Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast.

Your cat is the cutest cat there’s ever been. You know it. You want everyone to know it. Now it’s time to make your perfect cat an Instagram star.

The internet is a mysterious place. No one knows what will go viral or how stars like Grumpy Cat or Miss Nell became celebrities. There’s no exact formula for stardom, but we’ve collected a few tips below to grow your cat’s following on Instagram.

Post Regularly

It’s good to set up a schedule of when you’ll post. Maybe it’s once a day or three times a week or even just once a week, but whatever schedule you choose, try to keep it regular. Posting at a time when a lot of your followers are online is a good idea too, so see where in the world your audience is and post at a time that’s convenient for them.

You’ll want to post regularly, but you don’t want to flood your followers with content or they’ll get overwhelmed. Use Instagram stories and pinned highlights for quick posts and save your best content for in-feed posts.

Build Your Cat’s Brand

Choose something about your cat’s personality and build up a brand identity from there. Is your cat an adventure cat? A super napper? Does he love to meet new people? Does he have a naturally grumpy or happy face? Play off your cat’s natural characteristics to build an authentic Instagram presence.

Try to take high-quality photos in good lighting. It’s also a good idea to use a uniform color palette, filters, or themes so that when scrolling through posts, your followers will be able to easily identify your account.

Engage With Other Accounts

Find other pet accounts to follow and like and comment on their photos. You can also use hashtags like #catsofinstagram, #catlife, and #caturday. You’ll get even more reach if you use hashtags like #tbt, #instamood, #picoftheday, #lifeisgood, and #caseofthemondays, all of which can bring your post to a more general audience.

You can also grow your audience by being featured on an account like the official @cats_of_instagram, @sweetcatclub, or another account that has a lot of followers. You can even attend events like Petcon to network and show off your Instagram star in the making.

Don’t Force It!

Being an Instagram star should be fun! If your cat hates wearing clothes or being held, don’t force him to do it for a photo. You’ll have the most fun and get the most likes and follows by letting your cat be himself and capturing sweet authentic moments.

It may seem easy, but becoming an Instagram influencer takes quite a time commitment. If you make it big though, it can pay off with brand endorsements and merchandise. But even if you don’t, you’ll still be able to share your perfect cat with the world as the star he is.

Originally from Colorado, Krista Beucler received a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Virginia. She was the editor-in-chief for Issue 7.2 of the Rappahannock Review, the literary journal published by UMW. Krista’s creative work has been published in From Whispers to Roars literary magazine. She is spending COVID-19 at home with her cats.