College football and other college sports are huge. They are often training grounds for the best athletes who will go on to pursue their dreams in professional sports, and they are alive with athletics marketing opportunities. We would like to offer some new sports marketing ideas that are easy to implement, as you learn more about how to do marketing for sports and increase fan engagement.
Universities and colleges offer many athletics programs and some schools have begun doing athletics marketing. College football, in particular, is a sport with great fan-based marketing potential. College football marketing is essential. Colleges and universities can gain new fans, attract more fans to come out to games, and boost sales of tickets and merchandise, with a highly effective yet simple and affordable tool.
It's called multi-channel marketing automation. Multi-channel marketing involves engaging with fans in multiple ways, such as fan mobile marketing and social media marketing, in order to provide a more engaging fan experience. Automation software, such as SimplyCast 360, makes it easy for college teams to connect personally with each one of their supporters by sending messages automatically based on each fan's unique preferences. All from one easy to use solution.
Athletics marketing can be highly effective when a multi-channel marketing solution is employed. Some fan-based sports marketing ideas include:• Fan mobile marketing, such as special text message coupons and promotions, can entice fans to purchase team merchandise. Text messaging is engaging because it can be highly interactive. Fans can participate in fun contests where they text a response to a question in order to win team merchandise or the chance to meet a player.
Text message marketing also often includes exclusive text message coupons for merchandise or tickets to upcoming games. Text message coupons are a great way to drive business, because text message coupons are much more likely to be redeemed than traditional coupons. The coupon is right on the fan's mobile phone, so they can easily use it at their convenience.
Since text message marketing is intended to be short and quick, it is an ideal way to provide informational updates. Brief text message updates can be sent out during the game, to keep fans informed about how the game is progressing and keep them engaged with the team.
Voicemail and text message reminders as game day approaches build excitement and drive ticket sales. Since messages can easily be scheduled in advance, fans can receive updates as the game day gets closer. Information can also be drawn in about tickets, for example, letting fans know how many tickets remain for the game so they can purchase tickets before they are sold out.
Voice messages are especially useful for fans who do not have access to the internet. Voice message marketing helps to keep these fans engaged and provides an easy way for them to purchase tickets over the phone (press 9 to speak to a customer service representative for tickets).
Social media marketing in sports helps to attract a new fan base by reaching out to a wider audience as your messages are shared socially, with exciting pictures and contests. Twitter and Facebook are two of the most popular social media websites, and fans regularly look to a team's social media pages in order to stay up to date with team news and upcoming events and contests.
Social media is a popular way for fans to interact with their favorite team. Create fun contests for fans, such as encouraging them to post pictures of themselves in their team jersey or hat for a chance to win. Fan images are very engaging to others who visit the site because it provides a special connection between the team and the fans. It contributes to the sense of a team that is involved with their fans and has fun. And everyone loves a chance to win prizes!
Social media is also an effective way to spread the news about upcoming team events and get people involved. On Facebook, you can create an event and invite people. Or you can just use an automated marketing solution to post frequent reminders and updates about your event on Facebook.
Sports email marketing is a great way to provide game schedules, promotions, and player bios. You should still focus on making your message concise and not too wordy, but with email you have the opportunity to include more information. You can also include links to your team website and social media pages or any other web pages.
Email marketing also includes autoresponders: email messages that are automatically sent when an action is taken by a fan (such as purchasing a team jersey from the online store) or a date is reached (such as a fan's birthday). An automatic email marketing message is sent to the fan, either confirming that their action was successful and providing them with additional information or proclaiming a personalized message: "Happy Birthday Jean! Please enjoy 20% off game tickets today only as our gift to you!"
College sports are driven by passion and determination, and fan dedication to their favorite teams is as passionate as the players' desire to win. Offer your fans special promotions, personal interactive sports marketing messages, and game day reminders, all through their preferred mode of communication.
Sports marketing should be focused on creating an interactive experience for fans. Marketing messages are common these days, and fans expect something more than just a message encouraging them to make purchases. Fans want the opportunity to win prizes, to share their opinions through social media, to gain access to exclusive deals for signing up.
If you are unsure how to do marketing for your sports team in an engaging, efficient manner, check out marketing automation. College athletics marketing is made much simpler with automation. Automated marketing solutions include many tools for successful online and mobile marketing, and they make it simple to create and send marketing campaigns. Automated tools will reduce your marketing workload, allowing you to come up with even more sports marketing ideas! Once you create your messages and specify how you want them to be distributed, the automated solution will take care of the rest for you.
SimplyCast 360 is a sports marketing solution to increase fan engagement, simplify fan relationship management and promote your sports team. It sends individually targeted messages to fans over their preferred mode of communication. It is an all in one solution so you can use it to bring all your sports marketing ideas to life.
To discuss a text message marketing solution or an all-in-one online marketing software for colleges and universities that fit your needs, contact our team today!
We would also love to hear your sports marketing ideas! Leave us a comment below to tell us how you use automation to engage sports fans and drive attendance.