Instagram Becoming A Leading Medium To Reach Sports Fans

There are different social media platforms that sports leagues, teams, and players can use to reach different audiences. One of the best and fastest-rising platforms is Instagram, a place that once was a simple way to share photos and now involves many different types of videos or reels. An Instagram feed is filled with photos, […]

There are different social media platforms that sports leagues, teams, and players can use to reach different audiences. One of the best and fastest-rising platforms is Instagram, a place that once was a simple way to share photos and now involves many different types of videos or reels.

An Instagram feed is filled with photos, collections of photos, and different reels curated into a feed based on topics liked and accounts that a user likes that are not followed. If sports fan is looking at Kentucky Derby odds leading into May, they may find more Kentucky Derby content in their feed, regardless of if they follow them or not.

There is also a feed curated solely by who a user follows. But fans can still find different posts through the explore tab, which pops up similar photos and videos and has a search bar for users to find who or what they are looking for.

Naturally, there are a lot of different ways for sports to use Instagram to connect with their fans. Here are a few ways they use the social media platform to do just that.

Peel Back The Curtain

One of the best ways fans can build a connection with coaches and players is to peel back the curtain to who they really are. One of the simplest ways that teams and their marketing staff do this is by having a simple question of the day as players arrive at the arena.

Collecting multiple answers over a half-hour and then being able to cut the video and stitch those answers together will reveal who may be the funniest on the team. Or it could be a series of “favorites” questions targeted at getting to know players based on their favorite things in life.

Media companies are also taking notice and will do a “5 questions with …” video to help get to know a player. Or they may have players interact with one another in a match game or newlywed game style of game show.

Players Take The Reins

But players also take matters into their own hands with their personal Instagram accounts. They often like or have to engage with fans to help create or develop their own brands. It is something that is relatively new and changes each year as different social media platforms emerge.

Instagram has become a melting pot of all the others, though. Want a short-form video like TikTok? Instagram has reels, which can also be longer and tell a deeper story. Want a collection of photos like a Facebook album? Instagram allows up to 10 in a single post, which is great for highlighting charity work on a single day.

Athletes peel back the curtain by showing what their day-to-day life looks like, whether that is what they are doing for breakfast, what their spouse does while they have time together, or if their children are goofballs and steal the show.

Building a personal brand is the best way to quickly grow. Many young adults and kids/teens are on Instagram, so the up-and-coming wave of fans live there. Instagram users are also most likely to be the same or similar age as the players.

Game Day

A game-day media approach is hard to keep track of. There is so much that happens on any given day. Being able to use Instagram to disseminate important information to fans heading to the game is great.

Then there is the mass of pregame content of players getting ready, their arrival attire, the starting lineups, and a whole creative list of preplanned and freelance items. Then once the game starts, there are scoring updates that can be presented in graphic form, and the top highlights are shared as reels.

After the game, being able to post the final score, cut videos from the postgame news conferences, and another fun material after a win is worthwhile.

There really are no limits on how Instagram can be used to connect with fans. Teams and leagues are already highlighting their best content, and the creativity among marketing teams has been unmatched.