Sunday, January 16, 2011

Best Practices in Sports Marketing & Promotions

When you consider the best practices for sports marketing and promotions you probably consider what you've learned in marketing classes. Before you can create any campaign you have to know who your target market is. Doing research is the first step. Refer to a market research site such as http://www.quantcast.com/ to look up companies similar to yours. Knowing who uses their services will give you a good idea of who to market to. You can then look at their successful campaigns and note what attracts you. Of course, your company is different. You cannot copy what another brand does. You can look to them for inspiration.

In thinking about your brand's potential consumers or clients you have to consider the target market's lifestyle.  What do they do for fun? How much do they spend on recreation? When are they most likely to engage in sports-related activities? Knowing what attracts consumers to consider a brand is lovely, but knowing what makes them buy is crucial. Having an understanding of how they live will help you learn their spending habits.

Besides spending money, it is important to connect with fans. A talented marketer knows where the fans are. Of course, no one can afford to overlook traditional forms of marketing, such as radio, television, and newspaper. But anyone who does not embrace technology will be left behind. Promoters connect with fans in physical locations and on the internet. Now it's easier than ever to find fans. More and more sports brands have websites with blogs that feature Youtube videos. These videos feature links to Twitter. On Twitter they can communicate with followers and post pictures and links to Facebook. On Facebook they have events and more posts. With RSS feeds and even iTunes offering podcast user made content with free subscription there are more options than before. Smart marketers have created a media circle that fits almost all forms of internet presence; no fan is left out.

The key to good marketing is research, visibility, and accessibility.

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