What content marketing tips can help you with brand building from UFC298?

UFC298 was an absolute banger and a half this weekend, and there are plenty of learnings to take away from the event, especially from a marketing lens. Whether you’re a fighter, combat sports brand or a fight promotion, there’s lots of value to transfer to your own craft from today’s blog post!

Make the most out of emojis for engaging captions across your X feed

X post from Chamatkar Sandhu

The social media lead at TNT Sports, Chamatkar Sandhu, certainly caught my eye with this X post ahead of UFC298. In the grand scheme of things, there’s not much context to it; it’s literally just a lot of fingers pointing to a hashtag that is overly saturated across the micro of fight fans on the platform. However, it’s eye-catching and transferable to branding and retention purposes for the likes of fighters, brands and promotions.

For example, in last week’s edition of Ash’s Sports Marketing Class, I wrote about how Ilia Topuria utilised a rose as a big part of his self-promotion against Volkanovski. A similar principle could be argued to be applied in this context with regards to raising awareness around a topic.

X/Twitter is a fast-moving platform where users scroll through content quickly and without realising it. Therefore, to optimise your content as a brand getting noticed, it’s imperative to make them as engaging as possible through your available features. Emojis are a great way to do this across social media. Not only do they communicate the context of a piece of content, but they can also contribute to a piece of personal branding.

Cage Titans don’t hold back on the meme marketing!

Instagram carousel from Cage Titans promoting. Alexander Volkanovski at #UFC298

Regional MMA promotion, Cage Titans, made the most of some customised content ahead of #UFC298 in his swanky outfit. It also seems like their content team has featured in their own belt instead of the UFC belt to self-promote their own brand through meme marketing as a part of #UFC298.

Not was the Volkanovski skit a hilarious way to capture casual attention from sports fans, it’s also a memeable moment that can be transferable for other brands to self-promote. If you’re an upcoming or established brand, put your mentality into ‘what have I got to lose?” mode, especially with memes as they’re the most shareable pieces of content across the web.

The value that Cage Titans would’ve gained from this singular piece of content involved the following.

  • A website visit from me to find out who the featherweight champion is under Cage Titans.
  • A comment on both their Instagram and X post promoting that piece of content.
  • Awareness raised about their brand and their featherweight division.

ESPNMMA demonstrate the value of promoting quote-themed graphics on Instagram

Instagram carousel of Merab Dvalishvili shouting ‘Viva Mexico.”

It’s always a sigh of relief when a fighter makes weight ahead of fight night, especially with how mentally straining I imagine it must be. ESPNMMA decided to optimise this moment for Merab through an Instagram Carousel with two pieces of media, one being an opening graphic behaving as a thumbnail followed by a video that will have an unlimited time limit.

The Instagram carousel is the most inclusive form of content format on the platform, so you should consider it for marketing purposes. You could treat the opening graphic as a thumbnail to captivate consumer attention, considering how influential thumbnails are, followed by the core content you want your audience to see.

When uploading a video, it’s simpler to upload a reel. However, there’s a time limit of 1 minute and 30 seconds, and the only way you can view a thumbnail is by hovering over the user’s Instagram grid. On the other hand, you’ll likely gain more traction and visibility from posting an engaging carousel in the format that ESPNMMA have.

Get into a habit of thumbnailing your social handles on your graphics while editing

Instagram post by MMAFighting promoting an X post by Max Holloway reacting to the UFC298 Press Conference

None other than the Best is Blessed seems to agree with the majority about Volk promoting his skit at the press conference for UFC298. However, what stood out to me about this simple Instagram post is, to the naked eye, it might just seem like a simple screenshot of an X post edited into a bigger photo.

However, a transferable skill for fighters to take away to improve their content marketing consists of thumbnailing their social handles as a part of their creative assets. For example, MMAFighting could’ve done this with this media piece, and the consumer would likely be made aware of their other platforms across the ‘marketing sphere’.

Therefore, when it comes to designing a cover photo, a fight poster or anything branding-related yourself, little marketing tactics like this can make a big difference in brand awareness from different angles.

Now that’s a wrap from me, if you feel I’ve missed out anything from the sports marketing fountain this week, I’m keen to know.

How did the fight game engage with the Superbowl last weekend? 

Back with another blog post, and I’m loving it! This weekend saw one of the biggest sporting events take place, the SuperbowLVIII! The San Francisco 49ers didn’t quite cut the Kansas City Chiefs, as the end result was 25-22 in favour of the Chiefs. 

I won’t lie- I don’t know too much about American football. However, I completely understand the scale of the Superbowl from a marketing perspective. Therefore, I’ve written this blog to do what I do best: support fighters, fight brands and promotions by getting their marketing strategies on point.

Specifically, through this blog, I’ll be sharing transferable content marketing tactics that you can take away from other sports to benefit the growth of your brand awareness and engagement.

Right, let’s get into it! 

Create a batch of customised sporting events assets

X post from betr promoting American football player, Patrick Mahomes

Across Jake Paul’s media outlet, Betr, they were consistently active with a lot of live odds betting content regarding the game. The reason is that is what his brand is driven by, encouraging followers and prospective audiences to place odds and engage with the brand. 

However, a marketing lesson the fight game can take away from this is that when it comes to different events with prospective audiences you want to entice, try to maximise branding wherever possible. 

For example, we can see that Betr has created some customised graphics relating to Patrick Mahomes, which could lead to a repost and then an opportunity for them to gain more followers as a result of that. 

Use sports events to drive attention to social causes

X post from Movsar Evloev

17-0 UFC fighter Movsar Evloev has utilised the opportunity to bring more attention and awareness to the issues affecting Israel currently. Based on this X post, it appears he’s criticising those who are more engaged in the Superbowl across the pond, however, he’s spotted this as a macro opportunity to raise awareness about a societal cause at a time when needed. 

For that reason, if you’re a fighter and have your endeavours you want to raise awareness about, take notes from athletes such as Evloev.

Don’t overlook long-term trends, such as behind-the-scenes content

Instagram reel promoted by UFC broadcaster, Megan Olivi

UFC broadcaster, Megan Olivi, created a little highlight reel on her IG feed showcasing her involvement in the Superbowl this weekend. Across the sports industry, there’s always been an appetite for behind-the-scenes content as it’s not something which is always caught on camera. 

Therefore, you can repurpose this theme through various practices, such as 

👉🏾 if you’re a fighter, simply film yourself during instrumental parts of the event. Such as entering the stadium, capturing moments of the game etc. 

👉🏾 if you’re an independent brand, make comparisons to other user-generated content accounts and learn from how they format their content. 

👉🏾 if you represent a promotion, attempt to make culturally sensitive references. E.g. How would Patrick Mahomes fair in a real fight? Etc. 

Take advantage of specific features across different channels

Instagram story of UFC fighter, Alexa Grasso accompanied via a filter through the platform

Despite this having nothing to really do with the Superbowl, UFC flyweight champion, Alexa Grasso, shared this Instagram story where she’s used the template to essentially “photoshop” herself into an ad in a building. 

What’s really innovative about this is you can repurpose it across different channels? For example, share it in the comments of conversations around the Superbowl on X/Twitter.

X thread promoting UFC298

Here’s another example of a specific feature used on Twitter, THREADS! A user-generated content account has utilised the SuperbowlVIII hashtag to grow their own brand awareness for personal leverage while promoting their core theme of content surrounding UFC298.

Now that’s a wrap! Did you find this valuable, and just as importantly, did I miss any other innovative bits of content out? 

What promotional tactics can you adopt from Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria?

This coming weekend, on February 17th, UFC 298 will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The event will be headlined by Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria, who will attempt to take Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski’s featherweight title. What inspired me to write this blog post was how hard Ilia is digging his teeth into promoting himself ahead of this bout. It’s a testament to his self-belief that he can get the job done. Coincidentally, there’s certainly value for fighters, brands and promotions to take away from El Matador’s marketing tactics. Let’s dig in!

Repurpose content from larger media outlets

X post from Ilia Topuria promoting his upcoming fight at UFC 298 with Alexander Volkanovski

Ahead of every main UFC event, the promotion produces an embedded series throughout fight week to optimise the build-up. A few days before, they typically release a premiere on their YouTube channel to summarise the fights. From the media footage above, Topuria has cut out the most influential piece of content from the Premiere and re-posted it across his X feed. It sounds simple enough, but fighters seem to overlook it a lot of the time.

This can generally apply to anything. For example, if you’re a fighter who appears on a podcast, interview, or similar media activity, you can often find free video downloaders. Alternatively, ask the provider if sending the footage over via a WeTransfer link is possible. Then, chop up the most marketable bits of content and share them with your audience.

Treat yourself as a personal brand, not just a social media account

A compilation trailer promoting Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria’s upcoming fight against Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski at UFC 298

Here’s another absolutely awesome content piece put together as a trailer for the Spaniard’s biggest combat sports event. It’s clear as day to be super illustrative, with the voiceover clearly narrating Ilia’s story and commitment to the fight game. However, something that stuck out to me was the rose we see right at the start of the trailer.

To the macro, it may seem like a little gimmick. Although, this is a sign of personal branding. If you scroll through Topuria’s X feed, you’ll notice this rose appears consistently in the majority of his posts alongside his bios across his marketing channels.

As a fighter, brand or promotion, using emojis to represent your brand can pay big dividends in the long term to grow brand identity. For example, from personal experience, there’s a fitness app called Strava, where you can record your exercise activity. There was an occasion when I was simply lying on my bed during the day; I turned over and saw an orange light pop up as a notification, and straight away, I assumed it was from Strava. What this demonstrates is how much of a big deal the likes of colour coding, emoji representation and more contribute to building a brand.

Personal Branding Tip Part 2

X post from Ilia Topuria celebrating his 27th birthday

Quite interesting to see Ilia’s birthday isn’t so far away from mine, and we’re the same age, what a coincidence! However, back to the topic of discussion, despite hashtags not being as influential as they were years ago, they still contribute as a long-term trend, particularly in the fight game.

For example, the UFC add a hashtag for each of its events across its marketing channels; Topuria seems to do the same, particularly with #TeamTopuria in a different range of themed posts.

The impact this will have towards your consumer is similar to the breakdown above, it will contribute to brand identity and can be repurposed towards other outlets.

Be your own biggest self-promoter

Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria’s X cover photo

It’s exactly how the likes of Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, Colby Covington, and many more have elevated themselves into being some of the biggest stars in the fight game. However, relentless self-promotion doesn’t have to be orientated around extreme trash-talk; it can begin with yourself being creative, and this cover photo from Topuria is a great example of this.

The colour red is strongly affiliated with his brand, through the rose he regularly promotes through his posts alongside his colour grading through graphics you’ll see on his Instagram feed. Once again, this doesn’t just help with personal branding, it helps yourself with enjoying the process more.

Now that’s Ash’s Sports Marketing Class dismissed! As always, I hope you found plenty of value from this to help build opportunities for yourself!

What can we learn about re-branding from Volk’s recent MMA Skit?

None other than UFC featherweight champion Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski was featured in a very engaging commercial promoted by Sportsbet.com.au on X for #UFC298. The Great will defend his title against the undefeated Ilia ‘El Matador Topuria’ for the event. I could carry on all day about how unorthodox this piece of content was, from the references, gimmicks, and sneaky verbal trades to Ilia. However, as a sports marketing geek, I’m going to speak about a minute detail: re-branding.

X post of Alexander ‘The Great’ Volkanovski’ promoting his upcoming feature ahead of #UFC298 against Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria

If you pay attention when the video hits 1:39, you notice X is referred to, and Volkanovski responds, “What’s X?” As most of us know, Twitter has rebranded to X now, but from my perspective, many are still referring to it as Twitter.

I made a thread about re-branding towards the end of last week, which you can view below.

X thread produced by AshSportsMedia providing a re-branding marketing breakdown

It’s obvious that when a brand or personality re-brands, it will take time for the macro to get used to it. For example, when referring to a new username, getting used to a new logo etc. However, Twitter isn’t the only platform to experience this; many brands across the fight game have as well, such as BT Sports, experiencing the takeover by TNT Sports; let’s explore.

Practice brand consistency

X post from UFC on TNT Sports promoting. #UFCVegas86

Last weekend, Jack ‘the joker’ Hermansson competed against Joe Pyfer at UFC Vegas 86. Paying meticulous attention to detail, there’s plenty of notes that fighters, brands and promotions can take away when re-branding. Some of these involve consistency in the caption format, with ‘TNT Sports & discovery+ being included alongside the colour codes affiliated with the TNT Sports brand.

X thread from AshSportsMedia promoting Yoel ‘the soldier’ Romero when he was competing under the Professional Fighters League.

Earlier this year, First Round Management representative Abraham Kawa posted a video of Yoel ‘the soldier’ Romero wrapping his gloves under the Professional Fighters League. It’s a big step for any fighter transitioning from another promotion, and Abraham has done a good job at curating this piece of content to communicate that message. Whether you’re an upcoming fighter, brand or a promotion, there are many ways you can transfer this marketing lesson. These involve using assets with strong affiliation to the fight game, such as gum shields, sponsor logos, and different variations of promotional shorts alongside branded video formats.

Consistency with branding and captions

Screenshot of an X post from AshSportsMedia sharing a carousel of posts from X account, Hitman Promotions.
Screenshot of an X post from AshSportsMedia sharing a carousel of posts from X account, Hitman Promotions.

Crossover Boxer, Slim ‘the hitman’ Albaher, has recently started his own fight promotion, Hitman Promotions. Each of the graphics promoting different themes of content follow the same brand tone. What I mean by this is from a colour grading, caption, tone-of-voice and industrial perspective. The impact this has on the consumer is noticing that the moment they see a colour code of black and white over time, they’ll begin to notice it’s a Hitman Promotions posts via muscle memory.

Ash’s Sports Marketing class is now dismissed, by all means if you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch for a chat.

How can this benefit my brand?

Happy New Year, fight game enthusiasts! I hope we’ve had a festive season and valued time with loved ones! It’s Friday, so it’s time for the year’s first edition of How Can This Benefit My Brand. 👇🏾

SPORTbible leads by example to optimise blog posts on X

X post from SPORTBible

Considering many brands and personalities still getting used to the adaptations being made on X, promoting blog posts has been a big topic of discussion. 📝

Typically, in this era of sports journalism, clickbait headlines are a strong theme for encouraging consumers to click through to external content across the web. On X, this can be optimised through an engaging post, followed by a thread following the link to where you want your potential consumer to follow through. 💡

To repurpose this on other channels, you can create a reel on IG/TikTok and communicate with others by clicking the link in your bio. Alternatively, create an IG carousel/thread on IG or X summarising the key points of the content and then feed through the external traffic at the end of the blog. 🧵

MMA short-form documentary creator gives us a lesson in YouTube marketing

YouTube video by Patrick Gavia

Patrick Gavia creates MMA short-form documentaries, and his most recent upload about Khamzat ‘Borz’ Chimaev caught my eye for multiple reasons. Not only was it engaging, insightful and thrilling, but from a marketing perspective, there were many tick boxes that Patrick completed 👇🏾✅

First off is the thumbnail. As I’ve spoken about a lot, the thumbnail on a YouTube video plays a big part in whether a consumer will consume or continue scrolling. Regarding each of Patrick’s YouTube videos, what stands out to me is the colour consistency, illustrations and messaging, which makes it clear as day what exactly the video is all about ✅

Secondly, the optimisation of user experience is important. The video’s description is a set of timestamps throughout the duration of the content. Timestamps are a super cool way to allow consumers where exactly they can find bits of content they’re most interested in, particularly during long-form content 💪🏾

This then helps with audience retention and viewership duration 📹

Following little tips and tricks like this will help improve YouTube SEO and visibility simply by making your content as comprehensive as possible 💡

Cage Titans superstar Joe ‘Skelator’ Giannetti’ creates an awesome IG reel

Instagram reel by Joe Giannetti

As it is the end of the year and the start of 2024, the majority of creators will be following the trends of wrapped-up reels and content summarising how their years went. 🌟

That’s been the long-term game of social media. Follow the trends. However, something that stood out to me about this reel from Joe was the hashtag he included in the caption. 👀

This caught my eye because it’s a great transferable content tactic to practice when creating a community. This can be repurposed through various avenues when growing your personal brand, such as merchandise, fight promotion and much more. 

Now that’s a wrap! Did I miss anything out 🤔

How can this benefit my brand?

On this week’s combat sports marketing blog post, we dig into optimising pinned posts on X, raising awareness of other channels through reels, methods to engage your community despite what channel you’re on, and superb tactics to maximise YouTube marketing.

Take notes from Joe Joe Giannetti about optimising pin posts on X

Cage Titan’s superstar, Joe Joe Giannetti, caught my eye while scrolling through my X feed, and I am super impressed with how he’s marketed his pinned post. 

When you’re a fighter, it’s essential to clarify your intentions as you’re trying to become a superstar. Plus, he’s taken the time to pay meticulous attention to detail in content creation. As a fighter, it’s key to showcase your passion AWAY from the cage when engaging with your audience. 

Sports fans, in general, are interested in the entertainment factor rather than just the fighting, and that’s exactly what Joe Joe’s pinned post illustrates. 👏🏾

Where’s the value in recognising user-generated content?

None other than UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov featured in a collaborative Instagram reel this week via espnmma & SportsCenter due to himself missing his sister’s wedding due to the undefeated welterweight competing at UFC296 against Stephen Thompson. 

This reel showcased a clip captured via a user-generated content account dedicated to the 17-0 fighter, which appears to be identified on X. 

From a marketing perspective, this is a good move for brands, fighters and marketers to raise awareness via a single post to make your audience notice other channels you’re present on, meaning they’re more likely to give you a follow or engagement, which can only benefit your brand.

Casuals Corner once again gets the TikTok game spot on!

@will.casuals

Leon Edwards went in goal for Soccer Aid. Rate out of 10.

♬ 街舞律动 – 陈别林

There are so many tick boxes that Casuals Corner has been able to tick through this single post; here are what they are 👇🏾

✔️ the timing of UFC296 and creating content dedicated to Leon Edwards

✔️ discussing about Leon outside of his niche (away from MMA)

✔️ consistent engagement in the comments section

The main focus I’d like to highlight is the consistency that Casuals Corner practices in engaging each consumer who watches their content. This is an important habit for fighters, brands, and marketers to get into when establishing a community via social media, as it helps with loyal supporters of your brand, which can pay long-term dividends.

What can we learn about optimising YouTube marketing from Mighty Mouse? 

Screenshot of Might Mouse’s YouTube channel; click here to visit it: https://www.youtube.com/@MightyGamingX

The moment you visit Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube account dedicated to his passion for gaming, as a marketer, there are so many learning points as to how you can optimise your content marketing; here is what they are 👇🏾

It’s a super engaging cover photo. Long story short, first appearances count. He and his content team have nailed this to a tee; it has his YouTube account title and the branding colours for recognition. 

A comprehensive YouTube description. When clicking on it, it tells you what the channel entails and links to his other marketing channels, which helps to build up external traffic and brand awareness alongside his location, which can help with cultural visibility purposes 💡

That’s it from me; if you found this valuable and want help to build your brand, contact me through X or Instagram via Ash Sports Media.

How can this benefit my brand?

On this week’s edition of How Can This Benefit My Brand, you’ll be locked into the following pieces of value 👇🏾

👉🏾 How to optimise storytelling on TikTok

👉🏾 Ways to maximise YouTube SEO

👉🏾 Improving accessibility through IG reels

👉🏾 The true value behind user-generated content on X

Now that’s how you tell a story on TikTok

@casualscorner_

This is the story of Francis Ngannou from the beginning till now.

♬ Very Sad – Enchan
TikTok video by Casuals Corner MMA illustrating the story of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou

Casuals Corner MMA has produced this phenomenal TikTok illustrating Francis Ngannou’s journey to combat sports stardom 🌟

I must say, I got quite emotional with Will narrating this from an emotional perspective, but I get exactly what made this tick; the following involves 👇🏾

🌟A smooth and peaceful audio to get the audience engaged in the tone of the video

🌟a transition of images illustrating the journey of Francis’ legacy accompanied by a voiceover 

🌟a caption that doesn’t heavily involve many characters and encourages people to listen

🌟 responding to as many comments as possible to optimise the TikTok algorithm to help the content crawl to the top of social feeds

What’s even more powerful about this story is that it’s so easy to produce; that’s the great thing about TikTok. Will literally took his probably on his phone, accompanied by a compilation of images and a script 🔥

Demitrious Johnson leads by example on how to optimise YouTube SEO

X thread by @Ashsportsmedia illustrating a marketing analysis of Mighty Mouse’s YouTube marketing tactics

For any fighters/brands looking to optimise their YouTube channels, I can strongly recommend using @MightyMouse as a prime example from a brand marketing perspective 🌟

Here is why 👇🏾

🌟CONSISTENTLY BRANDED THUMBNAILS 

As you can see with each of his YouTube uploads, he has a consistent style with how his thumbnails are presented; this can be a deal breaker with regards to someone clicking through to watch a video or not 👀

🌟OPTIMISING YOUTUBE SEO VIA THE DESCRIPTION SECTION 

Mighty Mouse has a lot of tick boxes here which optimise visibility, SEO and referral traffic to other parts of his brand; this involves the following 👇🏾

👉🏾 3 hashtags relating to the subject of the video

👉🏾 a summary of the video in a few sentences

👉🏾 links to his social media channels alongside sponsorship leads he’s affiliated to

👉🏾 further hashtags that are linked to his brand

If these tactics are followed consistently, then this will pay big dividends towards growing your brand on YouTube 💡

I appreciate how much time this takes; however, I’m here to help. 😁

Thefashionjogger demonstrates how to optimise Instagram Reels

Instagram reel by @thefashionjogger A.K.A Lisa Migliorini running in the streets of New York

As a fitness influencer, the fashionjogger, also known as Lisa Migliorini, has got her Instagram game on point from a marketing perspective 🌟

This reel in itself is an example; Lisa is an Italian long-distance runner who has uploaded a reel which literally lasts for a few seconds of herself running through the streets of New York accompanied by the one and only Jay Z ft. Beyonce’s- Empire State of Mind track, which is essentially the national anthem of the state 🇺🇸

Adding to this, something that particularly stood out to me was how she had two captions in two different languages 🇬🇧🇮🇹

As she’s originally from 🇮🇹, she’ll have an Italian audience following her content and has decided to make this culturally sensitive towards them. 

From a social media marketing perspective, social media algorithms appreciate accessibility with regard to content production. What this means is the more inclusive and accessible your content is for different audiences, the more likely it is for it to get ranked higher on your desired audiences’ feeds when scrolling 📲

X is where it’s at for user-generated content

X post by MMA Orbit promoting fan art ahead of UFC295

This has been a theme I’ve noticed for a very long time on X! It’s driven via user-generated content. For combat sports, in particular, fan art is becoming increasingly popular. 🎨

By endorsing user-generated content as a fighter or a brand, you’re well on your way to building a community more likely to engage in your content. This can be transferred through various avenues, such as reactively replying to comments, pinning your favourite comments from fans on occasion, offering a creative challenge to your audience before an event, etc. 

Now that’s enough from me, feel free to give me any other insights to content I may have missed out on 😁

How can this benefit my brand?

In this week’s edition of how this can benefit my brand, I’m here to provide you with the following insights 👇🏾

👉🏾 meeting the needs of the Instagram algorithm 

👉🏾 Mistakes to avoid on X to optimise reach

👉🏾 How to optimise the features on TikTok to grow your brand 

👉🏾 How to utilise efficient ways to maximise your brand on YouTube 

Now that’s how you match the needs of IGs algorithm 

Collaborative Instagram post by the tntsportsufc & tntsports Instagram accounts

Ahead of #UFC294, TNT Sports decided to get some of their finest journalists and reporters to do a fun challenge with regards to getting their audience to pick their favourite attributes of fighters 🌟

What this does from a fan engagement perspective is encourage comments fans to send the content pieces to their friends to share their opinions/thoughts alongside it being an advocational avenue to promoting fighters 💡

Plus, this can also be repurposed across other social channels, such as creating a TikTok challenge, X thread etc. 

Therefore, if you’re a fan-generated content account, utilise tactics like this to grow your brand identity. ✅

Mistakes to avoid on X, demonstrated by Khamzat Chimaev

X post by Khamzat Chimaev

When making a post on X, when you begin a post with another username @ address, this will register the post as a reply rather than a post, which can have a detrimental effect on your X SEO from a single post 👀

Therefore, when making an X post that directly addresses someone like Borz has done, place something in front of it so that you receive as much leverage as possible. For example, a full stop, an emoji representing your brand identity, etc. 

How can you optimise your TikTok marketing tactics from a branding perspective 🤔

Instagram reel promoting the England TikTok account screen recorded via Record It.

When optimising your brand, it’s important to remain open-minded towards other industries such as football, entertainment, music, etc. Simply because sport is a global entertainment business that has many audiences that crossover from different demographics 👀

For that reason, there are plenty of insights we can learn from England football regarding how they’ve optimised their TikTok marketing methods to meet the needs and wants of the algorithm 🌟

If we pay meticulous attention to detail to how their highlight grid looks, it’s got the TikTok customised thumbnails for the majority of their content alongside pictures of their sponsors and the colours of their kit, which straight away establishes a brand identity for anyone visiting their profile 👀

Therefore, when it comes towards utilising branded content across channels such as Instagram or TikTok, which have very similar formats, ensure that you use consistent colour codes and features to meet the needs and wants of their algorithms to ensure your content gets ranked as highly as possible to reach the audiences you desire 💪🏾

Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson demonstrates how repurposing advocational content can work in your favour

YouTube video uploaded by Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson

Following an extravagant event last weekend at #UFC294, many athletes have shared their opinions/views/thoughts about Islam Mackhachev’s astonishing finish on Alexander Volkanovski 👊🏾

The finish was a crosskick to Volk’s temple, which will be a highlight reel for Islam for the remainder of his career. 

Now Wonderboy has capitalised on this through his YouTube channel by analysing the move alongside doing his usual breakdowns of karate tutorials and kickboxing tutorials from an educational standpoint, as that is the core theme of his YouTube channel 💡

If you’re an upcoming fighter, it’s certainly worth paying attention to big events and focusing on adapting your niche to promote your brand in a fashion that remains authentic to your values 🧠

That’s enough from me, is there anything that I’ve missed out on?

How can this benefit my brand?

In this weeks edition, we dive into the following

  • How to adapt to changes in X
  • Optimising fight announcements
  • Creative ways to become your own self-promoter
  • How to merge vertical and landscape content efficiently on different platforms

The Lionesses lead by example on how to promote a blog post on X

Blog post announcement from the Lionesses X account

Following changes made from Twitter evolving to X, a big adjustment has been being able to view how to promote blog posts as Twitter was very clear around a blog thumbnail being clear as day, whereas now, the format just appears as a graphic, meaning you need to go the extra mile to get your audience to click through 💡

A simple ‘click here to read more’ typography graphic through the blog post is enough to encourage Lionesses fans to click through, and it’s something that combat sports brands can learn, too 🌟

Get people talking around your fight announcements

Fight announcement for Jake Paul promoted by the betr IG account

Regarding fight announcements, it’s important to be as creative as possible to get more individuals drawn in. Jake Paul and his team have done this by announcing he’s got a fight on the 15th of December but not officially announcing his opponent. 👀

I know what you’re thinking: what impact does this make online? Well, it will get communities talking and guessing around who his potential opponent will be, meaning that Jake will likely be trending more across discussion-orientated social channels such as X. Plus, analysts and fan accounts will likely create content on YouTube predicting who his opponent will be. 

This skill is transferable for fight announcements and any kind of announcement you have, encouraging discussion and debate whenever producing social media content. 💡

Get creative with how you promote yourself 

@ashley_raksu

MISFITS PRIME CARD RAP UP!!! #ksi #loganpaul #dillondanis #tommyfury #misfitsboxing #primecard #slim #saltpapi #kingkenny #anthonytaylor #nichlmao #alexwassabi #pineda

♬ original sound – Ashley Rak-Su
TikTok reel from Ashley Rak-Su

Following KSI vs Tommy Fury, crossover boxer Ashley Rak-Su has devised a rap summarising the highlights from the event. 🌟

One thing that TikTok certainly appreciates is creative content; therefore, utilise that to your advantage. Even in the fight game, you’ll see certain fighters creatively mocking their opponents; for example, when Crewz-Dezurn had her face-off against Savannah Marshall, she started doing a rap against Savannah, which proved unorthodox and engaging. Plus, stuff like that can get repurposed and recognised by other brands. 

Ash’s inspirational poem in dedication to Michael Bisping

Another example involves my own brand. I wrote an inspirational poem in dedication to none other than Michael Bisping some time ago relating to my battle against cancer, and as a result of this, it was endorsed by sports media outlet, essentially sports 💡

Tips for fighters to optimise their IG stories/reels to promote YouTube videos

X post promoting a recent IG story from UFC athlete Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya’s content team have done a terrific job at optimising his IG stories to promote one of his recent YouTube videos; here’s how 👇🏾

When it comes to promoting landscape videos on a horizontal-orientated platform like Instagram, it can be difficult to optimise engagement at times with regards to converting your audience into viewers 📈

However, there are ways you can overcome this, just like Izzy has here; there’s a clip of the YouTube video accompanied by the link to it on YouTube, which is also filled with branding that illustrates the core themes of the video, him reacting to #KSIFury and the UFCs most recent event 👀

That’s it from me, if there’s any further bits of content I’ve missed out on, let me know!

What marketing lessons can be taken away from #KSIFury that can benefit fighters and brands?

This weekend saw none other than KSI & Tommy Fury fight on X Series 10 under Misfits Boxing, where Tommy secured a win over JJ. Despite the controversy surrounding the result, there are plenty of marketing insights fighters and combat sports brands can take away to optimise their content game across the digisphere. Let’s dive in.

X thread from @AshSportsMedia summarising content insights from Misfits X Series 10

Utilise betting-orientated content to boost brand awareness

X post from Betfred promoting #KSIFury odds

Regarding live event marketing, sports fans are captivated by betting odds. This marks an opportunity for fighters and combat sports brands to customise and repurpose content they see from betting brands to benefit their brand.

It can be as simple as fighters making predictions for each fight and then promoting the best oddsmakers for fans to invest in if they’re interested in doing so. This is something that UFC fighters tend to do ahead of events when predicting fights, follow by example.

In the future, if played consistently, this can provide dividends in the form of sponsorship opportunities, media recognition and a boost in followers, which will boost marketing monetisation in general.

Don’t underestimate meme marketing

When it comes to the most shareable pieces of content across the web, memes are where it’s at. Therefore, match your content strategy to the algorithm of the internet to provide yourself the leverage you desire.

X post by MMA Orbit

Many media outlets across the combat sports space will consistently promote fight updates throughout the event. Therefore, utilise this through their comment section on X to ensure you can captivate the audiences and fanbases they own. All it takes is one influential post you can capitalise on to make a real difference to your brand.

Create your own hashtags to generate brand awareness

User-generated content post promoting #KSIFury

This is a simple user-generated content post from a fan. However, it’s an opportunity for brands and fighters to recognise the value of creating your own brand awareness trackers that can be repurposed through other pieces of content from wider brands.

Capture live event footage via social media

X thread promoting NoSmokeSport

Video marketing makes the social media algorithm go round and round. For that reason, ensure it’s a core part of your content strategy.

If you’re a fighter, it can simply be a matter of sharing your reactions after each fight via a video. Whereas if you’re a brand, it can be posting someone else’s video from a wider brand and then adding your own captions, branding and so forth to it, which makes it customised towards you.

Take lessons from how Anthony Taylor brands himself

X thread promoting Anthony Taylor

Each time Anthony Taylor has a ring walk, it captivates a lot of attention. He’s clearly a very entertainment-driven personality, which makes him such a superb fit for the crossover boxing community, considering that is what the general audience tends to value the most.

From a marketing lens, I first noticed the colour pink, cowboy and cowgirl hats. Now stuff like this can be repurposed across your marketing channels through the likes of GIFs, captions, bios across your social platforms etc.

Ultimately, fighters can utilise similar tactics to optimise their own brand. For example, they can embed flags and emojis that represent themselves in their bios, including slogans and catchphrases in captions they produce through social posts, personal hashtags to promote their brands, and so on.

At first, it will feel like a task, but it will pay dividends towards growing your brand recognition in the long term.

Put your own spin on viral content

X thread promoting Deen The Great post-fight speech

Following Deen The Great defeating Walid Sharks in their highly anticipated rematch, Deen had a lot to say on the mic, and it came with a smooth flow of marketability. To break it down, the fight took place in Manchester, then Deen took the initiative to refer to himself as ‘Deenchester’ alongside his commonly used catchphrase, ‘ya dig’.

YouTube video promoting a clip of Floyd Mayweather at the UK press conference ahead of his bout against Ricky Hatton

It’s evident he potentially got inspiration from Mr. 50-0, Floyd Mayweather, when he attended Manchester ahead of his fight against none other than Ricky Hatton. This is proof that customising your surroundings towards your brand is beneficial towards growing your awareness and making your audience more engaged in you as a personality.

Think proactively about how you want your brand to be represented

Dillon Danis X post

Dillon Danis is probably one of the most controversial personalities across the combat sports space; however, the attention he garnered for his fight against Logan Paul was undeniable. Despite the fight being to a low standard to most combat sports fans, his game plan coming into the bout was clear as day from a marketing perspective. It was to create moments during the fight which can be shared across social media that will help to support his brand awareness, then translated into monetary gain alongside being discussed as a controversial topic.

As a fighter, you don’t need to be a controversial personality about optimising your brand at all. However, the point of sharing this case study is to focus on how you can think proactively at capitalising moments ahead of a fight and even during a fight to capture awareness and shareable pieces of content across your marketing channels that you can then repurpose in your favour.

Now that’s enough from me, do you think there’s anything else that I’ve missed out on?