Engage the local community and attract more players, sponsors and supporters.
How do you get more people cheering for your players at your games? Or get sponsors lining up for a place on your jerseys? Every team deserves recognition and support and effective sports marketing is the answer. There are many ways to promote a sports team and modern printing technology has made them even more affordable.
What is Sports Marketing and Why Should Every Club Do It?
Sports marketing initiatives may include placing an ad in the paper, open days, and sponsorship events in order to advertise activities that promote a club in order to accomplish the following goals:
- Positioning the club in a target market
- Attracting membership
- Boosting image and reputation
- Creating value for money
- Increasing ticket and merchandise sales
- Creating new sponsorship opportunities
- Establishing long-term partnerships
- Raising community awareness and credibility
How to Raise the Profile of a Sports Club
Before going into marketing ideas, it is important to establish the basics. Here are some questions that could guide you:
- What are the club’s values?
- What is the club’s unique selling point?
- What key message should be highlighted in the marketing material?
- How do people find your club?
Sports Club Marketing Tools
Create a Flyer for Your Sports Team
Flyers are an effective way to promote a sports team to the community. The five most important aspects of creating a flyer are:
- Target audience – speak clearly and directly to the audience it wants to reach.
- Focus – promote a single, central idea with a specific call to action at the end.
- Visibility – the message should stand out on the page and spark interest.
- Branding – maintain brand identity and offer clear benefits that is distinct from your competitors.
- Layout – create a clean, easy to read page and retain the reader’s attention.
Create Direct Mail to Reach Out to More Prospects
Direct mail is a great way to promote your marketing message while taking a more personal approach. Start by building a database of potential recipients, including active club members, sponsors, and those with lapsed memberships, to encourage them to return. The most crucial elements of direct mail are:
- Name and address – be sure to spell the name correctly!
- Headline – make sure it grabs attention and encourages them to read on.
- Content
- Focus on one key message
- Avoid fluff and long sentences
- Write in the active voice
- Run the content through spell check
- Call to action – the end of the letter should tell the reader what to do, whether it’s calling a number, responding through email, or sending back a coupon or reply slip.
- Envelope – write something on the outside of the envelope to entice the recipient to open it instead of sending an anonymous plain envelope that could easily find its way to the trash bin.
Create Effective Signs and Banners
Signs are an important communication tool for sharing information about your club. For instance, signs tell people where to find the clubroom, when the next event or tournament is, or the key dates for registration. Here are a few tips on how to make effective signs and banners:
- Visibility – place signs in high traffic areas, using easily readable fonts.
- Header – similar to a headline, this should grab attention and entice the audience to read the details written on the sign.
- Content – just below the header is space for communicating the main message, including essential and accurate information in full.
And remember…
- The text should be clean, easy to read, and answer any possible question from the reader.
- Do not overload with text! If there’s too much information that needs to be crammed onto the sign, provide a website address or social media platform for the reader to find out more.
- Always add a call to action in the end. Tell the reader how they can contact you such as a phone number or email address.
Engage the Local Community
Sports teams are an integral part of the community. These clubs bring together people from all walks of life, regardless of religion, politics, ethnicity and abilities and the club needs them. Most clubs rely on gate receipts, bar income, raffles, quiz nights, and small sponsorship events – all gone due to the recent global health crisis. As a result, many sports teams are now fighting for their financial lives.
Now more than ever, sports clubs need support from the local community and marketing can help to launch a community engagement program. This can be accomplished by linking up with other business hubs in the community, such as colleges, housing estates, and hospitals. More than sharing facilities with your partners, you can take advantage of the expertise of their legal and financial professionals in the community.
Jennings Print Can Help You Promote Your Sports Club
When it comes to promotional marketing in Newcastle, Maitland, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie and Hunter Valley, Jennings Print is the one-stop shop for everything you need. Jennings Print provides creative marketing solutions, stunning visual designs, and top-quality printed material that allows your brand to be seen through inspiring imagery. We are a family-owned business with more than 45 years of experience providing quality printed material to businesses all over Australia. We have worked with a wide range of clients, from local start-ups to big names in the banking industry.
Jennings Print Services
Jennings Print services include:
- Offset printing
- Digital printing
- Finishing
- Graphic design
Jennings Print Design Team
If you have no background in design, we can help bring your marketing ideas to life. Our graphic design team will set up a meeting with you so we can understand what direction you want for your next event. Then we’ll create eye-catching mock-ups for your club marketing collateral. From flyers and banners to signs and decals, we can help you roll out an entire marketing campaign all from one place!
Contact Jennings Print
Here at Jennings Print, we aim to give your sports club the recognition it deserves. Our creative approach to promoting your marketing objectives can give your team a strong identity which you can incorporate into your day-to-day activities. All you need to do is visit us at jenningsprint.com.au, call us on (02) 4933 5735 or simply request a quote today to speak with a friendly sales representative.