The Ruff Life of a Fashion Influencer’s Pet

I do have to admit that my Instagram feed is a combination of cats, French bulldogs, and fashion bloggers. So when those worlds collide into one post, I couldn’t be happier. It may be an obvious combination to throw an adorable fluffball with a name like “MochaLatte” into a social media post for more likes, but why is this such a great strategy move for influencers?

For one, the modern influencer has become successful because the idea goes beyond fashion. Following an influencer on Instagram allows the audience to escape into a life of edgy fashion, beautiful (and probably healthy meals), and stunning scenery. They are successful because they deliberately brand themselves around an entire lifestyle and not just the clothing they are wearing. Additionally, many of these influencers are “real people”. Most of the time they aren’t celebrities or TV stars, just average people with a passion for fashion, beauty, cooking, etc. Combining a Pinterest-worthy lifestyle and real world origins, these influencers have become a fixture and fascination across social media. As a result, followers want to live that lifestyle and marketers want to cash in it.

Yet to reach this point of success, influencers have to delicately curate their brand and lifestyle within their social media presence. How do they balance relatability with aspiration? Cue the pets. One of my favorite ways in which an influencer brings a sense of relatability and humanity into their posts is by including their own furry best friends (or prickly, there are a few famous hedgehogs out there). Adding a pet reminds the audience that there is a lifestyle behind the influencer, further adding a narrative to the story being created. The “cute-factor” can also help dilute aspects of a post that may seem too aspirational and beyond the reach of the audience, such as a Frenchie next to a Chanel bag. How can you be distracted by the fact that you’ll never be able to afford the purse when that adorable face is looking at you?

So enough with talking about why, let’s look at a few of our favorite examples of a blogger’s best friend.