Rob DiGisi’s discussion on marketing and how it can help build an athlete’s personal brand was a great start to the athlete webinar. Following his remarks, OpenSponsorship’s CEO Ishveen Anand takes over to engage in the topic of social media and how it plays a role in expanding an athlete’s personal brand.
Branding on Social Media
To begin, Anand highlights why athletes should be on social media. It’s so that you can build relationships with your followers, which creates an audience for brands. Although it makes sense that the more followers you have, the more appealing you are to brands, the types of people that follow you are equally important. Who your audience is and your relationship with them is valuable to the brand because if your followers trust your opinions about a brand, it generates more awareness and revenue for them. Therefore, it’s in your best interest to build your social media following so that more brands want to work with you. As Anand states, social media is a “digital avatar of who you are.”
A benefit of social media is that it is very data-driven and easily measurable. You can show brands all the metrics behind each of your posts so that they can see how many people you reach, engagements, demographics, and so on. As previously stated, it’s not just about how many followers you have, but who those followers are. It will help determine if the products and services the brands offer are the right fit for you and your personal brand.
When evaluating your social media, there are a few things you need to consider. First, is it all sponsored content? Brands don’t want to be just “another brand” you post just for some extra cash. They want to feel like you care about their product and actually want to help them. You also need to look at how often you’re engaging with your followers, sharing personal stories and interests, and if your posts feel real and organic. These are all important elements that brands look at to see if you would be the right fit for them. Remember, the best brand partnerships are the ones that feel most authentic to who you are, so your sponsored posts should showcase that. If your followers trust your opinion, they will also trust the brand.
How to Have a Strong Social Media Presence
Although it may seem like a simple task to become more active on social media, resulting in more engagement, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Athletes need to work hard to gain more followers and engage with them. You can do this by integrating personal content with sponsored content. That way, your followers don’t become overwhelmed by the sponsored posts and can feel like they have a connection to you when you post something more personal. It can even be something as simple as your coffee order!
Another way to create a stronger social media presence is by interacting with your audience. You can like or reply to a comment, sharing a fan’s Instagram story of you, and so on. It not only makes the followers feel a part of your life but also shows brands that you have a real connection with your audience.
Sharing your values and interests throughout your social media is a great way to create a larger following. If a brand sees that you are interested in something that they do, they will want to work with you because they know that you may use their product or service throughout your daily life. This makes it easier for brands to come to you rather than you having to pitch why you like the brand.
Going back to what Rob Digisi was discussing, be authentic and consistent. No one wants to work with someone who is a completely different person on social media and in real life. As long as you put yourself out to the world, your audience and brands will want to be a part of your journey as an athlete. Don’t be afraid of being who you really are because there is a brand out there for everyone. Your best partnerships will come from being completely authentic from the start of the brand deal to the very end. So, be sure to keep up with your social media and the success of your personal brand will come.
How OpenSponsorship Can Help
OpenSponsorship is a fantastic tool for athletes to use because it provides access to a variety of brands for them to partner with. Not to mention, it’s so easy to use! We sell the brands for you, making it a smoother process. Our goal is to help an athlete no matter what they are looking to get out of our platform. We have access to a variety of brands from many different industries, so finding one that suits you and your personal brand is not a problem. We can protect your money and your personal brand to ensure that you get the most out of your experience with us and partnership! Feel free to check us out at https://www.opensponsorship.com/.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend the athlete webinar live, watch the recorded version here.