Campaign Summary

PlugSports, aiming to tackle inequality in student-athlete recruitment, created a TikTok influencer campaign. The strategy involved enlisting post-high school athletes to promote the app to high school athletes aged 15-18. By focusing on both male and female athletes and leveraging humor-based content, the campaign significantly exceeded its initial goals, activating 24 influencers, sourcing 26 videos, and generating over 2.5 million views. The initiative not only drove app installs and sign-ups but also positioned PlugSports as a vital tool for aspiring athletes to get noticed in the competitive recruitment landscape.

Strategy

Objective

The primary goal was to drive app installs and sign-ups while keeping costs down. Initial targets included sourcing 14 influencers, 18 videos, and generating 1.4 million views.

Context

This was the first year of the campaign, aiming to establish PlugSports in the competitive sports recruitment space.

Target Audience

The campaign targeted high school athletes aged 15-18 looking to play collegiate sports, with a focus on both male and female athletes to address the gender bias in college recruitment content.

Creative and Media Strategy

The brand leveraged top-performing, humorous content and boosted it via TikTok Spark Ads. TikTok was chosen for its younger demographic and suitability for skit-like content.

Execution/Use of Media

The campaign execution included:

1. Allocating 100 percent of the budget to digital marketing
2. Activating both male and female athletes as influencers
3. Encouraging influencers to create organic-feeling content
4. Re-activating top-performing influencers and amplifying their content through paid media Spark Ads
5. Optimizing content releases based on influencers' unique posting calendars
6. Encouraging the use of royalty-free trending sounds and popular hashtags

Business Impact

The campaign achieved significant results:

• Over 8,500 app installs
• Over 5,400 sign-ups
• A 227 percent increase in click-through-install (CTI) rate
• An 85 percent decrease in cost-per-install (CPI)
• 2.5 million views
• 138,100 engagements

The campaign successfully positioned PlugSports as a disruptive tool in the sports recruitment space:

• Attracted attention from major D1 schools like Gonzaga and Michigan State
• Established PlugSports' presence in the saturated sports technology market
• Resonated strongly with the target audience, as evidenced by positive user comments
• Addressed financial and geographical barriers in the recruiting process

The campaign's success in connecting with high school athletes and positioning PlugSports as an essential tool for recruitment demonstrates the power of targeted influencer marketing in the sports technology sector. By addressing the gender imbalance in recruitment content and leveraging the right platform and content style, PlugSports has set a new standard for reaching and engaging young athletes in the digital age.