Back in 2016, Forbes reported that sports events are on the rise among millennials in the US and globally. Our generation is very attentive to their health. An increasing amount of people support a healthy lifestyle, and for sure an active lifestyle and sports are playing an important role in this living tendency. The last couple of years the sports industry saw many innovations. Sports became more attractive for an average person because of the new technology and more accessible and affordable pieces of equipment. Due to those tech innovations watching sports events became immersive and interesting that gave rise to sports influencers.
The sports industry is a growing and diversified market
The worldwide sports industry is worth over €450 billion and the average growth is 4% per year.
The sports industry is only growing, but also it is evolving. It now consists of numerous branches and sections. Some sports brands incorporate beauty, food and, fashion into their product ranges, and they not only concentrate on sports products but also focus on facilitating healthy living.
Sports Influencers Create Buzz for Sporting Events
During huge sports events perhaps all of you have noticed the heavy presence of game chatters on social media throughout the game. Like any other events, online activities can easily build buzz. Leveraging influencers for even the smaller events can easily get at least local attention.
Here are a few ways sports influencers can help you get the word out about your sporting event.
Sporting Events Need Attention
According to a survey, Americans spent $56 billion on sporting events annually. Here includes ticket costs, transportation, food, and beverages. To gather those massive audiences together marketers first need to get the word out.
Sports influencers are generally part of the population attending those events each year. Whether you’re promoting a local softball game or Olympic games, influencers have the power to generate buzz for your event at a fraction of the price you would pay for a billboard or TV ad.
Influencers are Authorities
Sports influencers often go beyond being mere fans. They can often name every player with the most hits or the Football winners by year. This has earned respect from their followers, who see them as experts in their chosen sport. If you choose the right authority, you’ll have access to their highly-engaged audience, and those audience members will be eager to fill the seats at your own game.
Sports Influencers Have Passion
In addition to knowing everything about their favorite sports and teams, influencers often have a passion that translates in every post. Passionate, but popular, fan exists at the local level, as well, sometimes even within high school sports as well as college level.
If you can work with that sports fan, offering free tickets and other VIP perks, you’ll find the combined passion of the team and the influencer will be contagious. Finding and winning influencers depends on careful research. Here are how worldwide events benefited from influencer marketing.
“Olympics – Winter Games”
Dating back to 1896, the Olympics is the world’s largest international sports competition. Every two years, thousands of athletes representing more than 200 countries converge to compete amongst the best of the best in a variety of sports.
These events are a great opportunity for advertising for all kind of brands. During the games, Olympic athletes take center stage in the marketing world, routinely starring in television commercials, appearing on cereal boxes, and becoming ubiquitous across digital and social ads.
More recently, the growth of social media and influencer marketing has given way to lucrative brand partnerships online. Many brands are leveraging Olympians to publish sponsored content on Instagram and other social platforms.
Here is a famous example that P&G’s influencer marketing campaign that took place during the 2018 Olympics.
The company leveraged the 2018 Olympics to both advertise many of its brands and to take a distinct political stance in the form of a heartfelt TV commercial promoting equality and tolerance. A number of influencers and Olympians partnered with the brand to promote the same positive messaging across social media.
Together with the Olympics TV ad, P&G partnered with 9 diverse Instagram influencers ranging from a celebrity stylist to a fashion blogger to multiple Olympians. Each published between 1 and 12 sponsored Instagram posts and many used the hashtag #LoveOverBias, which is also featured in P&G’s television commercial.
Even P&G leveraged non-athlete influencers, who was merely an observer of the event, they managed to produce more influencer content during the event.
As a result, 87% of consumers stated they would purchase a product based on values – because the company advocated for an issue they cared about. And 76% would boycott a brand if it supported an issue contrary to their beliefs.
The TV advertisement encourages consumers to buy P&G products not only because they’re useful, but also because the company aligns with his/her values.
“FIFA World Cup”
Budweiser is one of the most recognizable beer brands in the world. The brand premiered an international influencer marketing campaign to tie into its sponsorship of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
The beer brand partnered with YouTube stars, professional football players, and media personalities to create branded reaction videos on Instagram. Budweiser launched an Instagram-based influencer marketing campaign to cement its brand sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup.
This sponsored content took the form of reaction videos, a style of video where someone films their emotional reaction to an event. The brand also partnered with celebrities and social media influencers to film World Cup reaction videos. They used the hashtag #ReactionChallenge to encourage fans to share their own reaction videos while watching the game.
Budweiser’s Instagram influencer marketing campaign sought to bring in an international audience of all ages through its choice of brand partners.
Beer is a natural match for World Cup Sponsorship – enjoying the game with friends and drinks is a universal experience for sports spectators. Alcoholic beverages are consumed in many settings: at home, at a bar, or at a stadium watching the game. This allows Budweiser the ability to promote the beverage with versatility and playfulness.
