If you’re running a basketball training business, you should know by now that you need to be on social media. Whether your purpose is to build brand awareness, content marketing or networking,social media gives you the perfect opportunityto reach your athletes all around the worldand expose your brand to the masses.
However, with so many different platforms available and heavy competition on all of them, it can be difficult to set your brand apart and stand out against the competitors on Twitter, Instagram andFacebook, YouTube, etc. If you’re brand new to social media, or even if you’re a few years in,you need to make sure your brand being represented correctlyto attract your ideal audienceonline.
Follow these 9social media branding strategies todevelop andintensifyyour results:
1. Choose The RightPlatforms
If you’re not gaining any traction on some of the social media platforms you’re active on, it may not entirely be your fault. With hundreds of social media networksout there, and new ones launchingevery day, it’s can be difficult to know which ones you should focus in on and double down.Every social network won’t be the right fit for yourbusiness. Your job is to find the networksthat align with your brand’s image, otherwise, you may struggle to make progress. We’re going to go over some successfully examples to help make that choice easier for you. The objective is to be on the platforms where your audience hangs out. Based on our research from 100’s of basketball trainers, the platforms that drive results are Facebook, Twitter, YOUTUBE and INSTAGRAM. (With great the emphasis on YouTube and Instagram.) Marketing on YouTube only can change the trajectory of your business, learn more about YouTube marketing strategies here.
These are the most popular social networks where athletes spend there time, so it’spivotal to set up shop to build your brand’s awareness, market to them andbe found easily.
2. Brand out Every Platform you’reon.
If you opened a local candystore, you would have a Big sign on top of the store front correct?
You would have signs, flyers with sales in the windows, everything you can to catch the attention of the passer by that’s walking by your local grocery store. If you haven’t caught on yet, the same exact rules apply for your business on social media platforms.
Visuals play an important part in basketball trainers social media branding. If each of your profiles looks like they’re owned by a different company, it creates a disconnect for your users. You want your branding to be consistent across all of your social channels. This will help people immediately recognize your company no matter which site or app they’re using. This includes Visitors may be coming by all day long and you don’t have your sign and Call-To-Actions to catch there attention, i.e. (Visually attractive Facebook Cover, Twitter Cover, YouTube Cover). Creating effective, efficient covers can make a huge difference in how your audience perceives your company, but it isn’t the easiest task. You can have your own professional social media covers like the ones shown below created for you, click here to learnmore.
One company that does this very well is Think. Work. Play! Basketballfounded by Lisa Willis. When you look at their company’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles, you’ll notice the consistency in color and design:
Facebook:
Think. Work. Play!
Instagram:
Think. Work. Play!
YouTube:
Think. Work. Play!
Here are some tips to take away from Think. Work. Play’s use of visual branding on social media:
Choose a color palette:Think. Work. Play!uses a consistentred, black and white color schemeacross all social media channels. It doesn’t just stop at the logo. When you look at the posts the company shares, you’ll rarely find visuals that don’t include the color red. The easiest way to develop your color palette is to take a look at your logo. You want to get to a point where people associate those colors with your brand.Keep in mind that different colors can impact the way people perceive your brand.
Use the same logo: You should always be using the samelogofor every social network. The easiest option is to useyour logo or a symbol that represents your company. People should see your logoand immediately associate it with your brand.
Create Covertemplates: If you have a team handling your social media marketing efforts, it can be helpful to createtemplates for any graphics you share on social media. That way, your fonts, colors and designs will always be consistent.
3.Creating Your Style
Your brand’s personality should be reflected in your social media posts. That means developing your style. This is the way your brand communicates in Tweets, Facebook posts and videos. Creatingyour style can take some time, but you’ll settle into it eventually. To find your social media style, consider these three elements:
1. Your company values:What are the values like at your training business? Your valuesare what you stand for, what your company is about and what makes you unique. For example, Impossible’s valuesare all about performing to the highest level and building self confidence in athletes.The use of hashtags like #neverdoubtin social media posts shows that the company’s social media voice is a direct reflection of its values.
A post shared by Micah Lancaster (@trainimpossible) on
2. Speak youraudience: Speaking in a way that your audience connect and relate to is key.That could include using certain language, references and hashtags that are popular with athletes. Pat The Rochas mastered his communication with athletes, staying in tune with what’s popular with his audience (a younger demographic) and creates his social media posts to fit that voice.
When the beat rocks!!??#HandlesOnIce #Aip #OutworkCrew #PatTheRocSkillsAcademy A video posted by @pattheroc on
3. Authenticity: Whatever your social media voice develops into, make sure it’s authentic to your brand. Trying to sound a certain way just to fit in can backfire. Pat The Roc posts resonate with his audience because they’reconsistent and original whichfeels authentic.
4.Build a Posting Routine
There isn’t too many things that willhurt yoursocial media branding efforts more than inconsistentposting. If you’re only Tweeting once every two weeks or upload one new Instagram picture a month, you’re going to be forgotten. Shortened attention spans combined with the amount of trainers and competition in your industryhave made publishingmore important than ever.You might find that you’re able to build more interaction on Instagram and Facebook when you post good content multiple times a week. Always trackand reviewyour social media efforts to see how much progress you’ve made.
5. Connect With Basketball Influencers
When trainerslike Micah Lancaster and Tyler Relph post a new picon Instagram, they geta lot of engagement and interaction. That’s because they’re both established brands with thousandsof followers.
If you’re just starting out or haven’tbuilt upahuge audience, your contentwon’t get the same amount of attention since you’re relatively unknown in comparison.
Or in other words, you’re in what we call Basketball Trainer Obscurity
A great way to achievefaster results and 10Xyour social media branding efforts is to build relationships with basketball influencers. Thisallows you to build off the audience that established people in your industry have already built. The reason this works is because you already have all the skills, all you need is the exposure. So this can be done by joint camps & clinics, collaboration videos, guest blogging, and much more. Whatever your mind can think of, the options are endless. Since the influencer has already earnedthe trust and respect of their audience, combined with the fact that you have the knowledge and skills to do the same, getting a co-sign or mention from them carries a lot of weight and will build your following. Remember,just having a lot of followers doesn’t qualify someone as an influencer. They should also holdquality traits such as Leadership, Expertise, engaging, energetic and authentic. Speed up and capitalize yourmarketing and social branding effortsbybuilding the right relationships.
6. Optimize & MaximizeYour Networks Bio/Profile/Description.
WAYTOO MANYtrainers make the mistake of letting their bio or profile section go to waste on almost all networks, FB, Twitter, IG, YouTube, etc..(We could have created an entire article on this section alone). When you’re in the process of building your brand, letting people know who you are and what your training company does, along with how to connect with you for service is vital. Some of the industry leading training programscan get away with just a hashtag or such in their profile because they’re a well-established company that almost everyone knows. Most trainers/coaches don’t have that luxury, and shouldn’t build that habit.
You want to utilize Every opportunity that you have to capture peoples attention and take a specificaction to connect with you or visit your website to learn about your business. Don’t fill your profile up with motivational quotes or random hashtags (Nothing against either,just save this for your actual posts).
Treat your bio like an elevator pitch. If you had to describe you and/or your business to an athlete or parent in two sentences with a Call-To-Action, what would it be?
Here are a few examples of companies that use their bio sections effectively.
Optimumbasketball
Optimum Basketball starts off with a question, which gets athletes thinking. Follow it up with a solution which is training with themand ends the section with aCall-To-Action for their audience to email them or visit their website. This is an example of how to make the most of the limited characters you have. Very simple and straight to the point.States their objective with the contact information needed to work with them.
Hoops Institute Instagram
Hoops Institute’sprofile outlines exactly whoHoops Institute helps, how they help themand evenoffers a free trial. Look over your profiles and bios across all of your social media channels. Are you making the best use out of them for your company?
7. Promote Your Profiles
One of the biggest strugglesthat a lot of trainers have with social media branding is building initial traction. Getting your first 100fans/followers/subscribers can seem impossible when you don’t even know where or how to start. However, if you’ve been in business for a while or have other Web properties (website, blog or other social media accounts) then you should start there. As simple as it sounds, You have to actively tell your current clients, friends and family that you have a Snapchat or Facebook fan page. If you don’thow will they ever know? Of course this is anobvious tip, but many businesses take a passive approach towait for the results to happen. It simply doesn’t work that way.
Promote your social media profiles whenever and wherever possible. Invite your Facebook friends who want to support your training to like your page and ask them to invite other athletes to like it. Link to your social media channels from your website and cross-promote on your other social media channels. It should all be integrated.
8.10X Engagement.
In the beginning stages, your brand will be unknown. Start building awareness for your brand on social media by engaging and interacting with other users. Reply to Tweets, comment on Facebook and Instagram posts. Build the interaction with athletes. As mentioned in number 3, this is part of Creating Your Style. Let them know you’re real, the more engagement the better.Don’tbe afraid to interact with your audienceon social media. It’ll keep your company in the front of mind when it comes to basketball training.
9.Collect Your Identity
It isn’t great practiceto be active on 7or 8social media sites unless you have a social media team working full time for you. It’s best to choose 2or 3 platforms to focus on, then you can expand as you start to grow. Although, just because you’re only going to be using a few doesn’t mean you shouldn’tsetup profiles on others networks. Secureyour company name (or your name) on every major social media platform,by doing so, this will keep them available to you exclusivelyifyou ever decide to use them. This is also beneficial for SEO. When people Google your Business, there’s a 9 out of 10chance that some of the results on the first page will be from sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. If someone else has claimed the Instagramnamefor your company name and is actively using it, it could confuse your audience when the link shows up on Google.
While we’re on this subject, you want to keep your usernames consistent. You may run into a situation where your company name is taken on a social network. To supplement, create a differentthat you can use across any other social network that doesn’t have your company name available. Having a different username on each networking platform creates inconsistency and confusion which hurts your branding efforts.
Wrapping it All Up!
As basketball trainers, it’s easy to solely focus on getting your clients results for you to stay in business. Which is a must!But take a second to think about the connection between social media and your brand. Properly setting up yoursocial media branding presence will help you connect with your target audience, be more strategic with your how you’re able to bring in new clients with less effort and get better results with your marketing. If you need assistance with getting started with your social media branding, or feel your branding can use some updating, check out our Basketball Trainer’s Social Media Branding package.
