LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Olivia Dunne aka Livvy, needs no introduction! Being a NIL star, the "golden girl" of sports, and a social media influencer who is one of the most-followed collegiate athletes on social media, and has amassed considerable fame and fan-following, besides numerous deals that bring attention to her LSU gymnastics team.
On Instagram, Dunne has more than 4 million followers, and on TikTok, she has 7.4 million. Moreover, of all 520,000+ athletes out there, Dunne is the biggest. She surpasses Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams and even the championship-winning UConn star Adama Sanogo. But how did she get there? Let's have a closer look at this.
What’s Olivia Dunne's key to success?
Dunne's growth took some time to develop. It didn't always happen naturally either. Dunne worked very hard to get where she is today, and she shows no signs of slowing down. The 20-year-old LSU gymnast spoke with OutKick on the process of building a brand. While in conversation with the portal, she made it abundantly clear that NIL and social media should not come first, understanding audience engagement is crucial, and consistency is the key.
As a student-athlete, Dunne has to focus first on gymnastics and school. Her social media presence is then treated like a business. After extensive planning, it's time to put the strategy into action. Dunne also spends time getting to know her audience. The emphasis is on engagement rather than follower numbers (she seldom ever checks them). If no one is watching your content, it doesn't matter how many people follow your account.
A tweet shared by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit said, "Livvy Dunne, LSU gymnast, NCAA’s highest-earning female athlete, social media sensation, and our newest SI Swim '23 model is officially joining the pages of this year’s issue! Livvy is an absolute inspiration for other female athletes around the world and we couldn’t be more excited to feature her."
She claims that she uses this information to focus in on how she can continue to draw more attention to her profile. She looks at the breakdown of individuals who are engaged with her content and how long they are engaging with it. The number of followers only increases once she attracts users to her page.
When Dunne became comfortable in the uncomfortable
Two years into the NIL period, Dunne has largely narrowed down her content business model at this time. That doesn't mean she isn't always seeking alterations. Additionally, it doesn't imply that it wasn't challenging at first. Authenticity is at the forefront for Dunne, who has learned to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Dunne, also discussed how her child first relied on trial and error. She used to make a list of everything she could write about and kept it on a cycle so she could see where her content resonated with or alienated her audience. But here she is now, nowhere near slowing down.