Thanks to our insatiable appetite for watching cute animals online, the owners of a fortunate few have realised there is now money to be made from showing off their little bundles of joy on Instagram.
The undisputed queen Down Under so far is the rags-to-riches feline Frost, who goes by the Instagram handle of @FrostOfficial.
Frost was adopted from a pet shelter in late 2014, with her Instagram account started shortly after. Within four days, the account had over 1000 followers. At the time of writing more than 75,000 were hanging on her every sassy whim.
Frost has just signed with social media agency Remarkable Pets and is now an offical ambassador for Petbarn, where she will collaborate on a digital campaign aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of our furry little friends.
Lorraine Murphy, Chief Furry Officer (CFO) of Remarkable Pets says on the signing of @FrostOfficial: “The rise of pet influencers is a marked global trend and we could see how large and engaged their audiences are.
It became clear to us that this new breed of social influencers need a business dedicated to helping them with their channels.”
Prior to collaborating with Petbarn, Frost had also worked with RSPCA, Whiskas & Mars Petcare, making her a whole different breed of ‘entrepuurrrneur’.
Lorraine’s other recent signings include top dog Jinkee, named after Filipino boxer Manny Pacquaio’s wife by the same name.
The Melbourne-based red toy poodle has more than 60,000 Instagram fans and was recently profiled in The New York Times.
Jinkee’s Remarkable Pets’ stablemate Nigella The Pug fares even better on Facebook with more than 89,000 besotted followers.
Already the star of Better Homes and Gardens with Dr Harry, and The Project, Nigella, aka Jelly, now has her own website where you can buy her exclusive line of collars, felt beds, harnesses and leads.
Fast Facts:
- Frost’s account has received over 400,000 likesand has been viewed over 2 million times;
- On Instagram, Frost has a larger following than PM Malcolm Turnbull;
- ‘Cats’ is one of the most searched phrases on the internet, with over 30 million searches every month;
- #Cat has been used on Instagram over 89 million times;
- ‘Cats’ is the most popular category on YouTube with over 26 billion views;
- Scientists attribute the popularity of cats online to the fact that viewing images and videos of cats makes people happier and reduces anxiety.
