Seven Facebook + Instagram athlete summit takeaways

Hi from 25 – 27

In July, Facebook/Instagram hosted their first-ever sports training camp. Last week, the company hosted their first-ever athlete summit. As with the prior event, I’m now going to attempt to recap my biggest takeaways, aside from the fact that this industry is filled with incredibly smart people from whom it’s so ~fun~ to ~learn~ every day!

The best brand you can be is yourself 💯

Hell yes it sounds cliche, but it’s true. Authenticity for athletes on social is paramount — it’s what leads fans to fall in love with an athlete even if they don’t particularly care for the team or sport, it’s what produces connections that actually feel human between fans and the athlete, it’s what builds real, long-term brand value. Authenticity isn’t always easy when balancing outside influences from brand partners, coaches, etc., but it’s what separates the decent social presences from the great.

You have the most exclusive access possible 🤳

Only the athletes themselves know what they’re thinking right after a major win, only they know know what they’re listening to right before a big game, only they have 24/7 access. No media outlet, brand, or production company has anything near that exclusive. Make the most of it.

Your content is a tryout for followers 📲

Just as athletes have to make the cut for the team, they have to make the cut for fans’ social rosters. Why should a fan follow you? What are you giving them? What are you providing that warrants you showing up in their feeds day in and day out? No one wants to follow an athlete if they’re posting shit content. Even if they love watching that athlete perform on the court or field, that may not translate to a love for following the athlete on social. No matter how phenomenal of a player you are, I promise your 10 consecutive #sponsored posts are going to push fans toward that unfollow button .

You now have the potential to be your own 360°offering

Thanks to the evolvement of social and the larger digital landscape, athletes can now be their own media companies, vendors, and more. No longer is there a need to rely on third parties. Athletes can grab their phones and break their own news, release their own episodic content, drop their own merch, directly connect with their own fans, build relationships with their own favorite brands—and the most savvy athletes are doing just that.

The upside is even higher for non-big four athletes 📈

It’s one thing to be a basketball player and have the power of a global, forward-thinking league like the NBA behind you. It’s another thing to be a gymnast, or a swimmer, or a sprinter, and to find a way to build your brand and audience in a way that gives you stability, reach, and a consistent spotlight beyond what even your sport may be able to offer.

Remember to see the forest through the trees 🌲

It’s so easy to get lost in the minutia of every individual post on every individual platform, but there’s a difficult-but-necessary need to take a step back, consider the overarching goals of what you’re trying to build with your platforms, identify the common-thread “whys” behind your storytelling, and to maintain focus on the big picture. What is each “tree” of a post contributing to the overall “forest” of what you’re striving to accomplish via your personal brand?

We still need a higher ratio of industry women front and center 🙃

This is not me throwing shade at FB/IG, but I think it was noticeable enough and thus worth mentioning that, cumulatively, the event’s five panels featured 16 men and five women. I’m not expecting a perfect 50/50 balance, but having more than three times as many men on stage sharing and presenting and leading the conversation is somewhat disappointing. You can’t be what you can’t see, and I’ve seen so many more men than women in the drivers’ seats in this industry since I graduated three years ago that it’s become a heightened sensitivity. There are plenty of badass women, with just as much experience and credibility and ingenuity, out there—let’s get more of them front and center. Diversity in who gets to drive the conversation leads to diversity in perspective and a wider understanding of differing approaches to social and storytelling, and who wouldn’t want that?

I’ll be writing once per week throughout 25 about anything/everything. Let’s get weird. Follow here.