Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be a mega-influencer

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.