How can sports managers and agents help promote athletes?

1 Know your audience

Before you pitch your athletes to the media, you need to understand who your target audience is and what they are interested in. Different media outlets have different formats, tones, and preferences for the type of stories they cover. For example, a sports magazine might want a feature story that showcases your athlete's personality, background, and achievements, while a sports radio show might want a quick interview that highlights your athlete's opinions, insights, and predictions. You also need to consider the demographics, interests, and expectations of the media's audience, and tailor your message accordingly. For example, if you are targeting a local newspaper, you might emphasize your athlete's connection to the community, while if you are targeting a national website, you might focus on your athlete's impact on the sport.

2 Build relationships

Promoting your athletes is not a one-time deal, but a long-term process that requires building and maintaining relationships with the media and other influencers. You need to be proactive, responsive, and respectful in your communication with journalists, bloggers, podcasters, and other media professionals. You need to provide them with timely, accurate, and relevant information about your athletes, and follow up with them regularly. You also need to be open to feedback, criticism, and suggestions, and show appreciation for their coverage. By building trust and rapport with the media, you can increase your chances of getting positive exposure for your athletes, and also create opportunities for collaboration, referrals, and endorsements.

3 Create a narrative

One of the most effective ways to promote your athletes is to create a compelling narrative that showcases their unique value proposition. A narrative is a story that connects your athletes' personal and professional journey with their goals, challenges, and achievements. A narrative can help you differentiate your athletes from their competitors, highlight their strengths and skills, and appeal to the emotions and values of your audience. A narrative can also help you generate interest, curiosity, and loyalty among the media and the fans. To create a narrative, you need to identify your athletes' core message, their target market, their key selling points, and their story arc. You also need to use clear, concise, and engaging language, and incorporate anecdotes, quotes, and facts that support your narrative.

5 Seek opportunities

Another way to promote your athletes is to seek and create opportunities that can enhance their profile and reputation. These opportunities can include events, awards, appearances, partnerships, and campaigns that can expose your athletes to new and wider audiences, and showcase their expertise, values, and impact. For example, you can arrange for your athletes to speak at a conference, host a webinar, participate in a charity, endorse a product, or join a campaign that aligns with their brand and goals. To seek opportunities, you need to research and network with relevant organizations, sponsors, and influencers, and pitch your athletes as valuable and credible partners. You also need to negotiate and manage the terms and conditions of the opportunities, and ensure that they benefit your athletes and their image.

6 Evaluate and improve

Finally, you need to evaluate and improve your promotion efforts regularly, and learn from your successes and failures. You need to track and analyze the results and outcomes of your promotion activities, and measure their impact on your athletes' visibility, reputation, and value. You need to use various metrics and indicators, such as media coverage, social media engagement, fan feedback, sponsor satisfaction, and revenue generation, to assess your performance and progress. You also need to identify and address the gaps, challenges, and risks that affect your promotion strategy, and seek feedback and advice from your athletes, the media, and other stakeholders. By evaluating and improving your promotion efforts, you can optimize your effectiveness and efficiency, and achieve your objectives and goals.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?