Student-Athletes vs. Professional Social Media Influencers Volume 2

Athletes vs Influencers Stats

Student-Athletes vs. Professional Social Media Influencers Volume 2

Read time: 3 minutes

I’ve continued to study data I’ve collected about social media, influence, and the role that each plays in NIL.

While there are similarities between student-athletes who earn income via social media and professional social media influencers, there are distinct differences that my data highlights.

Let’s look at some of the metrics I have used in the analysis of the two groups.

#1 FOLLOWER COUNT: THE ONLY METRIC ON WHICH INFLUENCERS PERFORM BETTER THAN ATHLETES

The total number of followers an influencer has on a particular social media platform (e.g., Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, etc.) is often one of the most basic metrics by which influencers are judged. It's important to note that a high follower count doesn't always equate to genuine influence.

The average number of followers for a professional social media influencer can vary widely depending on a number of factors, but the average number of Instagram followers for influencers is around 45,000. On TikTok, it’s not unusual for influencers to have between 100,000-1 million followers and still be considered "mid-tier.”

While the average follower count for student-athletes can also vary widely, the median number is about 25% of the size of professional influencers.

#2 STUDENT-ATHLETES SCORE BIG ON ENGAGEMENT RATES

Engagement rate measures the level of interaction an influencer receives on their content, including likes, comments, and shares. A higher engagement rate is generally seen as more valuable, as it indicates an influencer's ability to connect with their audience.

Here are some general benchmarks for professional social media influencers on Instagram:

An engagement rate below 1% is typically considered below average

An engagement rate between 1-3% is generally considered average

An engagement rate above 3% is considered better than average

The average engagement for college student-athletes is about 5.5%. This high engagement rate is an indication of a strong relationship between the student-athlete and their followers. Followers of student-athletes use language like, “real,” “authentic,” and “organic” to describe the athlete and their content.

#3 CONTENT QUALITY OF STUDENT-ATHLETES IS A WINNER

The quality of an influencer's content, including aesthetics, creativity, and storytelling, can greatly impact the effectiveness of a campaign.

Brands may assess this subjectively, but I made quality, relevance, and consistency part of recent student-athlete surveys.

In a head to head comparison, followers of both student-athletes and professional influencers rated athletes about 30% higher on both quality and relevance.

Professional influencers scored higher only on consistency, which makes sense given that student-athletes have only a few hours every week that’s not accounted for with academic and athletic commitments.

#4 STUDENT-ATHLETES OUTPERFORM INFLUENCERS ON OTHER MEASURES

I’m running additional surveys to ensure that the data I’m presenting is reliable, but the early indications are that student-athletes outperform professional influencers on three more metrics:

Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on a link or call-to-action (CTA) in the content. It's particularly important for campaigns with specific goals like driving website traffic or conversions.

Conversion Rate: The conversion rate tracks the percentage of users who take a desired action after interacting with the influencer's content, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading an app.

Audience Demographics: It appears that the audience demographics of student-athletes is more consistent with regard to age, gender, location, interests, and other characteristics, which can be helpful to brands to ensure that those followers align with their target market.


Bill Carter, Nil Expert, Nil Consultant, Nil Educator

Bill Carter is an NIL Consultant, Educator, and Speaker. He is a NIL Columnist for Sports Business Journal and teaches NIL in College Sports at the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business. Click here to read about Bill’s NIL Consulting and NIL Education for sports organizations, universities, and brands.