An NIL Success Story: Student-Athlete Social Media
This content first appeared in NIL Corner, my monthly column in Sports Business Journal.
An NIL Success Story
The success of student-athletes as social media influencers has proven to be one of the most positive outcomes of NIL’s first two years.
Since the Fall of 2021, I've been studying and surveying for additional data within two separate ecosystems - one of traditional social media influencers (fashion, beauty, food, etc.) and one of college student-athletes.
We continue to see evidence of just how successful student-athletes have become as social media influencers and their impact on Name, Image, and Likeness as a brand platform.
While there are some similarities, comparing three key metrics highlight the distinct advantages that student-athlete influencers have over traditional influencers.
Follower Count
Follower count serves as a fundamental indicator of social media popularity. Traditional social media influencers boast an average of around 45,000 Instagram followers, while those who focus on TikTok may have anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million followers and still be considered "mid-tier."
By comparison, student-athletes' average follower count is only about 25% of traditional influencers. While traditional influencers win on this metric, it’s worth noting that brands have been paying traditional influencers to post going as far back as 2006.
With that 15 year head start, traditional influencers have learned a thing or two about gaining followers. On the other hand, until 2021, most student-athletes were treating their social channels like the rest of us non-celebrity civilians and putting little effort into amassing more followers for the purpose of monetization.
Now that student-athletes are in the influencer “game” and using the same tips and tricks employed by their traditional influencer counterparts, it’s only a matter of time until their follower counts grow dramatically.
Engagement Rate
Engagement rate gauges the level of interaction on a post relative to the number of followers. For traditional influencers on Instagram, an engagement rate between 1-3% is considered average. Brands are enthusiastic when their influencers’ engagement rate exceeds 3%. And this is where student-athletes have been strong right out of the gate, boasting an average engagement rate of about 5.5%.
Accounting for these vastly better engagement rates seem in part to be the alignment between student-athletes and their respective audiences. When I survey student-athletes, the three most common words used to describe the content they try to produce are "real," "authentic," and "organic.” But that’s only half the story; when I survey the general college student population* about student-athletes’ social media, their description of the content is identical - describing it as “real," "authentic," and "organic.”
These exceptional results are a testament to the strong relationship between student-athletes and their followers. It’s also a credit to decision making of student-athletes to partner with brands that align with the strength of their personal brands.
*The general college student population is not the only demographic that brands pay student-athlete influencers to reach, but it’s a key one.
Content
Content analysis involves evaluating visual appeal, tone, style, and authenticity. Other key and measurable factors include quality, relevance, and consistency of content.
In multiple surveys I’ve done in the last six months, I’ve found that followers of student-athletes rate athlete content about 30% higher on both quality and relevance as compared to the followers of traditional influencers.
Traditional influencers scored higher only on consistency. This isn’t surprising, again given the tools and experience traditional influencers have. And it also won’t likely improve for student-athletes, given their limited time outside of their academic and athletic commitments to do social media.
The Future
I’m closely watching for the answers to several things in the immediate future relative to student-athlete influencers.
First, how long will it take for student-athletes to better understand their value relative to traditional influencers? And when they do, how will they approach negotiating better deals for their brand partnerships? (My surveys indicate that the majority of student-athletes are currently compensated less than $200 per post.)
Second, as more of these positive results become visible, how aggressive will brands become in utilizing student-athletes as influencers? And will those same brands (especially ones with experience using traditional influencers) recognize how time-limited student-athletes are and make adjustments to help them be successful?
And lastly, what about consumers? Will their trust in student-athletes remain or will it erode if and when student-athlete influencers begin to look more like traditional influencers?
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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.