A report from sports sponsorship outfit hookit shows what some of the biggest social media influencers are achieving for global brands.

Ronaldo thrashes Neymar, Bolt

The report upholds soccer player Christiano Ronaldo as the social media superstar of the sporting world.

Neymar and Usain Bolt both got honourable mentions, but Ronaldo beats them on every metric by a factor of three or four.

Study strategy

Looking at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the world’s 100 highest paid athletes, hookit analysed interactions and tallied video views for posts that included sponsor content.

As reported on Forbes, the resultant metrics include:

·         Average Interactions Per Promoted Post

·         Total Earned Media Value

·         Average Value Per Post.

Interactions and earned media

While Bolt averaged 281K interactions per promoted post, Neymar far outstripped him with 427K. Meanwhile, Ronaldo overshadowed all others, with over 1.1 million interactions for each promoted post.

The total earned media value of Ronaldo’s social accounts verges on a billion dollars. Each sponsored post is estimated to earn media worth over US$1.6 million to his sponsors.

Now influencing

Obviously, not all brands can afford a Ronaldo, but studies like this are a fine reminder of the massive potential of influencer marketing. It’s not the future. It is the present.

In an ideal world, which influencer would you like to have for your brand?

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.