Definitive guide to running an influencer campaign with college athletes

‍

On a panel at the Front Office Sports NIL Summit, college soccer player and NIL record breaker Sarah Fuller said the best deals she’s done with brands have been the ones with the most structure. Fuller explained that student-athletes don’t have time to guess what the brand wants or plan an entire marketing campaign on their own, nor do they have time for back-and-forth rounds of edits if the initial creative is not what the business envisioned.

‍

MOGL Co-Founders Ayden Syal and Brandon Wimbush heard the same feedback echoed throughout the INFLCR NIL Summit as well. Athletes want a quick, easy, and seamless way to complete NIL deals while already balancing school and sports..

‍

So as a business, how do you carry out a structured influencer marketing campaign that gives college athletes the ease of execution they desire? Here are some tips on making that happen using MOGL, the leading NIL marketplace for college athletes and businesses in this new era.

‍

Provide Detailed Guidelines

‍

MOGL Director of Marketing Zoe Haugen recommends creating a presentation that outlines what your business wants from the athlete. The presentation should be short and to the point, while providing clear guidelines on the type of content the athlete needs to create or that you will create for the athlete. Visuals and examples can help ensure a unified vision.

‍

Examples of criteria to include in your outline are listed below.

‍

• Campaign Overview (What marketing campaign is this for?)
• End Goal of Campaign (What are we hoping to achieve?)
• Social Media Platforms Involved (i.e. Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter)
• Type of Content (i.e. photo, video, graphic)
• Who will Create the Content (The athlete, a videographer, the business’ marketing team)
• Content Material (What will the athlete do? What will the caption be? Hashtags? Tags?)
• Type of Post Native to Campaign (i.e. Instagram story, reel, feed post or live)
• Post frequency (how many times or over what period of time will the athlete be posting?)
• Campaign Timeline (When to complete the content? When to post it?)

‍

Help Create the Content

‍

To make it as easy as possible for the athlete, do everything you can for the campaign that the athlete does not have to do themselves.

‍

Examples of resources you can provide the athlete ahead of the NIL deal are listed below.

‍

• Write a script for what the athlete should say in their video and leave room for creativity if the athlete prefers to make it more original.
• Create the graphic or provide the photo you want the athlete to promote.
• Give the athlete the caption you want them to use on social media.
• Instruct the athlete on what to do for each section of their video.
• Send the athlete tutorial videos on how to do what you’re asking them to do.
• Provide examples of content the athlete can use to reference when creating their own.

‍

These are just a few of the methods to avoid madness when running a large-scale NIL initiative.

‍

Outline Engagement Requirements

‍

Once you and/or the athlete have posted the content created for the influencer campaign, it is important to continue the momentum with engagement. However, if the campaign is finished and you didn’t ask the athlete to engage in the first place, it may become a pain point later on. Set clear expectations for how you want the athlete to engage with content and avoid any possible confusion.

‍

One form of engagement to consider is sharing content from your page with theirs. Whether it is re-posting your company’s Instagram posts or stories on their story, re-posting your Tik Toks, or re-tweeting tweets you tag them in during the campaign, there are plenty of ways to increase traction through repurposing content from profile to profile. Ask the athlete if they are willing to take the campaign to the next level with this form of amplification.

‍

Another type of interaction is liking and replying. Social media algorithms recognize a post as more popular when it gains likes and comments, therefore showing the post to more people as a result. Make an agreement with the athlete that after the initial content goes out, the athlete will remain involved with likes, Instagram comments, Twitter replies, Tik Tok comments, and direct message responses.

‍

Conclusion

‍

Make each campaign as seamless as possible for the athlete so they are inclined not only to work with you again but also to say good things to fellow athletes and peers about your company. Aside from increasing your chances of working with great athletes down the road, this is also an effective form of free advertising by word of mouth. The best part - when you communicate clearly, your campaign turns out exactly how you wanted it. This saves time and energy for you and the athlete by avoiding future back and forth conversations about changes that need to be made.

MOGL’s customer success team can help your business create the ultimate flawless campaign. If you aren’t on MOGL, sign up now at www.mogl.online. If you are on MOGL, post a job and start marketing your brand using college athletes today.