The TikTok-ification of Sports Marketing

Design from Front Office Sports

TikTok has completely changed the way we receive and view content. We have become a community of people that enjoy fast and funny videos over grand polished commercials because of the rise of short-form content. For the sports industry, short-form content, specifically through TikTok, has reshaped what sports marketing looks like, from team accounts to brands.

Teams and athletes are now using TikTok to market themselves in funny and down-to-earth ways that show off their personality. By doing this, it allows viewers to feel like they really know the athletes and connect with them. It builds a level of authenticity and realness from the athletes and not transactional messages. One team that does a great job on their TikTok is the Los Angeles Chargers. Their social media team accurately keeps up with the current trends and performs them on the athletes. It is very entertaining to see which athletes know the trends and which don't!

TikTok has also pushed teams and brands to plan and design videos around building a community on the platform instead of simply running ads. For example, Gymshark's feed is filled with workout videos, transformation stories, and clothing highlights that touch viewers emotions because they feel real and relatable. The brand builds their content naturally as if it is simply highlighting and uplifting the people and not necessarily the brand. Gymshark also encourages user-generated content that lets people join in on the brand promotion as well.

TikTok has set a new standard for promotion and fan engagement across all platforms. People are now so much more engaged with brands and have closer ties to them because of the personable and relatable content that the platform thrives off of. I think in the future, sports marketing will continue to lean heavily into trendy content and real-time storytelling promotion. It makes me feel excited about working in the sports industry and getting to see the back-end of these promotions!