The growth of Influencer-led sport, particularly YouTube Boxing, has been undeniable within this generation. For example, seeing KSI’s return to the ring after 3-years accumulate into global streaming network, DAZN’s top 5 most watched boxing events in history. Seeing the meteoric rise of high-prize fighter, Jake Paul strongly establish himself as a pivotal figure of discussion in the combat sports landscape. The appetite for influencer-led sport has been so impressionable that it’s captured the attention of many elite athletes, including Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Lebron James and more!
The core value separating YouTube Boxers from traditional athletes is their ability to optimise their personal brands through content creation. For example, the reason much success has accrued from the influencer-led sports trend is due to the connection the next generation predominantly has with consuming content, which typically links to the formula that has elevated YouTube Boxing to where it is now.
You’ll have the opportunity to view content breakdowns across the YouTube Boxing community, which will cover transferable lessons that athletes from other sports can learn from when growing their own personal brands across digital.
The impact that long-form storytelling can bring to build better engagement with your audience
The value of short-form highlight reels through long-form content
At the start of this documentary, Slim includes a short-highlight reel to capture an engaging narrative with his audience to illustrate his story across YouTube Boxing. This piece of content alone can be transferable across multiple platforms, including being featured as an Instagram reel, story or even a TikTok to further build engagement.
Put cultural sensitivity and authenticity at the heart of your content
The key lesson from this clip is to value cultural sensitivity and remain authentic when producing content that reflects the personality you want your audience and new demographics to recognise you for.
For example, Slim is pursuing a humorous character to remain as authentic to his personality as possible; plus, he’s a devoted Muslim and thought he’d combine the two through this clip.
The more avenues you can show your audience ‘the real you, the better
Don’t underestimate the value of behind-the-scenes content. This is a pivotal phase to help a personality, athlete, or brand better connect with its audience. Point blank, period; regardless of who your target audience is, they’d likely be more engaged in content they haven’t seen before.
Look beyond your own demographic to further expand your personal brand
The key lesson from this clip is to pay attention to other touchpoints beyond your core community. For example, despite Jake Paul being interlinked within the YouTube Boxing community, he’s pivoted into the more traditional combat sports landscape due to his meteoric impact. With Slim including that video, it enhances the legitimacy that adds to his brand.
Keep your audience enticed to continue following you
Keep your audience retained. Towards the end of the documentary, Slim clips teasers of who his next fight could be against. From an athlete-driven marketing perspective, it’s imperative that your audience have something they know they can look forward to remaining enticed to your personal brand and journey.