S., and when we announced the partnership, it was the highest number of visits to our website ever recorded."

      Guest Authored By Jack Walsworth. Jack is an Automotive News Subaru Reporter and Web-Producer in Detroit. Follow Jack on Twitter.





      The automaker and Brady partnered for the Vanquish S Volante Tom Brady Signature Edition.

      Fittingly, the number built was just 12 -- Brady's jersey number.


        • Post Crafted By:
          Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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