Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Hunter Radenslaben, Founder of Athlete Nation. Athlete Nation is an athlete influencer marketing agency that helps brands create and produce effective social media campaigns with athletes.
Hi, please tell us about your journey.
Absolutely. I grew up during the start of the social media era. As a kid from small-town Nebraska who loved sports, my favorite part of social media was following my favorite athletes and feeling as if I was connecting with them on a deeper level — outside of just watching them play on the TV like I was used to. I religiously followed their every post.
Over time, I realized that I wasn’t alone… that when athletes speak, people listen — they respond because their fans trust them and they believe in them. After my experience working in the marketing world and working with many large brands that struggled to engage audiences on social media, I realized that these athletes can be significant influencers for brands.
Please tell us about your company, Athlete Nation.
Athlete Nation is an athlete influencer marketing agency that helps brands create & produce effective social media campaigns with athletes.
Every day, brands are spending millions of dollars in a fight to tell the right stories and win over our attention on social media. While many brands see the benefit of working with athletes, the problem is they often don’t have the expertise, the network, or the manpower to make social media campaigns with athletes a reality.
With Athlete Nation, that no longer has to be the case. My company, Athlete Nation exists for one simple reason — we know athletes have the strongest voices in sports — and we help brands use these athletes to tell engaging stories and win over our attention on social media.
We do this in three ways:
- We connect brands with our wide network of athletes and manage that relationship
- We develop and produce a social media campaign involving the athlete
- We deliver the campaign — all the way through to the athlete publishing it out on their social media channels.
As a result, Athlete Nation helps brands reach highly engaging audiences on social media and get the attention they need as a brand to thrive.
Are there specific features that set Athlete Nation apart?
Definitely, first, we pride ourselves on being experts in sports and athlete marketing. For brands looking to partner with athletes, navigating the sports world can be difficult because of the moving pieces and a lack of experience, time, and connections in the sports industry. We know how to work with athletes and in the sports world.
Secondly, in order to deliver the best social media campaigns, we have a full creative production team that specializes in creating content and producing engaging stories. From managing the partnership with the athlete, producing the content, to publishing the content out on social media — Athlete Nation is the turnkey solution to athlete marketing.
Any message for our readers.
Thanks for the question. Yes, we’re very excited about some big changes taking place in the sports industry this year.
Currently, there are about 5,000 professional athletes that brands can partner with for social media campaigns. Starting in August of 2021, that’s about to change in a big way with the NCAA announcing changes to Name, Image, and Likeness rules that will allow college athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image, and likeness.
This will open up the opportunity for brands to partner with not 5,000 athletes but 500,000 athletes for social media campaigns. Essentially, a billion-dollar industry will open up overnight when this change takes place — and Athlete Nation will be a leader in helping brands take advantage of this new era of athlete marketing.
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
You can learn more about how we’re helping brands deliver effective social media campaigns with athletes over at AthleteNation.org. You can also follow us on Twitter @AthleteNation, Instagram @AthleteNation, or like us on Facebook @AthleteNationMedia.
Thank you so much for giving us your precious time! We wish you the best for your journey ahead!