Influencers vs. Athletes: Part 2
My last article got a lot of traction and went modestly viral in the running community. See what people said about it, and get some more insider information on the whole conversation.
A few months ago I wrote a piece about the state of influencer marketing and professional athlete contracts within running. The blog was a guest post on Matt Trappe’s Matter Of Brand newsletter, and it talked about the continued shift of brands allocating more budget and resources towards sponsoring running influencers instead of professional athletes.
The response I received was palpable. It clearly struck a chord among people within the running industry, but especially pro athletes who felt like I voiced an issue that had personally affected them. Tensions were especially high, since it was the end of the year and contract renewals were on the table. My post got reshared by a lot of professional athletes, including Francesco Puppi and Grayson Murphy who have been outspoken about the issue of brands treating pros like influencers. It was also linked in Mario Fraioli’s Morning Shakeout newsletter apparently, which was pleasant news to hear.
Personally, I received multiple texts and DMs from athletes thanking me for speaking up on the topic, but also asking me how they could market themselves better and understand what brands are looking for. It’s very obvious that professional runners are losing the battle in content creation, so athletes have 2 options right now: 1) let their performances speak for themselves, or 2) find ways to adapt and build their brand. As I explained in my previous article, the responsibility also falls on sponsors to help athletes produce meaningful content.
To clarify, I don’t dislike influencers and I believe they are shaping the sport of running in many positive ways. I ~guess~ you could say I’m an influencer, as I’m an ambassador for two brands (Bandit Running and Raw Nutrition) and I create dedicated content for them. As the running landscape continues to evolve, I think it’s good to reflect on how athletes and influencers are delivering value to the running community. Especially for people who work in sports marketing, because driving growth in business is dependent on how you activate both.
Part 2✌️ of this conversation will cover the following:
What athletes can do to grow their personal brand and create better partnerships
Addressing the entitlement culture within influencer marketing
Positive examples of running influencers delivering value to the community
Brands Don’t Owe Athletes Sponsorships. But They Do Owe Them Transparency.
In my conversation on the Second Nature podcast with Aaron Lutze, he told me how their strategy at Red Bull was to sign athletes and pretty much let them do their thing without providing a ton of direction. The thought process was that Red Bull didn’t want to micromanage their talent and force them to complete a list of deliverables that might be inauthentic to their personal brand. While it provided a lot of freedom for the athlete, it backfired when renewals came up and there was no way to evaluate the ROI of their contract. Consequently, athletes were dropped.
In my career, I’ve experienced both sides of the spectrum. Some athletes want step by step directions for posting on Instagram and a summary of every new product and feature. Others want total creative freedom and don’t really care for brand guidelines or company updates.
The best solution is to meet in the middle. What I’ve learned in sports marketing is that a properly managed contract requires regular communication, transparency on business decisions and strategy, clear expectations on deliverables, and a level of trust and freedom to allow that athlete to be themselves. The most successful athlete partnerships I’ve managed are the ones where there’s a clear plan in place with the athlete and what the brand expects them to do, so there’s no confusion when it comes time to actually do the things outlined in their contract. Seems obvious, but a lot of brands sign athletes without really having an activation strategy in place. When it’s time for renewal, you can determine the success of the partnership, what could be improved, and what’s best moving forward.
Brands don’t owe athletes sponsorships. But if they do sponsor an athlete, they need to communicate their intentions (for example, we want to use you in a major campaign or activate you at this event) and show the athlete how to drive value for the brand. With transparency also comes additional investment. You need to pay for photoshoots, in-person activations, and paid media featuring that athlete. Athletes also need to understand the amount of work that goes into activating them. That’s why collaboration is extremely important. The more an athlete can be proactive, the more likely the brand wants to retain them.
Influencer Marketing Drives Revenue, But There Are 2 Major Issues
I think people love to hate running influencers because it’s easy to judge someone who’s made a career out of doing a hobby. Nothing is particularly special about it, they’ve just found a way to reach a specific audience and they’re very good at marketing themselves. Influencers are scapegoats for how people feel about our ADD-inducing, self-absorbed digital world, but they shouldn’t be. Most of them are making positive contributions to the world via community-building, social connection for niche communities, vulnerability, and inclusivity.
However, there are obvious issues that affect a marketer’s decision-making.
1. The Entitlement Culture Within Influencer Marketing
When I was scouting for YouTubers at COROS, a running and lifestyle influencer was asking for $20k for a 60-second YouTube integration and supplemental Instagram post. She has nearly 700k YouTube subscribers and 171k Instagram followers, so while the number was high, it wasn’t outrageous for what you see in the industry.
The issue was that the talent agency representing her didn’t give me any statistics on her ROI and was difficult to work with. I asked several times if they had a media kit and proof of success with other brands, so I could evaluate potential ROI for our brand. To justify paying that much, I’d have to guarantee we could at least triple the investment through a combination of affiliate sales and measurable traffic to our website within a 90-day window. I also explained that we’d need a testing period to make sure the influencer actually liked the product first, so she could speak authentically on her channels. Her agent was dismissive, never gave me concrete numbers, and ultimately I let them know we wouldn’t be moving forward with a partnership.
This is only one example, but it highlights a major problem within the industry. Many content creators (and the agents representing them) don’t know how to communicate the effectiveness of their channels. They feel that because they have a lot of followers, that justifies their prices. When working with brands, an influencer’s job is to show how they can engage with their community by driving traffic and conversions and impacting the bottom line. Many influencers feel like brands should be paying them to just…have fun? We can sponsor influencers to attend events, make awesome content, and be a spokesperson, but from a business perspective, there has to be tangible outcome. It’s an immediate “no” from me if you charge outrageous prices, but can’t back it up with data.
2. The Influencer Echo Chamber
The reason having a media kit and tangible data is so important when paying an influencer is because likes and followers aren’t always indicative of success. Another creator I worked with was very sweet and pleasant, but her content never performed well despite having 20k followers, a blue check mark, and seemingly a lot of likes. After doing some investigation, I noticed that the only people really commenting on her posts were her boyfriend, mom, sister, and the same 20 or 30 other running influencers who all posted the same kind of content. She must have had some group chat on Instagram with other content creators where they all exchanged likes and comments to boost each other’s engagement.
That’s why it’s super important to look beyond likes, followers, subscribers, and views. There can be an echo chamber within influencer subcultures, and they’re not actually reaching new audiences. When evaluating influencer content, I like to do a little FBI work. I read their comments and I click on the profiles of those comments. I scroll through their list of followers to see if they are real people, not bots from overseas. I google their name to see if they pop up in Reddit threads to get the internet’s real take on things. There is a smart way to sponsor influencers, and it starts with having concrete data to show why your investment in them will generate brand awareness and profit.
Some Of My Favorite Running Influencers Right Now
Max Jolliffe (@woah_max): I went for a run with Max back when I lived in California, and I can confirm he’s the most chill guy who doesn’t actually give a shit about being an influencer. He just happens to be an elite ultramarathoner who stumbled into the sport after getting sober. He’s sponsored by Satisfy and has collaborated with bunch of other smaller, hip running brands.
Shanna Birchett (@motherhood_running): I signed Shanna to COROS as a content creator, and she was one of my favorite people to work with. She was responsive, proactive, and flexible with ideas. She’s a mom of 6 kids under 8 years old (!) and an accomplished marathoner. She truly values speaking to women and moms and inspires them to set goals.
Laura Green (@lauramcgreen): I remember first seeing Laura’s videos because my runner friends and I would share them. She’s also from Boston, which is where I’m from. It is very evident Laura never started her platform to make money and make it about herself. She just wants to make people laugh, highlight pro runners who inspire her, and not take running so seriously.
How Can Runners Build Their Brand To Secure Sponsorships?
A professional runner’s job is to run, first and foremost. Unfortunately, that’s not enough these days, unless you are consistently winning national titles, making teams, or setting records. Runners have to understand that the more value they can provide beyond their performance, the more they’ll get paid.
Do more press and media. Reach out to podcasts, pitch your story to media outlets, offer to write for different publications or newsletters. The more you can network and get your name out there, the better.
Start somewhere with your online channels. Creating your online channels might require some personal financial investment. Whether that’s a personal website, newsletter, YouTube channel, or podcast, you might have to hire someone who knows how to produce and edit. I use this example often, but Sara Vaughn did exactly that and hired a videographer to produce her YouTube channel, and she’s secured sponsorship deals as a result.
Post more, post often. I’ve had instances where I look up an athlete on Instagram, and their last post is from 2 years ago. It’s important to show what you’re doing, whether that’s training, racing, so brands can have a quick snapshot.
Reach out to smaller brands and non-endemic brands. There are so many up-and-coming brands in the run space, and a lot of lifestyle/training brands trying to get into the run space. If Lagoon Sleep can sponsor a bunch of professional runners, maybe they can sponsor you.
Negotiate stipends and bonuses for content and media. I mentioned this in my previous article, but when working with brands, ask for a content stipend to do things like hiring a videographer or paying for photos. Also, ask for media bonuses. One thing I’m very proud of during my time at COROS is implementing an “Earned Media Bonus” in all athlete contracts, which incentivized athletes to talk about COROS in interviews, or have the product show up in a digital media channel. Professional trail runner Hayden Hawks was very good at this. He found numerous opportunities on podcasts to organically talk about his COROS partnership and share his data with journalists and podcast hosts. When published, he’d provide the interview clip or article to me and send me an invoice.
Let your personality show. Don’t be afraid to be different. Talk about your interests, your hobbies. Show your creative side, show how you’re involved with your community. If you live in a Winnebago and post pictures of thongs like Craig Engels, well then do that.
Let The Conversation Continue
What I love about content marketing is that it’s not a stale industry. It’s constantly evolving, and it’s largely driven by trends in media, culture, and digital innovation. I think in 2025 we’re going to see some major, major moves by pro runners, brands, and creators. Think more overlap between the three parties, more fashion collaborations, more pro athletes doing highly produced content, and flashier opportunities for athletes (like Grand Slam).
For me personally, I definitely won’t stop talking about it and finding ways to be creative and stay ahead of the noise.
Gah, thanks for the kind words! I feel like there needs to be a middle man between the athletes and the creators to make it easier on the athletes to grab good content. So they can get back to that whole running thing they are so good at.
Great takes! I’m very hopeful to see some of these big brand sponsors do more to support their professional athletes digital brand building. And wanting them to tag us in to support because we agree it’s a massive miss in the market