Content Opportunities for the Cat Audience on Instagram in Q1 2023

Purpose of This Research

• ‍Identify white space content opportunities‍
• ‍Identify replicable production elements (formats, editing techniques, etc.) that contribute to those content opportunities‍
• ‍Identify content themes that are not performing well and may be avoided‍

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Target Audience of this Research

Majority of the audience members meeting the following criteria:

• ‍Interested in cats
• Located in the United Kingdom
• Between the ages of 25-40*
• Majority female*

*Could not verify for all creator accounts due to the size of their audience. Demographics not applied on all social entities requested by client due to the size of their audience.

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Excellent Instagram content themes in the Cat space.

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Good Instagram content themes in the Cat space.

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Okay Instagram content themes in the Cat space.

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Poor Instagram content themes in the Cat space.

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‍Just Cat Things‍

What are Just Cat Things videos?

Documenting the ups and downs of living with cats, from hangry moments to ripped furniture. Parents show off their cats and have fun highlighting their quirks.

Production Elements From Top Performing Posts

• ‍80% of videos don’t include voice-overs seeing +6% better performance than average.
• Videos with captions generated an average of 128K views and engagements.‍
• ‍Videos that combined original audio with added audio (i.e. music) saw +60% more views and engagements.
• Create an infinite series of videos highlighting what makes different cats (either in your office or from existing customers) unique, then pair different cat food combinations with them.  

Examples

Views 444K | Engagements 45K

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Views 223K | Engagements 34K

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Views 167K | Engagements 17K

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‍London Adventures‍

What are London Adventure videos?

Follow creator Travis along on his POV bike rides across London, where his cat, Siggy, is in the passenger seat of a bike. Together, they explore and engage with other people in London.

Production Elements From Top Performing Posts

• ‍96% of videos were shot on a GoPro from POV footage, sharing the bike or creator’s perspective.
• These videos featured all original audio with no voice overs or added music.‍
• ‍4% of videos experimented with additional effects like slow motion when something interesting happens on screen.
• People like new ways of viewing spaces. Highlight your founding city or region while also showing how cats make themselves at home.

Examples

Views 296K | Engagements 26K

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Views 205K | Engagements 21K

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Views 120K | Engagements 12K

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‍Fun with Toys‍

What are Fun with Toys videos?

Creators tell a story or demonstrate how different toys impact their cats’ moods. These videos tend to highlight different ways cats engage with their toys.

Production Elements From Top Performing Posts

• ‍50% of videos were filmed with a long shot, always keeping the cat’s entire body in frame.
• ‍86% of videos are filmed in a stationary position, on a tripod or in the filmers hand.
• 50% of videos did not feature voice-overs and generated +48% more views & engagements.‍
• These videos feature cats in two moods, bewildered or enthralled. Create a branded toy and see how cats engage with it or simply observe cat behaviour before and after eating cat food. 

Examples

Views 283K | Engagements 25K

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Views 189K | Engagements 19K

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Views 141K | Engagements 13K

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‍DIY Cat Home & Games‍

What are DIY Cat Home & Game videos?

Identifying easy and fun ways to keep cats occupied from the comfort of home. These videos focus on the assembly and use of something for their cat.

Production Elements From Top Performing Posts

• ‍Videos with a minimum 5-second introduction generated +75% more average views and engagements. Introductions help set the scene before diving into the content (i.e. I was at Target and I got a Valentine’s day gift for my cat, let’s assemble it).
• ‍100% of videos feature on-screen captions.
• These focus on the process of putting something together. Create a series making DIY cat food accessories such as bowls or water dispensers, see this example. 

Examples

Views 169K | Engagements 7K

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Views 46K | Engagements 1.7K

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Views 30K | Engagements 2K

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Ways to...‍

What are “Ways to…” videos?

Addressing different ways to manage cats under circumstances like keeping calm during fireworks or while travelling. 

Production Elements From Top Performing Posts

• ‍48% of videos feature text on the screen to help tell a story, performing +7% better than other “ways to…” videos.
• ‍57% of videos feature only added audio with no original audio.
• These videos use text and timing to share ways to solve certain problems by introducing new concepts on screen.
• Take your core value add and repurpose it in different ways to match different prospective buyers. For example “Ways to save time as a busy cat mum”. 

Examples

Views 110K | Engagements 200

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Views 60K | Engagements 200

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Views 56K | Engagements 2.3K

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Viral Outliers

Viral Outlier posts exceed the average view and engagement benchmark for their content theme by 3x.

Cat Chat

This is a viral video that was removed from analysis for heavily skewing the data set. 

It features two cats having a conversation about new year's resolutions and starting a healthier lifestyle through the food they eat and exercise they do.

Views 2.2M | Engagements 82K

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Cat Stories

In this video, the creator organically holds the camera to her cat Summer, while speaking about her cat’s history as a show cat then showing the pictures to back up those statements.

She uses captions on screen, no frills and a simple story.

Views 574K | Engagements 81K

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Just Cat Things

This creator shows the relationship of her boyfriend falling in love with her cat after not wanting one at all.

It uses relevant added audio “You Got a Friend in Me” with no voice-overs and a compilation of iPhone clips.

Views 570K | Engagements 48K

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Fun with Toys

Compared to the non-outlier videos in this segment, this is the only one with a short introduction of 2 seconds asking the viewer “do you also have a fussy pet?”. 

The creator uses text-to-speech to take viewers through their cat’s excess of toys and beds.

Views 420K | Engagements 18K

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Ways to…

In this video, the creator takes the viewer through ways to make your cat comfortable when travelling and staying in a hotel. 

She shares the hotel room, as well as how she’s set up her space to accommodate the cat’s needs.

Views 340K | Engagements 37K

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Yes Chef!

In this video, the creator and their cat make both cat and human-friendly snacks. 

Summer the cat is dressed like a chef. While the creator is sharing the ingredients, Summer often tries eating them in the moment.

Views 200K | Engagements 24K

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Cat Facts

This video about the oldest cat in the world is an outlier due to its appeal to cat lovers all around.

The video uses title text on the screen to introduce the topic and captions to help guide the viewer through the interview.

Views 199K | Engagements 15K

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Travelling with Cats

In this video, the creator takes the viewer through a moment in life while travelling. 

In this video, the creator is organically filming while talking over the camera sharing a quick travel anecdote about her cat and her love for airports.

Views 138K | Engagements 14K

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‍Content Theme Definitions‍

Life with Cats: Documenting the ups and downs of living with cats, from hangry moments to ripped furniture. 

London Adventures: Following Travis and Siggy along on their POV bike rides across London, where Siggy the cat is in the passenger seat.

Fun with Toys: Creators tell the story or demonstrate how different toys impact their cats’ moods. 

DIY Cat Home & Games: Identifying easy and fun ways to keep cats occupied from the comfort of home.

Ways to...: Addressing different ways to manage cats under circumstances like keeping calm during fireworks or while travelling. 

Same Concept Different Cat: Helping cat parents relate to one another by sharing examples of ways cats show love or say welcome home.

Travelling with Cats: Creators sharing small moments from journeys while travelling with their cats, and breaking down care routines abroad.

Cat Stories: Sharing stories related to cat rescues, therapy visits and funny anecdotes that make individual cats unique in their way.

Taste Test: Putting first thoughts to the test by giving cats a taste of new flavours and foods.

Cat Training: Cat parents show off different tricks, or training regiments that they’ve built for life with their cats.

Come Shop with Me: Creators take their cats to human stores or pet stores and document their visits.

Yes Chef!: These videos see cats “cooking” different meals, usually human food but sometimes homemade cat treats as well.

Organic Cat Features: Lifestyle influencers and vloggers go about their days with unpredicted features from their furry friends.

Cat Facts: The creator shares their top facts about cats ranging from general information to food-fact content about what cats can and can’t eat.

Cat Parents: Sitting down with cat parents to ask them about their cat babies, what they do for them and how their food plays a role in their life.

Cat Food "POV": Brands sharing a point of view about their food such as “POV: a tin of tasty cuts in gravy has just been opened”.

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Good Instagram content themes in the Cat Food space.

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Okay Instagram content themes in the Cat Food space.

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Poor Instagram content themes in the Cat Food space.

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Content Theme Definitions

Same Concept Different Cat: These share the different ways that pets (but predominantly cats) show love or demonstrate their feelings.

Think about ways you can capture different footage of cats receiving their meals, such as different ways cats show they’re hangry.

Taste Test: Creators share their cats trying out different products or flavours of foods for the first time to get initial reactions.

Highlight your product by demonstrating how cats react to the taster pack and see if in each series you can identify that cat’s favourite.

Yes Chef!: These videos see cats “cooking” different meals, usually human food but sometimes homemade cat treats as well.

Use a similar concept to take viewers on a behind-the-scenes look at your business or develop a recipe that uses elements of your products.

Come Shop with Me: Creators take their cats on little shopping trips to pet stores to explore what they have to offer.

Highlight your founding region by visiting local pet stores or human stores and showing love to the community as a way to get cute cat footage. 

Cat Food Facts: Brands share cat food facts and myths. Lily’s Kitchen uses a vet as the face of their company to provide a medical perspective.

Experiment by seeing if there are any facts about your products or cat food that you can highlight. KatKin uses a text/animation approach.

Cat Parents: KatKin created a series called “hardcore cat parents” where they sit down and discuss their love for their cats.

Experiment by building your own ‘republic’ of a persona, where you can highlight people to talk about their cats or engage in your community. 

Cat Food "POV": Sharing a point of view on cat food such as “POV: a tin of tasty cuts in gravy has just been opened” or “POV: You’re Nibbles”

Experiment by compiling the funniest ways you’ve seen cats engage with your different products and try to capture those moments.

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Sample of Instagram Accounts Included in Analysis

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The creators on this list were chosen based on the demographics of the target audience and/or identified among the 500 top performing cat-themed Instagram videos shared within the last six months in the UK. 

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*Average Views + Engagements (V+E): For videos in this content category. View + Engagement data collected via direct social media platform API.

*This Content Theme vs. Industry Average: Measured by Average Views + Engagements.