Olivia Dunne earned more than $500K for one brand deal

Olivia Dunne, an LSU gymnast, social media superstar, and one of the highest-earning college athletes, told the “Full Send Podcast” she received more than $500,000 from a brand for one sponsored social media post. 

Since the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) policy was approved by the NCAA in July of 2021 and with the recent influencer boom, it’s been challenging to find a “source of truth” for how much a brand should pay for partnerships. Rate cards have ranged based on variables such as total followers, athletic performance, social performance, or current mainstream popularity.  

The question keeps coming up here at Blinkfire — whether it’s a brand, agency, or rights holder: What should an athlete or influencer be paid by a brand, so it’s considered fair market value?

While there’s no one fits all solution, we built a pretty solid rate card generator at Blinkire that guides agencies and brands when valuing content. 

How much should an Olivia Dunne post cost?

A rate card is a simple way that Dunne’s agency shows her value to brands and other partners. Abercrombie wants Dunne done for a “Back to School” campaign in September? Here is what she charges per post. Vuori is launching a new workout line and wants Livvy to be the spokesperson? Here is what it would cost.

On the other side of the transaction is the brand. Abercrombie needs to do due diligence and understand what Dunne (or any college athlete, professional athlete, or influencer) is worth. 

Here is where Blinkfire comes in. We know there should be more to a rate card than someone’s total followers. Sure, 1 million followers is great, but if you’re not driving engagement while growing, someone with 50,000 followers might be more valuable for a brand.

Using AI and machine learning, Blinkfire takes past social media performance and predicts the price to charge based on future KPIs and ad rates.  

Blinkfire’s Rate Card: Olivia Dunne

1) What is Olivia Dunne’s social media performance and media value for 2023?

From January 1 through July 7 of this year, Dunne’s follower growth rate increased 28.7% across Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. She’s gained 2.66 million followers and driven 61.9 million engagements, while her overall post valuation sits at $12.67 million. 

2) How should her content be valued?

If Livvy Dunne is looking to partner with a brand, our turnkey solution generates a rate card that includes the timeframe of the partnership, which social channels, partner ROI, and premium factor.  

Timeframe: Some partnerships last a week, others a year. Highlighting the time of a campaign or brand partnership matters because it incorporates social media performance as well.  

Social Channels: Instagram is different from TikTok and TikTok is different from Twitter. As you can see from her social scorecard, Dunne’s followers on each of the three channels varies as does her engagement. Each platform serves a purpose, and a brand may want to only work with Dunne on TikTok. With that in mind, there is an option to break down post value per social network.

Partner ROI: When a brand invests in an athlete or influencer, they have a goal in mind. It could be brand awareness, reach, or purchases. Make no mistake, a brand will want to see that an athlete they partnered with drove more media value than what they paid. That’s where partner ROI comes in. If Abercombie wants to see 3x ROI, they would be pay Dunne.

*Premium Factor: Blinkfire Rate Cards have an option to include a premium factor. This adds extra value to content. In Dunne’s case, because she is one of the most highly sought-after college athletes and influencers, a premium factor could be added on. But, that’s the exception — and not the rule. Sometimes content might be more expensive because it’s posted around a specific event. For example, the Super Bowl could include a premium factor whereas a season-long campaign series might not. 

Output: If Dunne were to partner with Abercrombie for a campaign in August, using a 3x Partner ROI, here is how much she could charge per post on TikTok and Instagram.

TikTok Rate Card

Instagram Rate Card

Dunne’s fame and brand deals will presumably only get bigger. As one of the most famous student-athletes in college, she’s used her platform and popularity to cash in on NIL deals.

Build a rate card with Blinkfire

A social media rate card comes with different layers, but when you have the final product, it should be simple and easy to convey. Here is what I charge because of X, Y, and Z. At Blinkfire, our rate card solution takes the complexities and confusion around media value and simplifies it around the factors and options that matter most. The best part is that there’s room for customization when needed.