What Makes a Strong Athlete Brand? The 5 Pillars You Need to Know

Hello there friends and welcome to another post here on the blog. Today, just like last time, we're talking about athlete branding and storytelling, a huge passion of mine.

Especially now that we're in the NIL era, it's more vital than ever to focus on building a strong brand for yourself. As an athlete, visibility is more important now than ever, but it's not just about posting, is it?

Why does athlete branding matter today?

Now with social media, athletes have a powerful tool to add into their career toolkit. Now you're able to, fairly inexpensively, create a brand for yourself and represent yourself online to millions of people.

With this amount of visibility, a strong brand is more important than ever. Not only does it make you memorable, not just impressive, but it may offer you more opportunities within the NIL world and recruiting.

Here are the core elements every athlete brand should have.

Core Pillar #1 - Identity (Who are you?)

Your identity asks the question, who am I? This can include your values, personality, tone, and even more unique traits you may have like being a quiet leader or disciplined.

The real question here though is, what do you want to be known for beyond your sport? Do you want to encourage people online and inspire them? Or maybe you want to bring the energy in every single post. Whatever you decide, there are so many ways that you can present yourself beyond just the stats.

Here's a simple exercise you can do to reflect on this:

• Write down 3 words that describe you as an athlete

• Reflect on what your teammates say about you

This part is important because who you are affects everything else and sets a foundation for it. Let's move on to the next one!

Core Pillar #2 - Storytelling (Your Journey & Voice)

By telling your story, you're making yourself more relatable, and therefore more followable. People want to know more about you, and posting things without a deeper meaning can seem shallow sometimes in a world of social media fast trends.

Here are some examples of story types you can share as an athlete:

• Why do you play your game?

• Overcoming obstacles

• Daily routines

• Emotions behind performance

• Post-game reflections

Remember that your story doesn't have to be dramatic to bring value, it just has to be true to you. If you want some more storytelling ideas for posting, I wrote a blog post on 3 Storytelling Ideas Athletes Should Post This Fall.

Core Pillar #3 - Consistency (Show Up Regularly)

By showing up consistently, you're slowly building trust with your audience. The reason is because now they know when and where to find your content, which helps with this trust process. However, don't be afraid: posting consistently doesn't mean posting constantly. It means staying present.

Consistency teaches your audience who you are overtime. Think of you being on a date with them. By being consistent during this date, sharing about yourself and engaging with them, you're casually constructing the trust you need to have something more serious.

Here are some tips to help you stay consistent:

• If you're struggling to find ideas of posts to make, you can can try brainstorming your content following weekly content themes

• Create simple post templates that you can follow or edit so you can save more time

• Film mini-moments throughout your day and your routine, this is easy b-roll that you can get effortlessly

Core Pillar #4 - Visual Identity (Your Look & Feel)

When you think of McDonald's, aside from the Big Mac, what do you think about? Does its branding, the bright yellow and red colors, come to mind? The truth is that your visual identity is very important when it comes to branding.

Your visual identity includes the colors you use, the fonts, your editing style, and the vibe behind your content. It's vital that you remember: your content doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be recognizable.

Here are some examples of visual identity choices:

• Black-and-white with neon accents

• Warm edits and close-ups

• Minimalistic and calm

There are some great resources online that you can use to learn more about how to build your visual identity, but I'd say to focus primarily on the colors and possibly having a logo for yourself. These are things that can easily set you apart from other athletes.

Core Pillar #5 - Community (Your Impact & Connection)

A strong brand builds relationships. Not only with those around them in person, but also with their audience. There are some simple ways that you can ensure that you're engaging with your fans and making them feel valuable and informed of those around you as well.

• Reply to comments

• Tag your teammates

• Reshare team content

• Celebrate others' wins

Remember that just like a team sport, your brand grows and succeeds when you contribute, not just post. Social media, as much as we may act otherwise sometimes, does have the social part built into it. Let's act like it. 💜

Some Examples of Strong Athlete Brands

Here are some little examples and descriptions of routes an athlete can take when building their brands online.

• The Routine Athlete: they're known for days-in-the-life, game day rituals, and showcasing moments that share their routines.

• The Storyteller: this athlete loves writing long captions, sharing reflections, and doing videos with a more reflective vibe.

• The Hype Creative: this athlete loves partnering with creative brands, showcasing videos with fast edits, motion graphics, and high energy.

• The Educator: this athlete may want to be a coach one day and therefore uses their platform to share drills, workouts, and lessons from their journey.

These are just some examples and routes one can take.

💬 Comment Below: Would you be interested in a little guide for putting your brand together?

Mini Checklist

So, here's a fun resource that you can use when reflecting on your journey. Check down below to see if you're doing well in our quick brand checklist.

Remember to ask yourself these questions:

• Do I know my top 3 brand traits?

• Do I post consistently?

• Do I share my story beyond highlights?

• Do I show my personality?

• Do I engage with my community?

Now, what?

Wow, you've come so far, thank you for checking out this post. I hope I was pretty clear with stating that a strong brand = identity + clarity + storytelling + consistency + community.

I want to encourage you to pick one of these pillars to work on this week and focus your content on it.

I also want to invite you to follow this blog and sign up for the free resource library we have available to you with a ton of branding resources to help you grow your brand as an athlete. To stay up to date on my personal journey and to get almost-daily athlete branding and storytelling tips, follow me on social media.

Thank you for being here, and don't forget to stay creative!

Sara.