Athlete Influencer
What is it?
An athlete influencer is a professional or amateur athlete who leverages their popularity, expertise, and social media presence to influence their audience's opinions, behaviors, or purchasing decisions. These individuals typically have a significant following on social media platforms and create content documenting the behind the scenes lifestyle of playing their sport. Athlete influencers have 11x the engagement rate of traditional influencers.
Example:
Jared McCain, the Duke Basketball standout, has amassed over 5 million followers through creating content around his lifestyle of playing basketball for Duke University. As a result, he is a large asset to his brand partners as he has the ability to influence millions of purchasing decisions.
How can they be used?
Athlete Influencers play a central role in this specialized form of influencer marketing:
Authentic Promotion: Athletes can authentically promote sports-related products by demonstrating their use in training or competition.
Aspirational Appeal: Many fans aspire to be like their favorite athletes, making athlete influencers particularly effective for lifestyle and fitness brands.
Diverse Partnerships: While often associated with sports brands, athlete influencers can partner with a wide range of companies, from tech to fashion to nutrition.
Performance Credibility: An athlete's success in their sport lends credibility to products they endorse, especially those related to performance or health.
Storytelling Opportunities: Athletes can create compelling content by sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of their training, competitions, and personal lives.
Multi-Platform Reach: Athlete influencers often have strong followings across multiple social media platforms, allowing for diverse content strategies.
Community Engagement: Many athletes have highly engaged fan bases, providing opportunities for interactive campaigns and direct fan engagement.
Brand Ambassador Roles: Athletes often serve as long-term brand ambassadors, creating ongoing narratives around product use and brand alignment.
In practice, an athlete influencer campaign might look like this:
A rising tennis star partners with a smartwatch brand:
They create a series of Instagram posts and stories showcasing how they use the watch's fitness tracking features in their training.
The athlete films a YouTube video discussing how the watch's sleep tracking has improved their recovery.
During tournaments, they post real-time stats from their matches, captured by the watch.
They engage in Q&A sessions with followers, answering questions about the watch and their training routines.
The brand features the athlete in their advertising campaigns, emphasizing the watch's professional-grade capabilities.
This multi-faceted approach leverages the athlete's influence, credibility, and connection with their audience to promote the product in an authentic and engaging way.