Social networks aren’t limited to people. Dogs, cats, fish and snakes are getting their own social networking apps for pets. Facebook and Instagram aren’t enough for enthusiastic pet lovers to share photos and videos of their pets.
With social networking apps for pets, owners can easily post and share pawesome photos and get social with pet enthusiasts. Today, we’re going to discuss how to make a social network app for pet owners .
Table of contents
The most popular pet networking apps Must-have features of social media app for pet lovers What else you and your pet may get in social media apps? How much does it cost to develop an app for pet lovers? How to make money with pet social network apps Summing up
The most popular pet networking apps
Did you know that there is Facebook for pets? Ok, there is no Facebook for pets but may be you’d like to develop your social media apps for pets. But before developing the app, it’s better to have a look at your competitors. Here are the top three pet networking apps:
Petzbe
Petzbe is a social network for pets. It’s more like Instagram but for furry friends. Photos and videos are the central part of the app. Petzbe is more about content than communication and community.
BarkHappy
BarkHappy is a location-based app aimed at discovering the dog-friendly world. While using the app, dog owners can find new pet-friendly locations and communicate with other dog owners.
Pawesome
Pawesome is a social network for pet owners. The platform is an ideal place for building communities and finding pet sitters for fluffy friends.
Must-have features of social media app for pet lovers
Personal profiles
Without personal profiles, users won’t be able to share their pet photos and communicate with other pet lovers. In other words, a pet social media app for iPhone and Android will be useless without personal profiles.
Add a pet
Pet owners should be able to add as many pets as they want. Also, it would be also great to add pets’ bio where owners will describe pet type, their breed, and a short description and a photo.
Message
Any social media app cannot be social without messages. With messages, pet owners will be able to discuss and arrange cozy coffee meetings or active going out with their fluffies.
Connections
The main idea of social is connection and communication. With connections and personal profiles, users will be able to find new friends and build strong communities of fluffy lovers.
Walking schedule
Dog owners will be 1000% thankful for such a feature. Here users can create their walking schedule, save favorite routes and find fluffy fellows to have fun while walking.
Business directory
Finding a pet-friendly cafe is a hard thing even in New York where there are dozens of restaurants and cafes. And a business directory of all pet-friendly places will come in hand for pet owners. Consider adding this feature to your app.
These are some useful features that will create a solid foundation for your pet social network app for iOs and Android. But to win over users and make your app stand out of the crowd, you need more elaborate features. See what features to add and draw in users’ attention in our next block.
What else you and your pet may get in social media apps?
Before starting a social media for pets lovers, you have to analyze and test your competitors and check the market environment. Without a proper market analysis, it’s hardly possible to find out essential and advanced features for your app.
Building a mobile app is a tedious process involving not only skilled app developers and UX/ UI designers but also experienced business analysts and marketers who will find out how to make your app a top one on the market.
But now we’d like to shed more light on what advanced features can help you make your iOS or Android social media app for pets stand out of crowd.a GPS tracking option along with personalized GPS-powered collars to your social app for pets will help owners find their lost fluffies. Or adding dog park maps will be an undeniable benefit for everyone who has a dog.
Moreover, adding a charity block is also a great idea. A charity block will do both - attract more users as well as make good for stray and homeless pets. Pet networks can also provide support during tough times - when a pet is ill or injured. Consider adding a vet chat where users can get some qualified advice on what to do to help their beloved fluff.
To add more, you can add some interesting information to read such as interesting news, dog handler or vet advice, some fun videos to entertain your users. And don’t forget to add interesting articles regularly. Otherwise, people may get bored.
How much does it cost to develop an app for pet lovers?
Creating a social media app for pets isn’t a budget thing. Social media apps require lots of third-party integrations, real-time updates, messaging, etc. And this may be translated into X development hours. Then, it’s time to discuss the average development rate. Depending on location and development skills, it can be $10/ hour somewhere in India (don’t get fooled by a low price) and $80/ hour somewhere in the US.
Feature
Time
Price
Registration and login
1-2 weeks
$1,400 - $2,800
User Profile
1 week
$1,400
Location
2-3 days
$840
Networking
2 weeks
$2,800
Social Interactions (Comments + Likes)
1 week
$1,400
Messaging
1 week
$1,400
New Post
2 days
$600
Feed
1 week
$1,400
Admin Panel
2 weeks
$2,800
Total
10 weeks+
$14,040
We have a fixed development rate of $35/ hour. So it will take around $14,000 to build a pet social network with mova.io for iOS or Android. If you preffer to start with both platforms - price would be around $20,000. But the final price may get lower or higher depending on the project complexity, tech stack, additional features and integrations as well as maintenance cost.
Note, it’s hardly possible to estimate any project without planning and research. For example, a social media app may cost around $10,000 when it’s a simple project without third-party integrations and with basic features.
At mova.io, you can get a free estimate of your app. Just drop us a line and we’ll work out a detailed plan and estimate the project cost for free.
How to make money with pet social network apps
Making your app paid isn’t the one and only way to make money with pet social networking apps. In fact, paid apps generate less profit than free apps with in-app purchases according to the latest survey by Gartner . There are at least five proven strategies to monetize mobile apps. Let’s find out how mobile apps can pay you dividends.
#1 Advertising
#2 Subscription
#3 In-app purchases
#4 Freemium
#5 Sponsorship
Finding a sponsor for your app is a really lucrative monetization strategy, but it’s a real challenge. You need to develop a top-notch app and get quite a lot of users, and only then you can start hunting for a sponsor.
Summing up
Starting a social media app for pets isn’t an easy task. It requires not only technical skills but also creativity and research. While building social media apps , it’s vital to make it stand out from the crowd.
Otherwise, it won’t rock the charts and get lost on the 5th page of Google.Contact us and let’s build a new social app for pets together.
