Social media has allowed each of us to create a personal brand. We can share anything from opinions and thoughts to interesting articles and photos. Social media has also given us a glimpse into the personal brands of celebrities and professional athletes as curated by them – as opposed to the paparazzi and media. One athlete that has truly taken advantage of this and has found unique ways to interact and connect with his fans through his digital network is Paul Rabil, a major league lacrosse player with the New York Lizards.
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With an active following across multiple social media channels, Rabil has taken advantage of the hottest platform – Snapchat – to build his brand. “Snapchat’s incredible. I have some of the most engaging conversations with my audience on their platform,” he shared with SportTechie. When the on-demand UGC filters were announced, Rabil said he immediately looked into how he could get involved. He was further encouraged after listening to a Gary Vaynerchuk keynote in which he told brands that Snapchat is the most lucrative way to earn impressions for their spend.
And his RabilCuts filter was born.
Rabil designed and launched his geofilters on his own – not with sponsor or team involvement, so as an individual brand, budget was important. More importantly, he saw an opportunity to be a part of the experience even when he isn’t on his phone posting content. “Not every lacrosse snap will – or should – be about me,” Rabil noted. “That said, where there’s a fan talking about lacrosse, a highlight, or a uniform, I want to be a part of it. For me, that’s fun.” So through his custom geofilters, he’s been able to target the five hours at the stadium of a professional game in which he’s playing and now he’s a part of the social experience of fans snapping during the game. Additionally, he has analytics on who’s snapping and how his geofilters are being used.
Creating the custom geofilter was super easy, according to Rabil. “You just login here and select ON DEMAND vs. COMMUNITY filters. Then you’ll design a .png file, geo-fence the area in which you want to run the filter and select the timing. The quote Snapchat gives you from that information is based on the population density and demand.”
While Rabil says he has had some of his most engaging conversations on Snapchat, he is wholly invested in his entire digital network. He posts the most on his Instagram page, where his core audience is and interacts multiple times a day. His favorite platform is his YouTube channel where you can catch his vlog every Wednesday from any of the different franchises he’s built over the last two years. You can see some lacrosse tricks, an interactive #askPaul Q&A, and even a food segment he’s named Rabil’s Kitchen. He admits that it took him a while to get comfortable in front of the camera, but he expressed, “since then I’ve gotten a lot better and really enjoy shooting vlogs and interacting with my audience as they watch and comment.”
When asked about his best edit to date, he said it has to be his series The Move shot with The Lacrosse Network. And his most watched content is his collaboration with Dude Perfect. When you watch it, you’ll understand why!