Influencers run the sports media game now. Larger brands will always have their real estate, but audiences are flocking to independent creators who engage, inform, stimulate, and forge strong human connections.
To those looking to break into the sports media industry as independent creators, “influencer” might seem like an untouchable label – one that can’t be attained. While it’s true that the path to becoming an influencer is long and arduous, it’s possible to reach the mountaintop – if you know the keys.
4 Essential Steps to Transform Yourself Into an Influencer in Sports Media
1) Become a Specialist in Your Discipline
Influencers most often start as content creators. And as content creators, they cultivate their own loyal audiences around a topic of interest.
Whatever your topic of interest is – whatever the item of your passion – become a specialist in that discipline. Become a go-to source for information, interaction, and anything of value.
To do so takes time, energy, and painstaking attention to detail, but you need to strive for excellence if you want to separate yourself. And the confidence gained from becoming a specialist will naturally trickle into other parts of your influencer journey.
2) Master the Art of Presentation
Becoming a specialist in your discipline is the first step toward becoming an influencer. But the next category influencers have mastered is the art of presentation. Every post is a story with a value offering, designed to gain and keep a user’s attention, and validate their attention with value.
At every stage of the content creation process, keep presentation in mind. When you apply your hook, how do you draw the user in? How do you promise sequential value and keep them engaged? How do you stimulate the senses with visual aids and audio cues? All of these subcategories matter when presenting on your subject.
3) Build and Shepherd Community Engagement
Once you’ve gained enough influence, you can build and shepherd communities of active users around your content – effectively cultivating an audience of your own, as mentioned above. These audiences crave the human connection that an independent creator can provide, and you can make that connection even stronger by engaging and interacting.
Some social media networks allow for easier interaction than others, but interaction also doesn’t have to be direct. It can come in the form of content considerations and shared journeys. The important part is, the human connection element you provide as an independent content creator increases your influence, both to users and to brands who value volume audiences.
4) Lead the Conversation
Lastly, one of an influencer’s most important qualities is that they lead the conversation, and serve as a guide for topics and trends. Influencers have shown they can steward discussion with their platforms in a way that hasn’t been emulated before. And as conversation leaders, they carry massive weight in the modern social media landscape.
If you want to be an influencer, you must first become a specialist, master presentation, and build communities. Then, from there, you can lead the conversation and maximize your influence. In doing so, you can fulfill your audience’s needs while also earning opportunities to grow and generate revenue.
Playbook
- Become a specialist
- Master presentation
- Build communities
- Lead conversations
