In a recent post, we shared some advice on how athletes can turn free product deals into long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with brands.

Just as important as athletes finding the right brands to work with, is brands finding athletes who love their products, and will help them meet the objectives that they have set. While that is achievable through short-term partnerships, here are four reasons why long-term marketing partnerships with athletes are even more beneficial:

The Rule of 7

While no two consumers or target demographics are the same, the vast majority of consumers are not going to be influenced to buy products after seeing it marketed just once, and thus, the Rule of 7 was born. The Rule of 7 states that on average, it will take a consumer an average of seven interactions with a brand before a purchase takes place. Factors vary in terms of product, target market, medium, and more, but generally, it is going to take multiple points of engagement to generate purchases. This is why it is worth investing in athletes and influencers to do multiple posts. Keep your brand name fresh in the head of the consumer!

The Value Of Authenticity

Two of the most influential factors that lead consumers to buy products are emotional connection and authenticity. While athletes can certainly vouch for a product or brand with one ad or message, a long-term partnership is far more effective. Repeated endorsements of a brand will not only increase the passion of an athlete towards the product that they’re using, but also increase the likelihood that consumers will accept the opinion of the athlete.

Athlete-Specific Qualities

There is no worse kept secret than the fact that athletes pour themselves into every single thing that they do. As a brand choosing to work with an athlete, you are buying into not only what they accomplish in their respective sport, but the audience that they have built, and who they are as an individual. The greater your commitment to them, the more it will be reciprocated in the marketing of your products.

Performance-Based Metrics

As a brand, you have as much say in your relationship with an athlete as they do, and one of the ways you can assure that the relationship is mutually beneficial is through performance-based incentives for the athlete. The more ways that a brand can get an athlete to post better content on a regular basis, the more effective the deal will be for everyone involved.

Whether your brand is a Fortune 500 company or a one-person start-up, athlete marketing can work for you. All it takes to make it work is finding the right athlete to reach your target market, the right athlete for your product, and the right incentives to facilitate the best content for your brand. At MarketPryce, we have more than 800 athletes actively looking to work with you. Sign up and start working with athletes today!