Impactful Athlete Partnerships: Strategies & Benefits

CREATE IMPACTFUL PARTNERSHIPS WITH ATHLETES PRESENTED BY TACKLE WHAT MATTERS & TACKLE WHAT S NEXT DIVISIONS OF DB CONSULTING FIRM, LLC

WHY ATHLETES? Unique following and audience. Desire and expectation of community impact. Ally in promoting your message.

THE NUMBERS Average Social Media Engagement Combined Access to Fans on Social 4% 2 billion Rate Media 3% 1.5 billion 2% 1 billion 1% 0.5 billion 0% 0 billion PUBLISHERS PROPERTIES ATHLETES PUBLISHERS PROPERTIES ATHLETES SOURCE: https://frntofficesport.com/future-athlete-driven-social-media/ 46% of fans say that following a team/athlete on social media is important to do as a fan.

ATHLETE AMBASSADOR BENEFITS Raise valuable awareness. Open additional opportunities for funding. Earned media in local/national outlets. Athlete appearances at events/initiatives.

HOW CAN YOU ENGAGE ATHLETE PARTNERS SUCCESSFULLY? 1. Know your end goal. 2. Be able to communicate your brand. 3. Find the right fit. 4. Spend time on outreach. 5. Be ready for the on-boarding. 6. Maintain progress and engagement. 7. Show value. 8. Don t be afraid of change.

KNOW YOUR END GOAL What are you trying to accomplish as an organization? Do you need more individual donors? More participation in a program? Looking for more corporate sponsors? Increasing your digital footprint?

BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE YOUR BAND Athletes are constantly bombarded with opportunities to review with their teams. You need to stand out with a clear message, ask and brand to be considered. Know who you are and how you make the world a better place. You need to convince a very busy person that they need to work with you.

FIND THE RIGHT FIT There is such a thing as the WRONG athlete partners! Look for athletes that have an interest in your cause and fit with your brand. Authenticity is key! Will supporting your brand align with the athlete s existing brand and narrative? Have benefits for the athlete!! How can your brand help them grow? Eg. TOMS for an athlete who has a massive shoe collection. Food bank or hunger charity for an athlete chef or foodie It s important to have a database of the athletes on your target list.

SPEND TIME ON OUTREACH Your target list is created! Now what? Have your message ready. Understand the circle of trust around athletes never blindly cold call them! Research their circle, who is their agent? Who is their PR rep? These are your target contacts! Short and sweet is great let your brand do the talking! More details can come once they express interest in getting on a call or meeting.

SPEND TIME ON OUTREACH Tips: Look at social media. Typically an athlete has a PR/Marketing contact email listed on their twitter/Instagram bios. Does the athlete have a foundation? Reach out to those individuals too *IF IT ALIGNS*. Can t find anything on social? Do a google search and go deep. Sometimes you have to find the name of an agent and google them to find their contact.

SPEND TIME ON OUTREACH More Tips: Reaching out in season will be hard for current athletes, unless it is a really big opportunity that makes sense for them to pull time from their super crazy schedules NEVER reach out on game day or after a loss. You will not get a reply and is off- putting. Don t pull focus even from their agents during their day job. Off season outreach is always easier! As you outreach- track your progress!! Keep updating their contacts with notes on recent outreach, marketing opportunities and engagements, so you know who s reached out and what they ve been sent.

BE PREPARED FOR ON-BOARDING Planning is key in this stage. By this point, you should have a concrete list of ways that you want athletes to be involved: Social media engagement. In person programming support and event appearances. PSAs. Fundraising campaigns.

BE PREPARED FOR ON-BOARDING Keep in mind your discussions with the athlete on HOW they want to support and be involved and WHAT they have time to do. If an athlete says they are comfortable with social media support, that s great! Don t push too hard and make them uncomfortable. If an athlete has a busy media schedule, asking them to be at 5 events a year may be tough. Asking them to come out to your premier event each year and supporting through a PSA or shout outing your cause during their media appearances can be a great compromise. This is a two-way street! Make sure you have identified how the relationship benefits them too.

MAINTAINING PROGRESS AND ENGAGEMENT What are you doing to keep the athletes you have engaged? You need to stay in touch on a regular basis with the athletes and their teams in your ambassador program network and make sure they are on the same page. Have one-point person for the athlete and their team to avoid confusion.

MAINTAINING PROGRESS AND ENGAGEMENT Be generous with your support! Shout out your athlete supporters on social media and in your newsletters: Birthdays, weddings, life moments. On or off field/court news or success. Make the athletes you work with feel valued and special- they ll be engaged and excited. Include them in feedback on the programs you do and how things could be improved. Make them feel like they are a part of the team, because they are!

SHOWING VALUE There s no point in working with athletes if you aren t going to show them off to your supporters. You should be constantly communicating the success of your athlete partnerships to your board members, followers, donors, sponsors, AND the athletes themselves. Do they have feedback or ideas on how the athlete can add value? Does one of your corporate sponsors want to engage with that athlete (or vice versa)? Maybe you can create relationships for the athlete that benefit them on the business side too (ie. Endorsements).

SHOWING VALUE Are the athletes listed on your website? Are you posting about them on social? Are you tracking metrics on the programs they are supporting? How much more engagement do you get on a social post about an athlete or including an athlete? Do donations go up after an athlete PSA? Did you raise more money for a program or fundraiser because of the athlete support? Are you putting the data you find together into marketing pieces that can be shared with your supporters? SHOW YOUR VALUE REGULARLY!

DONT BE AFRAID OF CHANGE What do you do if your original plan isn t working? Brainstorm internally. Reach out to board, sponsors, donors and people you serve for feedback. Reach out to the athlete for feedback. Ask for ideas. Be honest and transparent about the issues or lack of progress. Ensure that the athletes and their teams understand your end goal. Make the athletes feel like they are a part of your initiatives. Take advantage of their perspective.

DONT BE AFRAID OF CHANGE Be flexible. Things change at the drop of a hat for pro athletes. Understand that they could be traded, cut, retire or get injured at any time, and that makes their time all the more valuable. Understand that and work with them to make everything run smoothly. Be creative. Understand that there a lot of athlete supported messages out there. Did yours get lost in the crowd? How can you be more authentic and creative?

REMEMBER THESE THREE THINGS 1. Authenticity: your partnership should always be transparent and authentic to your brand as well as the athlete s. 2. Mutual Benefits: the relationship should always be a two way street. 3. Get Creative: have fun and create a partnership that stands out from your competitors and the noise.