Athlete Influencers on Facebook: Here’s What You Need to Know

According to recent reports, 1.93 billion people are daily users of Facebook. On a planet with 7.9 billion people, that’s roughly 25% of the global population.

Pretty crazy, right?

It’s hard to wrap your head around the sheer number of people who use Facebook on a daily basis. From a marketing perspective, it also raises questions like, “Why haven’t I been using Facebook to promote my brand?” and “How do you monetize Facebook?”

We’re here to shed some light on how you can promote and grow your brand on Facebook. Influencer marketing, specifically for athletes, is a huge opportunity on Facebook. In this blog, we want to highlight the benefits of adding Facebook to your marketing toolbox—both for brands and athletes.

The Basics of Facebook Influencer Marketing

Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, making it a superb gateway for brands looking to optimize their digital presence. With its massive userbase, Facebook exposes your business to the broadest online audience out there. Facebook was founded in 2004 and has since amassed nearly three billion total users. The company also acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion, which was the third-largest social media app at the time—if that tells you just how big the platform has become.

There are many influencers on the platform, helping brands market their products and boost brand awareness. Influencers have become central to how many people find new brands and products, in many cases even facilitating sales. But what is the ROI on Facebook influencer marketing?

Increased Trust

For brands, the most effective influencers to partner with are those with followers that see them as relatable, authentic, and trustworthy. At the end of the day, people are much more likely to believe something if it comes from someone they know or are familiar with than they are to believe something coming from a disembodied brand. This is why influencer marketing has become so popular in recent years. 

Boosted Sales

If you’re like most brands, this is probably the bottom line. And Facebook influencers are a great way to drive purchases. The trust you create by including influencers (specifically athlete influencers) in your marketing strategy can definitely be leveraged to achieve more sales. People love the idea of using a product that their favorite celebrity, athlete, or personality also uses.

Higher Engagement

Not only can Facebook influencer marketing boost sales, but it can also drive higher engagement for your brand. For instance, 60% of consumers say that they’d follow a brand, product, or service if they see it being shared by a creator who holds their same values and interests. Following a brand is likely to lead to more engagement since posts will now be shared directly with these individuals on their social feeds.

Facebook Demographics

So what kinds of audiences can you expect to reach when you add Facebook influencer marketing to your strategy? Here’s a breakdown of Facebook demographics.

People aged 25 to 34 are the largest demographic of users

While people of all ages use Facebook (it is the largest social media platform, after all), this age group makes up the largest percentage. 19.3% of male users fall between 25-34 years old, while 13.1% of female users also fall in this range. This is valuable information for brands looking to capture the millennial and gen-z demographics online.

86% of internet users who make over $100k use Facebook

Even if you aren’t necessarily targeting this income demographic, it’s encouraging to see that there’s very little dropoff of users as household income increases. Users making $30-60k and users making $70-80k make up the highest percentage of Facebook users, with 88% of both groups logging in to Facebook regularly.

Facebook is the most popular social network in rural areas

One demographic that often gets overlooked in traditional marketing strategies is people in rural areas. If you want to reach people in rural areas with your Facebook influencer marketing strategy, you’re already off to a good start. Not to mention, sports-focused markets don’t see the same kind of dropoff as you move away from cities as you may see with other markets (such as tech or high fashion). Approximately 66%, or two-thirds, of U.S. adults in rural regions use Facebook. This is followed by Youtube at 64%, and then Pinterest, which sees a huge drop off to 26%.

Brands: How Do You Monetize Facebook?

Organic reach on social channels has been nosediving for a few years now. It can be difficult to break through the clutter and reach people through your Facebook page on your own, especially for brands. This leaves two options: paid advertising and influencer marketing. While paid ads can be effective when executed correctly, they don’t come cheap by any means. Facebook influencer marketing, on the other hand, works for brands of all sizes.

Small and medium-sized brands have the option of partnering with micro-influencers to reach targeted audiences. In these cases, many influencers are satisfied with compensation in the form of free products, invitations to events, and shoutouts. These types of opportunities also work both ways, helping micro-influencers build their portfolios of brand endorsements while gaining experience and potentially some followers of their own along the way.

Larger brands can also work with micro-influencers if they want to penetrate more localized markets. On the other hand, they may also choose to go with large influencers for campaigns meant to make an impact on a national scale. One Facebook influencer marketing campaign that saw success recently took place at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Facebook and Instagram partnered with athletes—including Stephen Curry, Julian Edelman, and Naomi Osaka—to make them Facebook ambassadors for the World Health Organization. These athletes used their accounts to help share health and safety information directly from the WHO with their millions of followers.

If your brand or business wants to work with athlete Facebook influencers to create promotional content, the Icon Source platform is a great place to make that connection.

Athletes: How to Get Endorsements on Facebook

Influencer marketing is an excellent opportunity not only for brands but also for athletes. Having thousands of followers is certainly a plus (and attractive to larger brands), but athletes with any level of followers can engage in brand endorsement deals.

As mentioned previously, Facebook influencer marketing of all sizes and budgets can provide value to athletes. Especially with NIL for college athletes becoming more prevalent, the opportunity to engage in brand endorsements is worth pursuing for athletes.

Tagging or even messaging brands you want to work with could lead to something…but there are better ways to lock down endorsements and sponsorships. If you’re looking for a more business-savvy approach, the Icon Source platform could be your saving grace.

Our platform merges brands, athletes, and their agents in a single online marketplace where messages can be sent, deals can be made, contracts can be signed, and compensation can be managed. If you’re an athlete looking to dive into the world of Facebook influencer marketing, you’ve come to the right place. Best of all, Icon Source is free for all athletes. All you have to do is sign up.

Get Started TodayWhether you’re an athlete or a brand, Icon Source can help create meaningful connections that make waves in the digital sphere. Facebook influencer marketing, especially with athletes, can be highly beneficial for all parties involved. Sign up today and see how you can elevate your influence.

Drew Butler
You only have control over three things in your life: The thoughts you think The images you visualize The actions you take

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