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INFLUENCER MARKETING
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be a mega-influencer
By our News Team | 2022
Recent analysis of some of Ronaldo’s sponsored Instagram posts show his involvement can boost brand ‘likes’ by many thousands of percent.
He may be 37 and waning in athletic prowess, but soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo – currently playing at the FIFA World Cup for Portugal – remains a superstar when it comes to being a social media influencer.
In November this year, he became the first person on Instagram to exceed half a billion followers – currently he is on 508-million – not counting the more than 100-million followers he also has on Twitter.
Ronaldo (right) during a recent Instagram collaboration with Lionel Messi for the Louis Vuitton brand. Photo credit: Instagram
Given Ronaldo’s enormous pull on Instagram, what can he do to help boost brands? The answer, it seems, is quite a lot.
Recently, influencer marketing platform CreatorIQ did an analysis of his effectiveness. It found that, for example, a collaboration with fellow soccer superstar Lionel Messi on behalf of Louis Vuitton achieved a staggering 41-million ‘likes’. Normally, a Louis Vuitton post (without Ronaldo or Messi) would rack up an average of 80,400 likes.
From 1,100 ‘likes’ to 4,1-million
Similarly, a sponsored post for Therabody, a wellness technology company, boosted Instagram likes from an average of 1,100 likes per post (without Ronaldo) to 4.3-million likes when Ronaldo became involved.
Clear Hair Care, a Unilever brand, enjoyed a meagre average of 334 likes per post on Instagram without the soccer superstar. But when it sprinkled Ronaldo stardust on a post, that figure jumped to 4.1-million likes.
And what would a brand expect to pay for the services of Cristiano as a social media influencer?
According to Hopper HQ, a social media scheduling tool, he charges an average of almost US$2.4-million per sponsored post, well ahead of the likes of Kylie Jenner (one of the Kardashians) at $1,8-million per post and fellow soccer superstar Lionel Messi at $1,78-million per post.
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