Back to School, Back to Branding: 3 Easy Content Ideas for Student-Athletes This Season

Well, hello there besties!

I know it has been a while but I have some really good content for you today. With the back-to-school season we get new classes and new goals, so I wanted to encourage you to follow through with your content-making goals that you set at the beginning of the year.

It's important to recognize that student-athletes are very busy. I understand. Not only did I work closely with athletes, but some of my best friends were student-athletes and I got to see that their schedule is no joke. With a busy schedule, the last thing you want to worry about is creating complex content because that usually just makes us feel stuck on what to even post.

Here are 3 simple content ideas that actually work - without taking hours.

Behind-the-Scenes of Practice

Fans love having a look at what you day looks like as a student-athlete. Many want to get to where you are and end up looking for content that feeds into their curiosity. By showing a peak into your life and giving them "inside access," you're able to provide a more authentic side of your life.

Some examples of this type of content could be pre-practice warmups, team huddles, or even your walk into the facility. Remember that if you're doing things during practice to communicate with your coach. If your team has a content person, reach out to them and ask if they'd be willing to get some shots of you.

An important reminder is that it doesn't have to be cinematic: even 10 seconds shooting from your phone with a nice background music can already count as content that connects you to your fans.

Game Day Routine

Another type of content that performs really well is showcasing your game day routine. I also understand that game days are very busy and intense, but this is where you can work around and find little moments (even before) that are part of that routine.

Some great reasons for doing this type of content is that it helps you build a more personal connection with your fans and it builds hype around your game. These are reasons you can discuss with your team content creator as well to get them to help you out: it's a means of cross-promotion that can benefit both you and your team.

Some examples of this type of content would be laying your jersey out, tying your shoes, or even some moments of you listening to your hype playlist. If you have a trainer, you can also showcase you getting taped or treated.

My biggest tip is for you to just stack your clips together with an easy editing software (like CapCut or Instagram's built-in editor, Edits).

Student Life Moments

Did you know that NIL and personal branding thrive on relatability? Yes. This means that your fans want to see the student in student-athlete. Some examples could be you walking to class, studying in the library or at a cafe, or even grabbing a drink before class.

This is a great opportunity to add overlay text over your video and talk about balancing both sides of your career.

As someone who works in athlete branding, I've seen so many athletes gain more opportunities simply because they shared about their lives more authentically. I actually even wrote a research paper for Graduate School about this topic too (I'm looking forward to sharing about it soon)!

Why does any of this matter?

As an athlete, social media can be one of the most powerful tools that you can have to add to your career. It's an easy, cost-friendly way to build your own brand and share your story with your fans and possible collaborating brands.

By creating content, you can increase visibility into your story which leads to more opportunities like sponsorships, networking, and connections. These 3 ideas are stepping stones for you to continue showing up consistently online.

This is also a reminder that when it comes to social media, you don't need a full production team because your phone is enough. I want to encourage you to try out these ideas this week and if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments! If you'd like to check it out, I also have a whole post dedicated to 3 Creative Tools that Every Student Creator should get this school year.

Thank you for being here and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!

-Sara.