What Most People Get Wrong about Student-Athlete Influencers
What Coaches, Administrators, and Service Providers Often Get Wrong
If this applies to you, I hope you’ll take this criticism in the manner in which it’s intended - to educate, not alienate. But few coaches, administrators, and service providers I meet understand a key aspect of today’s NIL landscape.
There is nothing more important to brand marketers than influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is by far the leading NIL activity (about 85% of all NIL activity)
Brands do not exclusively seek out student-athletes with large follows - in many instances, they do the exact opposite
Influencer marketing is the superhero of modern marketing and while mega-celebrities once ruled this realm, that’s no longer the case. Enter the student-athlete “nano-influencer.”
The Emergence of Micro-Influencers
Most student-athletes have less than 10,000 followers. To marketers, they are considered “micro-influencers.”
Micro-influencers almost always have a niche which resonates with their small, but interested following. They are gold for brands aiming to connect with a specific demographic or market.
What makes micro-influencers shine is their authenticity. Unlike celebrity influencers or traditional influencers with large followings, micro-influencers keep it personal, forging genuine connections with their audience. This authenticity transforms their recommendations into trusted and influential endorsements.
Micro-Influencer Magic
Follow this with me: brands are seeking out micro-influencers more than any other type of influencer > most student-athletes are micro-influencers > brands are hiring student-athlete influencers > brands are having success!
Here’s why brand’s love student-athletes:
Cost-Effective: Forget the big bucks! Collaborating with student-athlete micro-influencers doesn’t break the bank of a small or local brand, but it’s still enough income to make it worthwhile for the student-athlete.
High Engagement: Student-Athletes boast a more engaged and loyal following. Student-Athletes have engagement rates 3x that of ordinary micro-influencers.
Targeted Reach: Many student-athletes on social media have developed a focus - on things like nutrition, mental health, leadership, etc. With this niche, student-athlete influencers are a brand’s ticket to reaching a particular demographic with similar interests.
Authenticity: The content of student-athletes feels real, because it is real. It’s not a sales pitch, but it’s entertaining and informative, which makes it effective.
Here’s How to Support Your Student-Athletes
If you’re still reading , you may be interested enough to consider supporting the student-athletes on your campus. I hope so. If you do, I recommend educating them on these 3 things:
Help them define their target audience: When they know their audience, the student-athlete will be able to provide better content and be able to identify brands that share that audience.
Educate them on the key metric brands use to choose student-athlete influencers: While the target audience is critical, it really comes down to engagement and authenticity. Brand want to see genuine passion from the student-athlete and from their fans - backed up by a high engagement rate. (Student-Athletes should use data and analytics tools to track their social media and campaign performance.)
Support them to create top-notch content: It doesn’t have to be perfect or polished, but student-athlete influencers need to become content proficient - creating content that will engage and convert their audience into a brand’s customers.
Email me at bill@studentathleteinsights.com if you have questions about influencer marketing or educating student-athletes, coaches, administrators, or service providers.
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.