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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

Lead generation strategies have evolved tremendously over the past several years. Today, marketers have an abundance of tools, tactics, and campaign channels available to them to generate high-quality leads for their organization. Employing an effective lead generation strategy is useful for businesses of all sizes, including businesses in the B2C and B2B industries.

Of course, that's easier said than done. The B2B marketing landscape is more competitive than ever and thousands of organizations around the world are utilizing robust lead generation campaigns to attract new customers and prospects. 

However, a sizable chunk of those organizations are relying on outdated lead generation tactics. So now is the time to act! This guide is designed specifically for forward-looking marketers and sales teams looking to get the most out of their lead generation campaigns. 

Important Lead Generation Terms and Definitions

The Marketing Funnel and Lead Generation Process

Marketing Strategies For Generating Leads

Lead generation is defined as the multifaceted process of identifying, attracting, and cultivating potential customers for an organization's products or services. Once a person shows interest in a product or service (i.e., signing up for a newsletter or attending a webinar) that person can be considered a lead.

Lead generation marketing has been around for decades, but the types of activities have changed dramatically in the new age of abundant information. Relying solely on cold calling, emails, and webinars does not make for a successful B2B lead generation program. 

Before we dive into the marketing funnel and specific strategies B2B organizations can implement to generate significant sales, let's cover key lead generation terms and definitions.

Marketing qualified leads are users that have engaged with any number of marketing activities or high-intent product activities. 

For example, completing a lead gen form on your website, engaging with a seasonal campaign or landing page, or registering for an upcoming webinar.

Similar to MQLs, product qualified leads are users that have engaged with any number of activities. 

However, these are specific high-intent product activities. For example, signing up for a free trial, visiting a specific section within the product, or sharing the product with a friend or colleague.

Put simply, an MQL is an individual user, while a marketing qualified account (MQA) is an entire company, made up of multiple users (MQLs). 

B2B and enterprise SaaS companies understand that the more MQLs that exist within a larger MQA, the better the chance they have at company-wide product adoption.

Sales accepted leads are users that have been "accepted" by the sales team to move on from the marketing qualified lead stage into a sales qualifying stage (below). 

At this point, teams are working together to determine whether or not the user or account fits the qualification criteria.

Sales qualified leads are very high-intent users that have been deemed as "qualified" by the sales team. 

These are users (and broader accounts) that the sales team is actively engaging within an attempt to either close or upsell the account.

You can likely see that the above list is essentially a funnel — turning prospects into leads and eventually into customers. We explore the intricacies of the marketing funnel, and the lead generation process, in more detail below.

Effective lead generation starts with a deep understanding of the marketing funnel. Every single piece of content you create or email you send should "funnel" your audience towards eventually converting — i.e., making a purchase.

There are all sorts of terms to describe a business funnel, including this widely-used graphic:

But one of the easiest funnels to understand and implement in B2B businesses is top-of-funnel (TOFU), middle-of-funnel (MOFU), and bottom-of-funnel (BOFU).  

The first stage, top-of-funnel, is all about awareness. Generating awareness is getting as many potential buyers "aware" that your product, service, or solution even exists. It is your organization's very first contact with a potential customer and so it's critical that you make a good first impression.

💡Tip: Learn more about the best practices for raising brand awareness.

Content during the TOFU stage consists of social media campaigns, blog posts, advertising campaigns, podcasts, newsletters, videos, webinars, and so much more. Ideally, the content is compelling enough to generate hundreds, or even hundreds of thousands, of visits to your website or landing page.

🚀 Read more about executing a content marketing strategy, and all the different options for measuring success with 50 content marketing metrics.

A landing page is an entrance a user makes into your website, that is specifically designed to convert leads. Landing pages could be designed as blog articles, product pages, or a page dedicated to an event or contest. 

Users can land on these pages through a variety of means, from SEO to digital ads, but it’s essential that your landing pages deliver on the why or what that made someone click through to your site from Google, an ad, or another article.

The second stage, middle-of-funnel, is focused on nurturing the (thousands of) leads that your business generated at the TOFU stage and turning them into more qualified prospects. Not everyone from the previous stage will want or even need your solution, so part of the MOFU process is actually for filtering those people out of your funnel.

Lead generation techniques in the MOFU stage consist of niche guides and ebooks, webinars, expert interviews, white papers, analyst reports, industry reports, case studies, use cases, and more. 

This is where businesses should begin to target leads based on specific actions. For example, targeting a lead with an email marketing campaign based on their previous webinar attendance.

The third and final stage, bottom-of-funnel, is where the rubber meets the road. It's the stage where your business finally converts interested prospects into paying customers. It's where conversion rates are measured and B2B marketers can truly understand which pieces of their overall strategy are most effective in generating sales. The conversion rates and cost per lead on BoFu campaigns may be higher, but the quality of the lead is also typically better.

No two prospects or leads are the same. Some will convert in a matter of days, while others will take months of lead nurturing. That's why it's important to constantly evaluate every stage of the funnel and understand how it impacts your B2B lead generation process. Where is your team seeing the highest conversion rates? Where are prospects dropping out of the marketing funnel? Which content marketing tactics can be improved along the way?

Even the smallest improvements and tweaks made to your TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU strategy can mean exponential increases in revenue compounded over time.

Tip: In order to track the progression of leads through your marketing funnel, you may want to invest in CRM or lead management software that can help you identify where a lead may be in the buying journey. 

Now that you have a deeper understanding of lead generation concepts, strategies, and funnels, it's time to put that knowledge into action. The following lead generation techniques can and should help to power your future lead gen campaigns.

Importantly, strategies and tactics will differ greatly based on your business type, end goals, and target audience. What works for a B2B manufacturing company will likely not be the same as what works for a B2B wholesale company. 

Customers are more informed, savvier, smarter, and more driven than ever before. So it's essential that your lead gen strategy keeps up!

When it comes to capturing the attention of potential buyers in a message-saturated environment, content marketing becomes paramount as it can be an effective way to introduce your company to new prospects without pushing them away. 

Put simply, content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract, retain, and create action with a clearly defined audience. It's where quality meets optimization.

Advertising and retargeting campaigns are meant to do two important things: attract potential buyers and move those buyers from consideration to purchase. 

Because you can target audiences based on very specific metrics such as website visits or demographics, it means you can align your ads on social media to specific individual interests and actions. In other words, your ads and retargeting strategy should start broad at the top but then focus on very specific outcomes from very specific audiences as you move toward the bottom of the funnel. 

See also: How to use Facebook for lead generation

In order to be able to refine the targeting of your ads (or marketing in general), you may want to leverage social listening tools or consumer insights platforms. By developing a highly targeted advertising strategy, you will likely be able to reduce your cost per lead as the people that seeing your ads may have an interest in your product, follow you on social media, or have visited your website before. 

How social media fits into your lead generation mix depends on your buyer personas and your marketing objectives. But it’s an important channel that you can't ignore no matter how big or small of a role it plays in your overall strategy. 

For example, LinkedIn can be used in combination with software like Meltwater's Consumer & Audience Insights tool to provide organizations with a detailed overview of their audience. Other channels such as Instagram and X can drive more top-of-funnel awareness around your brand.

Email marketing remains one of the most critical and effective lead generation tools at your disposal. However, with great power comes great responsibility. 

Potential buyers are inundated with emails and incoming messages these days. You need to make sure your emails are: 

Don't just send an email to your prospects because you think it's what you should be doing. Create email marketing content that stands out — or don't send anything at all.

A highly underused, but potentially lucrative lead generation strategy is referral marketing. According to data, 74% of consumers identify word of mouth as a critical part of their purchasing decision. 

And a whopping 92% of consumers say they trust recommendations from friends. Word of mouth, or referral marketing, can help streamline your lead gen process. 

Above everything, a successful lead generation program is predicated on sales and marketing teams working together around with a data-driven approach. Every member of the team must have an understanding of the full funnel — from TOFU down to BOFU. 

Without alignment internally, prospects, leads, and potential buyers will become confused about the overall message from your company. This disjointed experience might push them to explore other solutions on the market. 

That being said, there's no better time than now to get started on your lead generation campaigns.

A Marketer's Guide to Lead Generation (New Tips & Strategies)

Twitch — it’s a unique blend of social media, live content, and creators who share a little bit of everything. It’s the platform that’s become the heartbeat of digital entertainment, allowing us to consume content in real time. Its uniqueness makes it a prime candidate for your influencer marketing strategy, and plenty of creators are waiting to partner with you.

Twitch influencers do everything from livestream gaming to creative arts and performances. Together, they’ve created a diverse and dynamic community where brands are built and sales are made. Viewers can engage directly with live streamers, creating an intimate experience that other platforms can’t replicate.

If you’re hoping to get in front of a diverse and highly engaged audience, read on to discover some of the top Twitch influencers and how to partner with them.

Why Twitch Influencers Are Key for Your Brand

A Twitch influencer is someone who has created a strong presence on the Twitch platform. They have a large number of followers who are engaged in their content.

Most importantly, they’ve demonstrated their ability to craft an online persona and build relationships with loyal fans. Followers feel like they’re part of an ongoing narrative rather than just passively following along.

Unlike traditional influencers who might market products through static posts, Twitch influencers turn product mentions into lively discussions during gameplay or chat sessions. Purchase recommendations come wrapped in entertainment rather than advertisements.

From art demos to cooking shows, top Twitch influencers have carved unique niches where they can shine brightly and connect with specific communities.

Tip: Check out our list of the top gaming influencers and learn how to work with them!

Below is a list of some of the top global Twitch influencers, along with their score from our influencer marketing solution, Klear. Our Klear score reflects a combination of audience size, follower growth, engagement rates, and other metrics to help you find the most influential creators to partner with. 

Want to see how Klear can help you discover influencers? Click here and fill out the form for a personalized demo!

Here are five of the top Twitch influencers based on Klear scores.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins: 99 Klear Score

Tyler Blevins, also known as Ninja, is a Twitch influencer, gamer, and YouTuber. He is one of the richest streamers in the world, with an estimated net worth of $25–$40 million.

His gaming style and passion for entertainment have earned him an impressive 18 million followers. Spending hours a day playing Fortnite and Valorant shot him to stardom. While he doesn’t play in the same capacity as he once did, Ninja is still one of the most widely recognized Twitch streamers and video game icons.

Blevins has been playing video games professionally since 2009, starting with Halo 3 and joining gaming teams like Cloud9 and Luminosity Gaming. He set the Twitch.tv record for an individual stream when he collaborated with other superstars Drake, Travis Scott, and JuJu Smith-Schuster. 

He’s equally known for his spiked blue hair, helping him to become a recognizable figure on the Twitch platform. 

Raúl Álvarez Genes, better known as Auronplay, is a Spanish YouTuber and Twitch streamer in the gaming niche. He is the second-most followed player on Twitch, and had a successful YouTube following prior to joining the Twitch platform.

Auronplay is considered one of the OG’s of YouTube, having established his channel in 2006. His name is based on Auron, a character from the video game Final Fantasy X. His most-watched video has amassed 50 million views, and he has since created a second YouTube channel and continues to stream his gaming prowess on Twitch.

Most of his streams center on the popular games Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V. Collectively, he has shared over 1,375 hours of content between these two games.

He’s also dabbled in other games, including Among Us, Fortnite, Rust, and Fall Guys, among others. He’s generated more than $3 million in revenue from Twitch, along with other income from sponsorship deals and merchandise.

With 15.1 million followers on Twitch, Rubius (also known as Rubén Doblas Gundersen) is one of the top Twitch influencers. He’s covered some of the most popular video games in the industry, including Roblox, Fortnite, Cuphead, and Minecraft. 

Going beyond Twitch, Rubuis has built a familiar brand on some of the most popular social media channels, including millions of followers on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. He also has his own anime series, branded merchandise, a documentary on Amazon Prime, and even his own character in a video game.

Rubius grew his passion for gaming starting from his very first console, a Super Nintendo. He later went on to study 3D animation and modeling before committing to full-time content creation.

He now exclusively streams on Twitch, where he averages more than 25,000 viewers per stream and gains about 3K new followers per day.

Spanish sensation Ibai Llanos is a celebrity streamer and eSports commentator who dominates the Twitch platform. He has broken multiple Twitch streaming records, the most recent of which involved a creator boxing event and garnered more than 3.85 million concurrent viewers.

Between Twitch and YouTube, the creator has over 29 million followers. He’s partnered with A-list celebrities like Will Smith to grow his presence and establish himself as a must-follow creator.

What started as providing color commentary on League of Legends for fun has turned into becoming one of the most recognized voices in eSports. He’s been invited to narrate football and basketball games on a national stage, provide voiceovers for the video game FIFA20, organize charity tournaments, and interview sports stars like Lionel Messi.

Canadian-Moroccan Twitch streamer Imane Anys, better known as Pokimane, is one of the most widely recognized female gamers. Her content focuses mostly on League of Legends and Fortnite live streams and makes her one of the most followed female content creators on Twitch.

With 9.3 million Twitch followers, Pokimane started with a $250 PC and years of experience playing Nintendo DS and Game Boy games. In 2017, she joined the Twitch platform and quickly gained nearly half a million followers, placing her in the top 100 most-followed Twitch accounts. 

She has since been named the Best Twitch Streamer of the Year by Shorty Awards and has earned partnerships with Epic Games. In addition to live streaming her game play, she also has a podcast and shares moments from her personal life online.

Twitch streamers with established audiences can make anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per month on their channels. 

However, the highest-paid Twitch streamers earn more, with Ninja raking in $5.42 million in 2023.

Earnings will vary based on audience size, total number of video views, and engagement rate, among other factors. 

There are several ways Twitch influencers can earn money from the platform. This also means there are several ways brands can work with Twitch influencers to promote their products. 

Brand sponsorships and product placements

This variety is good news for brands. You don’t necessarily have to pay an exorbitant fee to work with an influencer on Twitch. You might exchange a product for promotion, for example, or offer to contribute to a tournament sponsorship in exchange for the use of your product during the live stream.

Twitch influencers have become an unexpected powerhouse in the marketing landscape. They uniquely merge entertainment with engagement in a way that traditional advertising struggles to achieve.

These streamers aren’t just playing games or giving demonstrations; they’re building communities. 

Viewers aren’t just watching content; they’re connecting with a personality and joining a conversation.

This level of interaction creates an authentic bond between the influencer and their audience, making any brand partnership feel like a recommendation from a friend rather than a cold advertisement.

Twitch influencers are masters of storytelling. They can weave brand narratives seamlessly into their streams without losing authenticity. The audience can see products in action and get real-time feedback from influencers, helping to showcase products in the best possible light.

Leveraging Twitch influencers also means tapping into diverse demographics you might not reach elsewhere. Gamers span all ages and backgrounds, each with unique interests that these streams can touch on.

Ultimately, it’s a place where brands can grow authentically and foster loyalty beyond simple transactions.

Klear is a comprehensive influencer marketing platform that lets you find, connect with, and work with influencers across all channels. We tap into publicly available data to help you discover top influencers on multiple platforms. 

We show you the data on follower growth, engagement rates, and more, as well as a peek into the content they create so you can make the best choice for your brand partnerships.

Discover your next influencers and brand partners with Klear — learn more when you request a demo by filling out the form below!

Twitch Influencers: Top 5 Twitch Influencers to Work With in 2025

After nearly three exciting weeks of competition and conversation, the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have come to a close. And in keeping with Olympic tradition, this year’s Games gave tens of millions of viewers across the globe lots to celebrate, marvel at, and debate. We analyzed more than 5.8 million posts to get the final word on what really had audiences talking this year.

The following insights come from Meltwater data analyzing worldwide conversations in English and French on Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn (publications reposted on X only), blogs, websites, media, forums, and reviews from July 26 through August 11, 2024. View our full data analysis on our Paris 2024 dashboard.

Basketball Dominated the Global Conversation

By share of voice, engagement actions, and reach, basketball was a clear winner in Olympics media coverage and online conversation. It emerged as the most talked about sport by mentions, generating nearly 194,000 mentions. Those posts also generated over 26 million engagement actions, more than any other individual sport. 

The global Olympics basketball conversation primarily focused on the US men’s team star players LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, and Stephen Curry.

And though the basketball conversation was strong throughout the Olympics, mentions of the sport were highest from August 8 to August 11 thanks to two thrilling pushes to victory. The August 8 surge in basketball conversation was due to the men’s semi final game in which the US team staged a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against Serbia. After recovering from a 17-point deficit to win that game, the team went on to get the gold. Meanwhile, the US women’s team helped boost the basketball conversation to its highest spike August 11 with its exciting win over France. The teams were neck and neck until the US secured the gold by a single point in overtime. 

After basketball, boxing was the second most talked about and engaging sport, with 58% of the conversation focusing on LGBTQI+ issues and 25% focusing on feminism. The conversation was largely driven by posts about boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. Both women faced global harassment and scrutiny over their gender despite having proven their eligibility to compete in women’s sports at the Olympics.  

As shown in the previous section, the global Olympics boxing conversation peaked on August 1, the day after Khelif beat Italian boxer Angela Carini, who abandoned the fight after 46 seconds. The incident sparked a firestorm of discussion about women’s sports, gender identity, sexism, and transphobia that pushed the women’s boxing event into the spotlight. Khelif and Yu-ting went on to win gold in their respective events on August 9 and 10.

Neeraj Chopra and Léon Marchand were the Standout Athletes

Of the 12 athletes to watch, as chosen by the Olympics website, Neeraj Chopra was the most discussed overall, with mentions in more than 87,000 posts. Those mentions spiked on August 8, the day he won silver in the men's javelin throw, becoming the first Indian track and field athlete to win medals at consecutive Olympics. Celebrated former cricket player Sachin Tendulkar praised Chopra in a post that generated more than 963,000 engagement actions and reached an estimated 7.39 million people. 

Meanwhile, French swimmer Léon Marchand, the second most talked about athlete, generated the most engagement actions overall. This was likely due to his historic performance, winning four individual gold medals (including two in one day) and one bronze.

Athletes always command the most attention at the Olympics, for obvious reasons, but Paris 2024 saw an interesting departure. Snoop Dogg emerged as one of the most talked about people at the Olympic Games. 

Compared to our selected athletes, Snoop Dogg generated more engagement and reach than high-profile competitors like Novac Djokovic and Simone Biles. This was due to the fact that the rapper was a fixture throughout the Games. (So much so that speculation spread online about how much he was being paid to be there.) From carrying the torch to attending multiple events, the rapper helped boost viewership and online engagement.

After the opening ceremony, Snoop generated the most buzz on the final day of the Olympics when he performed at the closing ceremony from Los Angeles, his hometown. Audiences will likely see a reprise of his ambassador role when the Summer Olympics takes place there in 2028.

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border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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Nike was by far the most visible sports brand at Paris 2024, generating more engagement actions and mentions than any other. Our analysis of 18 brands found that Nike generated nearly half of all mentions. Adidas was a distant second, despite racking up the highest estimated reach of 51 million. About a fifth of that reach was generated by just one publication, Vogue, which did a series of athlete interviews at the Adidas brand house. 

Split by sports mentions, Nike was primarily discussed in conversations about basketball. As the sponsor of the gold-winning, men’s and women’s US basketball teams, the brand had a huge presence on the medal stands and the world stage. It parlayed those wins into celebratory social content, including an Instagram post highlighting the women’s team’s eight consecutive Olympic wins.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-iMX-9seFz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-iMX-9seFz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-iMX-9seFz/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Nike (@nike)</a></p></div></blockquote>
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That’s just the tip of the iceberg of this year’s Olympics conversation. From further analysis of subtopics, highly engaged content, and geographic distribution, there are many more insights to explore. Check out our Paris 2024 dashboard and dive into the data.

Paris 2024: The data behind what got the world talking

Brands who are familiar with Instagram marketing will no doubt also be familiar with Instagram Stories. 

Instagram Stories popped onto the scene back in August of 2016. The 24-hour content feature quickly picked up, and soon Instagram users surpassed that of Snapchat. As their popularity grew, brands took notice and realized this was an exciting new medium that could be used for marketing and influencer campaigns. By 2019, 1 out of 3 sponsored posts on Instagram was an Instagram Story. 

Since the boom of Snapchat, short-form video marketing has slowly but surely become a fundamental aspect of any truly great social marketing and social media management strategy. And social platforms took notice, introducing their own features that make use of the vertical video and posting format, giving brands more opportunities to create engaging and interactive content. 

Stories are much more than just a tool for video marketing. Let's break it down...

Examples of What Brands Can Post on Instagram Stories

Working With Influencers on Instagram Stories

Instagram has over a billion monthly active users, 86.6% of whom post stories daily. This creates huge potential for brands looking to get their content out to the masses. According to a study conducted by Instagram, 39% of respondents are more interested in a brand/product after watching an Instagram story that features it. In addition, a third of the most-viewed Stories are from businesses. Consumers don’t just look at them either; one in five stories posted by businesses inspire direct messages from viewers. 

This goes to show that Instagram Stories can be a powerful selling tool for brands looking to expand beyond increasing their visibility on the app. 

Stories offer a personal touch, unlike more traditional social content formats. Where a Feed post or a video can feel curated and edited, Stories can offer followers a more off-the-cuff or behind-the-scenes look. 

This authentic, real-life connection makes Stories the ideal format for influencers and brands looking to provide their followers with a humanizing glimpse behind the curtain. We surveyed over 12,000 Stories with an #ad to identify trends and highlight the exciting ways you can use this feature. 

The number of daily active users of Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories and Whatsapp Status all surpassed that of Snapchat by 2019.

Instagram Stories are photos and videos posted on Instagram that disappear after 24 hours. These posts live in the account’s archives after they expire. They may also be hosted on the user's profile page as a Highlight with a customizable thumbnail image. Because of their short lifespan and the added functions within the feature (i.e., stickers, polls, GIFs, etc.), they can come across as more authentic and engaging to viewers. 

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