The real value behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram

A recent report from Business Insider stated that Cristiano Ronaldo makes more from Instagram than he does from his on field earnings, US$47 million to US$34 million, respectively.

That is staggering when you consider the Juventus star is at the peak of his profession, but also serves as a reminder to athletes everywhere of the power of social media.

At Seven League we took a deeper look at Ronaldo’s Instagram over the past 12 months to analyse the performance across his channel and came away with some alarming conclusions. We tracked an entire year from 20th October 2018 to 20th October 2019, then recorded what the post was about and attributed it to one of five categories:

• Family - all things related to his family
• Persona - thoughts, observations and his lifestyle
• Pitch - all things on and about soccer
• Business - things related to his personal business interests
• Sponsored - clear sponsored content by branded partners

We then recorded each individual post engagement (likes, comments), views (if videos) and total number of posts across each category. This is what it looks like.

Figure 1.0 - Cristiano Ronaldo Social Media Summary

As you can see, ‘Personal’ and ‘Family’ trump all content. However, the ‘Pitch’ is the most frequent and rewarded content. Not surprisingly, ‘Business’ and ‘Sponsored’ were loss leaders. Now here’s what we learnt when taking a deep dive into his activity and performance.

Sponsors lack authenticity

Sponsored posts were by far the least engaged of all post categories. On average, sponsored posts generated 45 per cent less average engagement. Of the bottom 50 worst performing posts, 23 were sponsored. Videos containing sponsors delivered on average 8.7 million views, compared to unsponsored videos at 23.5 million views on average, underperforming by 270 per cent in comparison.

The real scoops were the family and personal moments

Posts featuring his family generate on average 7.9 million engagements, 42 per cent above the average, yet account for only 13 per cent of total output. Of the top 30 posts made, 100 per cent were either personal or family related.

The pitch is his playground

Posts containing ‘Pitch' related content represented an impressive 40 per cent of output and generated 39 per cent of total engagement. His persona is deeply tied to his on-field presence; he is clearly celebrated and fans embrace his every move.

Video is hardly worth the effort

On average, video output across his Instagram generated just four per cent above average engagement. Although it can be richer in consumption, it did not seem to have any incremental effect on his overall engagement. He posted a total of 52 videos, quality over quantity would be the best medicine.

My business trumps their business

Similar to the sponsored posts, content which focused on his own business interests (or his girlfriend’s) delivered on average 37 per cent less engagement than the average. Between the ‘sponsored’ and the ‘business’ related posts they delivered the bottom 20 performing posts. However, between the two ‘business’ posts, content featuring genuine business interests, including his ranges of CR7 fragrances, footwear and underwear outperformed all sponsored posts on all areas (six per cent higher output, 19 per cent more likes, 11 per cent more comments)

The best and worst of the paid sponsored posts...

The most successful sponsored posts, out of the partners that had three or more posts over the past year, were those from @nikefootball. Not surprisingly, these posts were rich in production and featured brand stories that centred on the boots improving the ability to play - again ‘Pitch’ performs well. However, the average engagement for these five sponsored posts was 29 per cent lower than the average.

The least successful sponsored posts, with a minimum of three or more, was with telco @meoinstagram. These posts were in long-form video, featured Neymar and Ronaldo playing other sports like table tennis or boxing. The average engagement for these five posts was 68 per cent lower than average. The videos were high quality, long-form, yet lacked any genuine relationship to Ronaldo or each other.

So where is the value?

Although his channel offers a compelling platform to engage a hugely significant and global audience, predominantly young men, for sponsors, the real value can only be realised by studying how best to integrate your brand or product into his personal or family life.

For brands related to the pitch, partners certainly can reap rewards through the halo of his on-field success, yet the hidden value in Ronaldo’s sponsored content is unlocking the fanatical engagement that is seen through his personal life.

Brands which can deliver their core messages, with a dose of authenticity, keenly integrated into his daily life, have the foundations for a successful digital partnership.

About the author: Andrew Collins is the group chief executive of Mailman / Seven League, a global sports digital consultancy and agency. For more, visit www.mailmangroup.com