Athlete Sponsorship Advice

We’ve covered some of these topics before but because it’s such an important aspect of an athletes career, we’re going to expand on a few points on targeting and getting athlete sponsorship.

Social Media Puts The Power In Your Hands

Since we are more likely to make a purchase from a company that we follow on social media, many companies are hungry for social media ambassadors. That’s where athletes come in.

When a company sponsors you, they are expecting you to represent the company publicly on social media. Which means, if you are looking to get sponsored, you need to have the right image on social media. With a little bit of work you can create the image that companies will look for in a sponsored athlete.

Crowdfunding success tips

Create Credibility: 

– Your athletic biography or your story

– Professional athletic pictures

– Collection of all your appearances in the media and press

– Sponsors (to have more credibility)

– Links to your social media channels

Be An Athlete/Public Figure:

1. Create a Facebook Page

2. Create a Twitter Profile

3. Create an Instagram Account

4. Create a Snapchat account

The most successful crowdfunding campaigns in sport

Know Your Value:

Almost every amateur athlete thinks they are not good enough to market themselves on social media OR they don’t want to look arrogant OR they think no one cares about what they do.

Your attributes include being highly competitive. You are determined and passionate. You have exceptional perseverance. You are pushing the limits of human capabilities. Your body is a machine which you’ve spent years training twice a day.

Grow Your Following:

People need to see you train and understand the sacrifices you make to achieve your fullest potential. Sharing online is how you grow your followers and that’s essential to gaining sponsorships. In sum, when it comes to social media and your experience as a highly competitive athlete, think less and share more.

Tips on getting commercial sponsorship

Know What You’re Looking For – 4 Common Levels Of Sponsorship

1. Tier 1: Donation/Contribution – A person or organisation contributes funds to a cause or activity. Essentially, this is a one-way transaction with perhaps a small thank you note going back to the sponsor.

Climb The Ranks

With every successful sponsorship, you will have more opportunities opening up with the same sponsor and also with other sponsors. For example, if you do a Tier 1 sponsorship with your local athletic clothing store, perhaps a supplement company might notice and offer you a Tier 2 sponsorship.

Help The Sponsors

ROI: Now that you have a community of followers on social media, you can show the companies that sponsor you a return on their investment. You can do this simply by adding a picture or video on your social media and tagging the company’s social media or website in that post.

Inspire Their Employees: Corporations will often ask athletes to attend seminars, forums and various corporate events to help connect and motivate their people.

Product Testing: A company that manufactures athletic clothing might ask you to test some of their products — providing them with high-value feedback and observations — before moving to mass production. This can be an important aspect of sponsorship because, for so many companies, opinions and advice from highly accomplished athletes are often hard to come by.

Examples of great crowdfunding campaigns

Find The Right Company

– Local companies that specialise in your sport

– Highly specialised companies in your sport

– Local businesses.

– General athletic companies

– Companies you can help based on your personality or accomplishments

– Companies that you like, even if they are not sports related

– Companies that can help you with specific things, like travel or nutrition providers

The biggest athlete sponsorship deals in sport

Make The Move

1. Email them

2. Message them on social media (via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter DM) and ask for an email address you can use.

3. Referral

4. Corporate Applications

5. Marketing Agencies

6.  Create a PledgeSports fundraiser.

Remember ‘if you don’t ask, you won’t receive’, so don’t be shy!