7 Easy Tips to Build Your Professional Athlete Brand
Chances are, if you’re an elite athlete, you hold a great deal of interest not only for people connected with your sport, but also to a wide range of stakeholders and businesses that are looking for positive, engaged role models.
As we head ever further into the new digital age and embrace the technological advantages it brings, it’s never been easier as an athlete, to tell your story, mark your mark and boost your professional athlete brand.
Don’t believe me?
If we look at just the Instagram figures alone, for our Western Australian Olympians and Paralympians from Rio 2016 – there is a total following of 182,731 accounts. Each Olympian had an average personal following of 4,416 accounts, whilst our Paralympians had an average following of 786 accounts each and that was after factoring that 21% of our Paralympians weren’t on Instagram at all!!
Even if you’re not at the Olympic/Paralympic level yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t start perfecting your professional athlete brand now.
For some people, developing a strong brand comes naturally. But if you’re unsure, or don’t know where to start, perhaps consider following these simple tips to boost your fledgling steps:
1. Determine what you want to achieve! Whilst this sounds simple, it’s often where athletes make their first mistake. Are you actively trying to attract media and sponsors, or simply keep your friends and family updated on your progress whilst you’re away? Are you going to write blogs, teach skills and offer advice, or do you plan to answer questions from fans, giving them an insight into your athlete journey? Are you posting once a day, or just when you can source free Wi-Fi at your local café? In identifying what your personal brand actually represents, it will act as a calibrator towards determining; how, when and why you post content or engage with followers. You don’t need to be all things, to all people.
2. Be true to your brand tone. If you want to be seen as a role model and positive public figure, then it stands to reason that you present that way. Social media is a doubled edged sword. People have aimlessly posted, liked or shared content that they would never have dreamt of promoting in front of a collective group or audience that actually represents their total social media following (think about the stats listed in the opening!!). It’s a question of consistency. To have a positive brand, you need to regularly promote yourself in a warm, informative and inclusive manner. If 75% of your posts are focussed on being an elite athlete, how relevant are the other 25% to your brand goals? A lively night out with mates might be great fun, but what is the potential benefit/cost to your professional athlete brand from posting a blurry dancefloor selfie? Which leads to the next tip…
3. Strongly consider public/private social media accounts. There are some things in life that are better kept private and there is nothing wrong with that. Many athletes, celebrities and public figures create engaging fan pages or public profiles, whilst also having private personal accounts with appropriate security/privacy settings. The key here is to regularly update your public page with engaging content so that fans/followers are drawn there in the first place. This should embody your athlete brand, in keeping with your goals identified in tip 1. This ensures that you can promote your personal brand and athlete values, whilst still being able to retain close control of your personal relationships and information.
4. Decide which communication methods work best for you! You don’t have to be active across all social media platforms to build a strong personal brand, but if you are comfortable across a wide range of social tools, then that’s fantastic too! They all have their benefits. Snapchat is fun and fast and speaks to young, tech-savvy, connected audiences. Instagram is fabulously visual, which is a perfect fit for elite sport. The platform also allows users to post content to linked accounts which can save time. Facebook offers great flexibility, volume of audience and can connect to useful analytics to measure how your brand is tracking, whilst Twitter is highly popular with media professionals and industry connections and allows you to follow any person or brand, which can help to identify trends and influences. Speaking of which…
5. Develop a range of positive brand influencers. Is there a brand or person you love to follow? Ask yourself, what is it about this account/person that speaks to me? Why do I find it absorbing? The more you delve, the further you’ll find. Don’t pigeonhole yourself to narrow interests and allow yourself to borrow inspiration from other people’s approaches (not to be misconstrued with stealing content or ideas verbatim). Don’t be scared to ask an influencer for help. You’ll be surprised how accommodating people can be, particularly if you’re legitimately appreciating their work!
6. Size isn’t everything! Don’t stress about how many likes or followers you have. A handful of engaged fans can be worth so much more than thousands of marketing/spam/bot accounts. What’s the point of having great things to say, if the right people aren’t hearing them? Be sure to do your research. The insights and data on most platforms make for fantastic learnings. If you discover that particular posts or updating on particular days or at certain times works better? You guessed it, stick to a winning plan! Like anything else, practice makes perfect.
7. Explore content calendars. Time is precious, especially for athletes juggling with work and study. However, a bit of sensible planning can eliminate a lot of the hard work in advance. Think how many photos you have on file. There are numerous uses for old images and videos, not to mention jumping on established trends such as Flashback Fridays or Motivational Mondays. When it comes to content, your imagination is the limit. Most social platforms allow scheduled posts, but even if you’re not ready for that level of engagement, a simple weekly schedule scribbled on paper is a perfectly good entry level way of keeping yourself brand promotion accountable!
I’ll leave you with the famous Chinese Proverb – The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today! So get cracking and who knows what your athlete brand will look like this time next year!?
Got any questions or thoughts? Get in touch via email – cabbott@wais.org.au
Chris Abbott – WAIS Corporate Communications