How to Develop an Up-and-Coming Pro Athletes Fan Base From Scratch

This article is a guest contribution from sports public relations professional Marissa Eisenbrei

Being an athlete means more than just winning games, it also means becoming a role model and developing a fan base. Some may say this is easy for successful, well-known athletes, but for up-and-coming athletes, increasing engagement can be challenging.

As a public relations professional, I’m pretty savvy when it comes to tactics to increase consumer engagement; However, I was challenged when I began to work with American NASCAR driver Blake Koch.

Koch is relatively new to the NASCAR world so he didn’t have much of a fan base before my work, Leaf Filter, began to sponsor him. Once we did, it was all up hill.

It takes a comprehensive strategy and well executed tactics to build an athletes fan base from scratch - here's how we did it:

Crafting an Athlete Engagement Strategy

Before developing any external tactics, it’s important to first learn your athlete inside and out: their likes, dislikes, passions, hobbies, food, music etc.  This will not only help you develop a positive relationship with your athlete, but it will also help you conclude which tactics will be the best moving forward.

If you want positive engagement with your athlete, you need to set them up for success.

Make sure they have a clean, organized and optimized website. This is especially important for up and coming athletes. One of the first places fans will go is the web.


Creating an 'optimized website' isn't just a fancy phrase without substance. To achieve maximum visibility there are best practices to employ which ensure your athlete website isn't a lonely tree falling in the woods. Our goal is for fans and media to easily discover and engage with the website, and here's how we did it:

• Content – Filling your athlete’s website with up with interesting content, an about page and the schedule of your athlete’s events is a good place to start.


• Pictures – It’s important to break up the content of the website with pictures that captivate what you’re trying to say. There’s nothing more gruesome than endless words with nothing else to look at.


• Blog – Blogging is in. Featuring a blog page on the website is a great way to deliver extensive content to fans that may not be relevant to a specific page on the website.  The blogs can be interviews with the athlete and his or her family or just updates about the events they participate in.


• Contact – You never want to make people feel like your athlete is unreachable. Having a page where fans can contact your athlete will give them a sense of pride.

Developing a Social Media Strategy for Athletes

As the digital age is in its prime, companies and brands are turning towards social platforms to reach their consumers. Athletes are considered brands. Social platforms can be utilized in many ways to increase engagement with your fans.

• Twitter – The quick and easy way to communicate. How can you utilize Twitter to increase your athlete’s engagement? Two words: Twitter Chat. Choose a hashtag (that hasn’t been used before – research first!) and get the word out. A Twitter Chat is a great opportunity for fans to ask questions directly to your athlete. It develops one-on-one relationships and builds brand awareness.


• Facebook – Facebook is another quick and easy way to communicate with fans, except in a more elaborate way. Conversations aren’t limited to 180 characters.


• Instagram – If there’s one thing people love, it’s pictures. Whether they’re personal or business related, photos give people a personal look at what the life your athlete is like. Personal pictures are better because fans will connect with your athlete more.

Give It Away

Contests and giveaways not only give your athlete a chance to reach a broader audience, but you can get your merchandise circulating.

People love free stuff and whether they’re die-hard fans or just know about your athlete, there’s a good chance they’ll participate in your contest/giveaway. Prizes can consist of signed shirts, gear or tickets to your athlete’s event. There are different types of contests and giveaways that can be implemented.

• Twitter Contest – This is probably the easiest type of contest one can participate in. These contest types consist mostly of a trivia question with a specific hashtag.


• Photo/Video Contest – A photo or video contest is a great way for fans to get creative. You can hold a “biggest fan contest” where people can take photos or a video proving they’re the biggest fan of your athlete.


• Drawing – A giveaway can be as easy has having a drawing at your athletes event. Fans can inset their name and at the end of the event, a winner will be chosen.

Not all giveaways are for promotion, some are just the right thing to do. Using the power of an athlete to make a positive impact in the community, not only feels great, but makes great business sense as well.

Fans love knowing that athletes and celebrities give back to help communities. Whether your athlete promotes a scholarship or volunteers in their local community, it’s a great way to engage while doing something that matters.

Final Thought

Of course, tactics can be altered and changed based on the type of athlete you’re representing. No matter what sport your athlete is associated with, there’s nothing more important than support from fans. It’s as equally important for your athlete to engage with them.

Athlete success relies heavily on their support system and who doesn’t love a good, loyal fan base?!