Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration

Social media marketing strategies and collegiate athletes in the new NIL era

A new era in collegiate athletics has recently been born, the NIL era. Collegiate athletes are now able to earn money from their name, image, and likeness and participate in sponsored brand deals thanks to new NCAA rule changes. Since this era is still in its infancy, the goal of this study is highlighting initial trends found within the most popular form of NIL deals, social media. Looking at initial trends over the first year and identifying marketing strategies for these athletes provides insights into how marketers see and use these athletes in the advertising space. In order to do this, a list of eight popular collegiate athletes with high NIL earnings was created, and every sponsored Instagram post from each individual account between October 2021 and December 2022 was collected. In total, 223 individual posts met the criteria and, using content analysis, posts were coded into four main social media marketing strategies: social commerce, social content, social monitoring, and social customer relationship management (CRM). In addition to finding the four themes, the study found sub-themes for three of the four marketing strategies. For social commerce, two major sub-themes were found, static vs. active product use. Social content contained three major sub-themes, comedic virality, virality through social messaging, and virality through positive brand awareness. Social CRM had two sub-themes, product collaboration and social collaboration