Recent digital developments have allowed sports stakeholders to adapt their communication and fan engagement strategy. In an online & digital world, sponsors can now rely on the social accounts of athletes to develop their visibility. In this article, there will be given examples from the football industry, however, this is applicable and being leveraged in all the major sports where there is a huge fan base or any industry.

SPONSORS LOOKING FOR INFLUENCERS

With the augmentation of social networks, new online marketing practices have emerged. Among the most recent terms is: influencer marketing attracts the interest of brands of all sizes.

So what is an influencer?

From a strict marketing point of view, an influencer is an individual who has the power to affect the purchasing decisions of others through their success, expertise or professional activity. Despite different types of influencers on different media, there is a common term used as a digital influencer.

On social networks, we can, therefore, consider that an influencer will be any person who is likely to interest brands. Benefiting from a public image, we can consider that all professional athletes are influencers, even if they have only a handful of subscribers and do not have a verified account.

Micro, macro and mega influencers

Not all enjoying the same visibility, there are different types of influencers. Considering the size of their community, three categories can be distinguished.

The first is that of “micro-influencers” whose number of subscribers is between 10,000 and 100,000. We then distinguish that of “macro-influencers” which groups together accounts between 100,000 and 500,000 subscribers. Finally, the last category is that of “macro-influencers” who have more than 500,000 subscribers. We could add a possible fourth category: “stars” with more than 1.5 million subscribers.

This typology is not official. Nevertheless, many marketing experts agree on these numbers to categorize the different types of influencers. Brands can find out which types of relevant accounts to target based on their goals.

A growing market

The increasing use of social networks is contributing to more and more influencers. Aware of the importance of their influence, brands are investing more and more in these new players. In 2017, the market of “influencer marketing” represented a billion dollars. By 2021, this number will be multiplied by 10.

New features such as sponsored publications on Instagram have contributed to this exponential growth. This market grew by 198% in 2017 alone.

While the majority of these investments are aimed at fashion and beauty influencers, the sport is not forgotten. Ambassadors of choice, athletes are particularly popular with brands. The mention “post-sponsored” appears more and more on the publications of the athletes.

Over time or on an ad hoc basis, sponsors invite themselves to the sports accounts of athletes. These investments are increasing every year significantly: the total value of Cristiano Ronaldo sponsored publications has increased by 432% in just one year.

The principle is simple: a company collaborates with an influencer that is, a person with a relatively significant and active fan community – with the goal of promoting their products or services. In the different types of influencers, one thus finds the sportsmen, and consequently, the football players.

These have been chosen for decades now by brands – sports or not – to promote them. But the explosion of social networks has reinforced the marketing potential of football players. Through their club or selection career, professional players can easily interact online with their fans and build social accounts followed by millions of subscribers.

The popularity of football enhances the attractiveness of the biggest players to brands. But the democratization of influence marketing also makes it possible to offer sponsorship opportunities to athletes with a more modest reputation.

With well-conducted digital activations, brands can reasonably increase their visibility by collaborating with influencers with average notoriety, or even micro-influencers. Regardless of their number of subscribers, football players have become perfect influencers for sponsors.

PROMOTED PUBLICATIONS MORE AND MORE FREQUENT

Recent developments in social networks have given rise to new features related to sponsored content. Although footballers have been sharing pictures of their crampons or headphones for many years, there was no indication of a possible partnership between them and the brand in question.

The appearance of posts known as “paid partnerships” on Instagram in 2017 has transformed this type of practice. With this mention, sponsors have direct access to the performance of sponsored publications and can better control their operations with athletes.

With now explicit partnerships, professional footballers offer more transparency to their fans. If this type of publication is less engaging than so-called “natural” content, it remains a good way for sponsors to increase their reputation online.

MORE ORIGINAL CONTENT WITH DIGITAL ACTIVATIONS

There is, however, a way for sponsors to achieve their two main goals online reach and engagement: digital activations. The principle of these online operations is to allow brands to stand out by offering original content that athletes and fans are the main players.

The definition of a digital activation remains unclear since it can appear in different formats – visuals, videos, websites, an app – on several platforms. The more creative and unique it is, the more operation will allow a sponsor to increase its visibility online.

In the world of football, more and more activations are emerging. These digital activations also offer clubs an opportunity to better highlight their partners. Liverpool recently shared a viral video of his star player Mohamed Salah surprising young fans of the English club. The joint sponsor appearing in this content seen more than 15 million times on YouTube was able to enjoy considerable visibility.

All in all, no matter the industry we work, we need to consider the influencer marketing as a way to create engagement with our community and the customers so as to influence their decision and create loyalty for the brand.

Check the latest infographic about influencer marketing here

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