Many college athletes gain fame — and large social-media followings — long before they arrive on campus. The recruiting process and highlight-culture of social media makes the spotlight even bigger for athletes.
But that’s not the case for the majority of athletes, who begin to gain followings beyond friends and family when they arrive on campus and then have the opportunity to build those followings as their playing time increases and their prominence in their sport grows.
Either way, Influencer (INFLCR) founder and CEO Jim Cavale says there is no downside for the student-athlete to build a personal brand by being good on social media.
“If you happen to make it to the pros, it can be worth a lot of money to you,” Cavale says. “But even if you never play one second of professional sports at any level, building a personal brand on social media while in the spotlight of your college-athlete experience can help you for the rest of your life.”
For the athlete, that means using social media responsibly while giving your followers a glimpse of who you are as a person, Cavale says. It’s not just about the competition, but about the journey — practices, training, being with friends and family, etc. That authenticity grows followers.
When he was a star player at Kentucky, Karl-Anthony Towns understood the value of social media, something he has taken with him to the NBA.
“Social media is a great way to interact with fans and grow my business,” says Towns, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I look at social media as a tool to enhance the player that is on the court and off the court as well. I think it’s a great way to start relationships and build them, and also the chance for fans to really feel connected with me.”
ABOUT INFLCR
INFLCR is a SaaS platform for sports team properties to store, track and deliver their content across their influencer network of athletes, coaches, former athletes, media, etc. Each influencer can access their personalized gallery of content on their INFLCR mobile app, which they can use to download and share specific content to their social media platforms, with all influencer user activity tracked back to an INFLCR dashboard for the sports team properties. In its first year, INFLCR has signed and renewed software subscription partnerships with more than 20 college, high school and professional sports team properties, including iconic college sports team brands like the University of Miami Football and the University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball. For more information or to request a demo, visit http://3.80.10.35/
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