Many of the animals on Instagram have better lives than most people. Take @nala_cat, for example, who boasts 3.9 million followers. Nala not only has her own Instagram account frequented by adoring fans, but she also has her own Facebook Watch show, Instagram filter, and gaming app. She is more than just an Insta model, either. In fact, she’s an influencer, frequently sponsoring products from big brands like Halo and Tik Tok.

Now you’re likely wondering how you can turn your pet into an Instagram sensation. Here are some tips for you.

Post Unique Pictures

People who follow animal accounts do so because they want to indulge in the animal’s cuteness. Thus, take pictures of your pet doing cute things. For example, snap a picture of him wearing a cute Christmas sweater or maybe take a video of him doing something silly or hilarious.

Follow Other Pet Accounts

If you want to be in-the-know about the trends on Instagram, then you should follow other animal accounts, especially those with themes and audience similar to your pet’s account. For example, if you want to develop an account for your cat, then follow other cats on Instagram. See what kind of posts they post, and learn from them.

Follow People Who Engage with Other Pet Accounts

If you want to gain followers that are loyal and engaged, then follow people who engage with other pet accounts. You can do this by stalking other accounts’ comments and likes sections. If those people like that account and are active enough to interact with that account, than those people will most likely also interact with yours. Also, adding them is a good way to let them know you exist and to raise the possibility that they will follow you back.

Use Instagram Stories

A lot of people use Instagram Stories, so you should leverage that tool too. This is especially good if you can’t post that often to your feed. It’s important to have a constant flow of content to keep followers engaged and to keep your spot high on Instagram’s feed, so if you can’t post on your feed, you should at least post to Stories to fill that void.

Go Live

Going live is unique because by default, all users receive notifications when an account they follow goes live. This doesn’t occur for all activities. For example, users don’t get a notification for every person who posts to the feed or posts to Stories—that would just be crazy! That would be too many notifications. Going live is a great way to catch your followers’ attention.

Use Hashtags

Using hashtags is an important way to increase followers and the exposure of your posts. What’s the point of posting if no one can see what you put out there? Hashtags help people find your posts, and if those people like what they see, they might just follow you back!

Creating and maintaining a pet account takes a lot of work and dedication. Follow these tips, and you’re on your way to a good start.