Landing an athlete endorsement deal is an excellent opportunity for professional athletes. This allows athletes to leverage their popularity and brand to increase their revenue.
So, how can you position yourself to get such deals?
You have worked so hard to become elite and all that work is finally paying off. You are being recognised, loved on and off the pitch for your prowess and personality. Why not become a valuable asset for businesses?
Now is the time to turn your popularity into a source of income. Which can also turn into an opportunity to use free gear and equipment.
How? By marketing yourself and building your brand.
What Is an Athlete Endorsement Deal?
In its most basic form, an athlete endorsement deal is a business contract that empowers a business to leverage an athlete’s name, image, and popularity.
Utilising these elements allows businesses to promote their products and services. It can take many forms, such as advertisements, social media posts, appearances at events, and more.
Endorsement deals are extremely common, especially among high-profile athletes. For the most part, it is a win-win business relationship.
As an athlete, you can use this deal to make money and promote the lifestyle associated with your brand. Businesses, on the other hand, can increase sales and awareness through this deal. They can effectively do this by turning to athletes whose fan bases they believe will care about what they have to offer.
Why Do Businesses Endorse Athletes?
Famous and influential athletes have created a persona or lifestyle that fans either relate to or wish to emulate. Fans take the trust they have in their favourite athlete’s on-field performances and place it on the products or services they see them using or supporting.
It is natural we rely on the people we trust or look up to for information. Businesses endorse athletes to take advantage of this trust and gain access to new markets. An athlete endorsement deal allows these companies to cut through the long and tedious process of building trust with prospects.
For example, a famous athlete endorsing a sports drink could increase the brand’s sales among their fan base. The business might also become more attractive to other athletes in that person’s network.
This means as an athlete, you help improve the product’s reputation among your fans. This improved reputation can increase sales and prove it is safe or effective by linking it to your performances.
That said, as long as you are someone whom businesses consider to be influential, you can start earning money through endorsement deals. Keep in mind that companies will only work with you if they believe an endorsement deal will help them achieve their goals.
So, here’s what you can do to increase your chances of landing an athlete endorsement deal:
1. Build Your Brand
Remember that you are a brand. As a brand, you need to put your story out there in a way that resonates with people to build your following.
Your brand is the public reputation or image that you project to the world. It can be your values, products, services, convictions, or ideas. It’s essentially everything about you that other people know and associate with you.
However, you need to build your brand by telling your story.
Building a strong personal brand will make it easier to attract the attention of companies who see potential in your following. They want their products associated with famous athletes because people look up to them. Tell your story in a way that makes it easy for fans to relate, understand, and care about what you are doing.
You can build your brand by sharing information about yourself through social media channels. You can post about your adventures, interests, and activities regularly- followers will only be interested in following you if they feel connected to you on some level.
Thus, make sure your posts contain valuable content that people will want to read and interact with.
2. Post Frequently About the Brand You Want to Attract
Posting frequent updates about the brand you’re looking to land can help them see how much you use and appreciate their products and services. The more active and engaged your posts are in a product or service, the better. Companies will start to think of you as an ambassador for their brand, so carefully choose what you post and how often you post it when considering which brands to market yourself for.
Also, remember that you should only work towards attracting brands related to your sport because companies want athletes with a following interested in their industry. Otherwise, these companies might think that they need to invest time into building up your fan base before creating an endorsement deal with you.
3. Build a Good Reputation in Your Community
Building a good reputation in your community is key to securing a lucrative athlete endorsement deal.
If companies see that you are actively involved and giving back to your community, you will become more valuable to them.
You can build a strong reputation by making charitable donations, supporting local organisations, and serving as a mentor or role model for younger athletes.
Companies want to work with athletes who positively impact their communities because it gives them access to new markets and means they can spend less time and money on marketing themselves.
When looking for ways to give back in your community, think about finding causes that align with your interests and values so that you feel more engaged when helping out.
4. Make Contact
As long as you’re professional and follow correct procedures, contacting companies is an effective way to secure athlete
endorsement deals.
Start by researching the company you’d like to represent, and look at their current athletes or ambassadors so that you know how to approach them.
Send them a concise and personalised email telling them who you are and how you can help improve their revenue.
Your email should include a short description of yourself and what products or services you are interested in endorsing. Include links to your social media accounts where they can view your posts and followers. Don’t forget to include your contact information.
About Xanda
We are a web design, digital, and sports marketing agency based in London that helps elite athletes build their brand and increase their chances of landing lucrative athlete endorsement deals.
Our team of experts can develop a bespoke digital management strategy tailored to your interests, values, and skills to grow your brand online and attract businesses. Get in touch with us for more information.