How do you break in? That’s the golden question for countless aspiring content creators looking to at least take the first step toward becoming an influencer. Achieving the status of “influencer” is indeed a lofty goal, but there are a few things you can do right at the start to help your chances.
What are the ways that creators can break into the sports media industry and establish their standing in a competitive field? Here, we lay out some of the key tenets you’ll want to follow.
4 Ways for Creators to Establish Standing in the Sports Media Industry
1) Forge a Strong Brand Image
Want to separate your sports media venture from all the rest? It starts with your brand image. This comprises your branding itself, but also your site, social handles, promotional visuals, and content structure, among other things.
If you’re looking to break into the industry, cultivating an audience of your own through independent creation is the path to prosperity. And to effectively follow that path, you need a strong landing spot for audience members to go to interact with your brand and your content. Your brand image is crucial in forming that.
2) Find a Topic to Own
Working off of your brand image that you create for yourself, you have to find a topic to own for yourself in content creation. This must be a subject that interests you, a subject that you’re passionate about and that allows you to cultivate an audience to develop your brand.
When I was in the sports media realm, my topic to own was the NFL Draft. It was a specialized realm that allowed me to stoke a personal passion while also establishing a presence as a go-to voice in the field. That’s the balance you’ll want to strike.
3) Prioritize Audience-Building Tools
You can create content all night and day, but if you’re not sharing that content where audiences are, or if you’re not effectively marketing it and spurring interaction off of your content, then you won’t see growth from your effort. To truly grow from content creation, you need to prioritize audience-building tools in your sharing and distribution.
We’ve discussed before how to use different social media channels to tap into certain audience types, and video is quickly becoming king over written and other content mediums. Fill those spaces where you can fully interact with your audience and fully engage them with sensory input, personalization, and human connection, and you’ll maximize your outlook.
4) Be Consistent and Accessible
Past the other foundational categories, the most important quality for an aspiring content creator is to be consistent. Inconsistency is one of the most common causes when a content creator fails to break into the space and establish standing. Even if you produce high-quality content, a lack of consistency will prevent you from gaining a foothold.
Now, what consistency means for you depends on where you’re posting. Different social media platforms call for different frequencies, but you should have a steady flow of content to fuel your production and interactions elsewhere. Get into a rhythm, keep a schedule for yourself, and hold yourself accountable. By doing those things alone, you can separate yourself quite a bit.
Playbook
- Forge a strong brand image
- Find a topic to own
- Prioritize audience-building tools
- Be consistent and accessible
