In the last decade, sports marketing has grown from a simple branch of advertising to a multi-billion dollar industry. As revenue has increased, so has the demand for more effective and efficient ways to market sports teams and athletes. Fortunately, the internet has provided savvy marketers with the perfect opportunity to catch the attention of potential customers, produce engagement, and eventually drive purchases. This blog post will explore seven ways that online sports marketing can be used in Hoboken to grow your business and make your sport more attractive to potential fans.
1. Product Promotions
Product promotions are one of the most traditional and, at times, the most effective methods of sports marketing. However, with the rise of the internet and social media, marketers have found newer and more innovative ways to promote their products. Some of the more popular methods include:
- Product discounts – If you have a digital marketing agency, you can promote products such as discounted sports merchandise, memberships, or tickets to upcoming games.
- Sale alerts – If you are subscribed to a deal mailing list or have a deal-finding algorithm, you can promote upcoming sales of sports equipment and apparel.
- In-game promotions – If you are at a sporting event and have an internet connection, you can promote products and receive compensation.
- Influencer marketing – If you can afford it, celebrity endorsements can be an effective way to promote your product.
While product promotions are still relevant, the above methods will help you gain an edge over your competitors.
2. Coaching Counselling
Another popular method of sports marketing is counselling and mentoring. High-profile coaches such as Mike Schurman, Dan D’Amelio, and Eric Thomas are some of the most recognizable faces in sports. With more and more people becoming coaches or interested in coaching, this role is set to grow in popularity.
If you’re looking to take your coaching career to the next level, consider looking for a business or professional coach who can help you identify your personal strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide you with the skills necessary to become an effective coach.
However, as a first-time coach, whether you’re a professional or an amateur, you may not yet know how to coach or what to say. For this reason, if you’re looking for quick guidance, consider looking for a coach who also works in an athletic capacity. This way, you can directly question them about the activity you’re participating in, and they can give you advice based on firsthand experience.
Aside from coaching, one of the most popular sports psychology applications is SPARX by NetSuite. Created by the same team that brought you the hugely successful SPORTING CHICAGO TM application, SPARX is used by athletes, teams, and clubs to manage the mental aspects of physical performance.
This application allows coaches to create individualized training plans for their clients, track their clients’ performance, and more. While it is mainly aimed at those who participate in high-performance sports, anyone can use it to enhance their mental preparedness before an important event.
3. Live Chat
With the rise of the popularity of online shopping and social media, live chat has become a highly effective tool for customer service. For those who have an internet connection and a microphone, this feature can be used to get immediate feedback from potential customers, identify key words and phrases used in online searches, and much more.
Through live chat, you can identify potential customer problems and help fix them before they become bigger issues. Additionally, as someone who provides customer service, you can gain confidence in your abilities and grow your business.
However, in order to effectively use live chat, you need to have a good handle on the language and the culture of your audience. If you do not speak English as a first language, consider getting some basic online training so that you can properly engage with your audience through live chat.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most basic and yet most effective forms of digital marketing. With hundreds of millions of accounts being used across the globe, email marketing allows you to connect with existing and potential customers, offer special discounts, and much more.
This type of marketing can be used to promote your product, service, website, or event and can be customized based on customer preferences, demographics, and more. With email marketing, you can segment your audience based on any criteria you choose, including age, gender, interests, location, and more.
In addition to traditional email marketing, some of the more recent innovations include:
- Auto-responders – If you’re using HubSpot, you can set automated email campaigns that will automatically send out a series of emails based on events and actions taken by the customer.
- Marketing automation – If you’re using HubSpot, you can set up automated email campaigns that will send out a series of emails based on events and actions taken by the customer.
- Behavioral email marketing – If you’re using HubSpot, you can set up automated email campaigns that will send out a series of emails based on events and actions taken by the customer. In addition to HubSpot, you can use email marketing tools such as MailChimp, Aweber, and more.
- 2ndary Email Marketing – Some of the more popular email marketing tools allow for the creation of multi-level marketing groups, or “downlines”. This feature allows aspiring digital marketers to create a team of distributors, who can then segment and grow their own audiences.
Aside from email marketing, some of the more popular personal blogs for sports writers include:
- Andrew Fieber’s Baseball Blog
- Ben Frederickson’s Gym Life Blog
- Joe DeLuca’s Baseball Card Collecting Blog
- James Plec’s Fantasy Football Blog
- Jason Cole’s NBA Blog
- Ken Rosenthal’s Baseball Blog
5. Video Marketing
Video marketing is another form of digital marketing whose popularity continues to grow every year. Videos can be used to explain product features, showcase product use, and more.
As someone who provides customer service and needs to explain a products or services, you can use video marketing to your advantage. If you have a microphone and internet connection, you can use video marketing to get your point across in the most effective and concise manner possible.
Aside from using video marketing to provide customer service, you can also use the following methods to gain an edge over your competitors:
- Product demonstrations – If you’re using video marketing to explain product features or showcase how the product can be used, you can use software like Deck to record and distribute high-quality product demos.
- Webinars – These are seminars or presentations held over the internet, usually used for marketing or product training.
- Online courses – If you’re already providing customer service, you can use your experience to create an online course that you can distribute to others.
- Virtual walks – If you’re close to a major city, you can use virtual walks to allow potential customers to see actual locations and buildings before making a purchase decision.
In addition to above methods, you can use video marketing to promote upcoming games, provide important information regarding a particular event or holiday, or simply engage with your audience.
6. Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is another form of digital marketing that gained popularity in the last few years, thanks in part to the rise of smart phones. With billions of devices being used across the globe, mobile marketing allows you to connect with existing and potential customers, offer special discounts, and much more.
Aside from using mobile marketing to get people to visit your website, you can further engage with your audience, provide important information regarding your product, or service, or just simply show them what you can do on your phone.
Below are a few of the more popular methods of mobile marketing that can be used in Hoboken: