NFL's Strategic Partnership with Gen Z Influencers: A Game-Changer for Brand Marketing to Younger Audiences

Published: May 09, 2023

min read

As social media continues to pervade our lives, influencer marketing has emerged as a critical strategy for brands seeking to reach their target audience. In this regard, Gen Z content creators constitute a particularly influential group on social media platforms.

To better connect with younger audiences and bring a youthful energy, current Gen Z content creators have become the key drivers for every business, from the tourism industry to the food and entertainment industries.

And now Gen Z content creators are playing a crucial role in the NFL’s marketing strategy.

To put it in detail, the NFL is broadening its influencer marketing initiatives to reach out to younger audiences, who are shifting away from watching football on television and towards streaming services and social media to keep up with the game. The NFL's recently revamped youth-focused strategy positions content creators as a vital component of the NFL viewing experience.

To promote Sunday Ticket, a package for out-of-market games that launched on April 11th, social media influencers were paid to travel to Kansas City to develop content around the NFL draft to encourage football supporters to sign up ahead of the upcoming season.

Besides, the NFL and YouTube have collaborated to increase younger viewership of the Sunday Ticket.

During the NFL Draft week, the league had over 40 content creators on the ground.

The move was part of the NFL's effort to increase awareness of the Draft and its creators among younger viewers. Instead of focusing merely on the newly drafted players, the NFL intended to commemorate the Draft as a whole by collaborating with partners and content creators across social platforms.

In addition to this, the NFL intends to continue utilising social media Gen Z influencers for future events.

How significant are Gen Z influencers for brands?

Being the first digital-native generation, Gen Z audiences are more tech-savvy consumers. Because they are such discerning consumers, marketing to Gen Z should be in their style, as they will not settle for anything less than the best and have different expectations from brands.

As Gen Z is extremely influential in their social circles, with recommendations from friends and social media influencing a large part of their purchasing decisions, the popularity of Gen Z influencers is only increasing day by day.

Seeing the NFL include Gen Z influencers in their marketing strategy to catch up with younger minds again reinforces this and is nothing less than a lesson for brands and markets to pay attention to these trends.

Here are a few reasons why we believe brands should not ignore Gen Z influencers:

From purchasing clothing to cars, Gen Z has a lot of influence on household spending. Thus, by collaborating with Gen Z influencers who have a significant following on social media platforms, brands can easily reach a larger number of high-value audiences and improve conversions.
Gen Z audiences are more likely to support brands with a higher purpose than profit. On the other hand, Generation Z influencers are known for their transparency. Thus, by showing their brand voice through Gen Z influencers, businesses can easily build trust with consumers in a more authentic and meaningful way.
Because Generation Z is a diverse generation, collaborating with influencers from different cultures and social circles will help businesses bond with a broader range of consumers.
As Gen Z influencers are known for setting new trends with their creativity, brands will be able to catch up with trends easily. Besides, Gen Z influencers can assist marketers in creating marketing campaigns that are likely to resonate with their younger target segments and enhance the engagement rate.
Word-of-mouth marketing is still a powerful tool in this digital age. And most conversations and recommendations are discussed via mobile phones. Thus, by partnering with Gen Z influencers, brands are more likely to spread their value and influence purchase decisions among this mobile-first generation.

In a nutshell, the NFL’s call on including Gen Z influencers in their marketing strategy is indeed a brilliant idea to gain the attention of younger audiences. And we believe it is something all brands should embrace in order to maximize their reach and conversions among Gen Z audiences.

Author

Grace Wang

Grace is an advertising professional who keeps abreast of the latest and greatest in the marketing and advertising space. She is a traditionalist in lifestyle and modernist in her profession. Outside of marketing and advertising, she helps younger generation try and adapt traditional lifestyle for a healthy living.