In this week’s edition, there are various lessons we can learn around repurposing content from other channels, the influence of illustrating your struggles, the value of athletes promoting themselves on LinkedIn, transferable knowledge fighters can take away from KSI and how YOU can get the TikTok algorithm to work for you.
Keep your content as simplistic as possible
Once again, you can tell ESPN MMA is one of my favourite accounts to follow about how they set out their content creation strategy. 
When it comes to creating content across social media and building a community, it’s important to make that community aware of where they can find you across the ‘digisphere’, for example, as a part of your Instagram strategy, as well as using specific features available through the platform, consider using it to raise awareness about your brand being present on other platforms, such as X 
ESPN MMA has done this by screenshotting an X post by Shavkat Rakhmanov through an IG graphic. This makes your audience more likely to follow you on other platforms while making an impression on a different one. 
Combat sports athletes, don’t underestimate the power of documenting your struggles.
ONE Championship athlete Angela Lee recently spoke out about her mental health struggles. Unfortunately, it resulted in her attempting suicide following on from her sister, Victoria Lee, taking her own life last year. 
Following this, she’s featured her story through a blog post on the players’ tribune, and the responses to her story have been rather positive and advocational. 
Many have complimented Angela for her resilience, courage and weathering the storm amid adversity. 
With combat sports, there’s still a stigma surrounding the mental health of athletes and how they have to remain headstrong no matter what. However, back to square one, they’re still humans who fluctuate emotions like regular individuals. 
Plus, I’ve experienced something through my brand by illustrating my story through dedicating combat sports poems to fighters that inspire me is leverage from the boxing & MMA community. That’s been through endorsements from supporters and fighters.
It’s totally understandable to keep particular details private; however, the more authentic you are about your story as a human being and an athlete, the more that will benefit you in growing real relationships with your community.
Is there any point in combat sports athletes being on LinkedIn?
Despite not seeming like a go-to platform for athletes, it’s clear that being an athlete is not a long-term career. Therefore, if you’re a combat sports athlete reading this, consider joining LinkedIn for the following reasons. 
It is an opportunity to manage your professional network, whether that would be sponsors, business owners, or employees you’ve hired to manage your assets.
Organic reach. The level of reach you can gain through organic content is quite impressive; therefore, even if you are an active athlete who happens to be running a campaign, dependent on its values, nature and culture, LinkedIn could be an optimal platform to utilise
Many combat sports athletes, such as UFC fighters Michael Chandler and Max Griffin, are currently on LinkedIn.
And not forgetting ONE Championship athlete, Milana Bjelogrlic, whom I had the pleasure of designing her LinkedIn cover photo, which you can view for yourself 
Keep creating content outside of your niche.
KSI’s most recent Try Not To Laugh challenge has had me in hysterics, and they do most of the time anyway 
As I’ve mentioned multiple times throughout my weekly blog posts, understand your fan’s behaviours and interests and create content around that, as that will drive the interest.
Keep your content centred around combat sports, but think outside the box occasionally. It’s what has made crossover boxing so successful, a bunch of YouTubers and influencers who have built an audience by producing mainstream-type content and then drawing those eyeballs into a sport with a niche demographic.
If we dig deeper into how KSIs team has optimised this piece of content, ensure your description has links to your other channels that you’re active on, raising awareness about upcoming fights/events that are coming up for you, create a hashtag that can behave as an identifier for your brand.
Plus, something else that works well on YouTube is timestamps. If you want to maximise impact with your community, get your YouTube content time stamped into the comments or description to ensure the retention of your videos is optimum. Plus, be as responsive to the comment section as possible to maximise engagement and awareness.
Play TikTok at its own game.
I’ve noticed on TikTok that motivational content is highly appreciated via the algorithm.
This is something that I’ve synergised strongly with through combat sports; I find the athletes so inspirational considering the journey of hardship they go on, the intense weight-cuts building up to fights, the general disciplined lifestyle of an athlete and the life-threatening factor each time they compete. 
That is an opportunity for every combat sports athlete to use TikTok to their advantage; every individual in the sport has a story to tell, to inspire the average person through motivational quotes and values that inspire them each day.
Also, the amount of repurposed content with motivational videos you’ll come across on Instagram and YouTube is countless; therefore, utilise that trend to grow your brand. 
That’s enough from me, and if there’s any content I’ve missed, let me know.
