Many athletes don't believe that they can reach the crowd with their campaigns. As a result, they are aiming to get most of their contributions from their small social circle. However, with the right ingredients and the right amount of work, athletes can launch campaigns that gather contributions from the crowd. Below, we've gathered some information to help you do exactly that!
Market Yourself
The amount of work that you put into marketing yourself as an athlete prior to your campaign, will determine how far your campaign will go - how many contributions will come from the crowd. When you market yourself you are sharing your journey with others - inspiring them to reach their own goals. This has merit, people will contribute to you to see you succeed - however, they need to feel a connection to you - to feel that they know you. We've written blogs about how to market your athlete brand on Instagram and also on Twitter.
Marketing yourself as an athlete doesn't have to be complicated but it does have to be consistent.
Here is a very simply post by Leah McCourt, showing her workout. That is all it takes, share your journey on a daily basis and you'll have people following you and supporting you when needed.
Your Story
I can't emphasize how important this is. Your story needs to be impactful, unique, and enticing. You should ask yourself, "what makes my story unique?". There can be a variety of answers but regardless, try to highlight it in your title, story and even video. The campaigns that end up reaching hundreds of thousands are those that have unique stories. The media catches those stories much faster.
Here is an example of a campaign with a really nice story. Christopher George is a judoka from Trinidad and Tobago who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. His story caught the attention of the media after he advertised his campaign on Facebook. Since then contributions to his campaign have been coming from people he doesn't know in his community. Below is a Facebook post by BuzzHub, sharing an interview with Christopher George.
Networking
Sometimes getting your campaign to reach the crowd involves networking - pulling the right connection can make all the difference in your campaign's success. Most athletes try to get contributions from their supporters, however, there are some supporters that can help in different ways - such as getting you published in a newspaper or local magazine. The success of your campaign depends on your ability to network, your connections and your ability to gather a community behind your goals.
Below is an example of MAKEACHAMP athlete Zak Vinter sharing the story about his campaign with the media. Since the interview his campaign sky-rocketed, reaching the crowd.
Reach the Press
Before you reach the press, make sure you have already raised some funds in your campaign. If your campaign reaches the public and it is still at zero % of the desired target it will not the same impact you want it to have. So if your campaign is still at around 30-40% and you've perfected your story and campaign, you can try to reach out to the media. One tool that is great for that is Twitter, you can learn about that here. The other way is simply researching and finding the email of a journalist in your local community. Then you want to send them a quick email such as this :
Hi individuals name,
My name is (Your Name). I am an athlete ____(sport) from ____(location). I enjoyed your article regarding this____(topic of article they wrote). I am currently trying to qualify for _____(story attention grabber). I would love to get your support on sharing my journey with your followers. Here is a link to my campaign (link). If you have any questions or comments please let me know.
Thank you for your time and energy.
Thank you,
Your Name "Email" Your Phone Number
Make sure to also follow the journalist on social media and send them a like, comment, retweet or even a message. You can also follow up on your original email but try to be polite and avoid being irritating.
Conclusion
Running a campaign that reaches the crowd requires preperation and effort. However, it is very possible that every athlete can reach a greater circle of supporters. We recommend, to start marketing yourself as an athlete as soon as you can. Next, when designing your campaign, make sure that your story is unique and creates an impact - the purpose of a campaign is to tell your story. Once that's in place and you networked to rally up your supporters, you can reach out to the media for additional amplification.
If you have any questions regarding reaching the crowd with your MAKEACHAMP campaign please let us know at
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