Marketing sports online is a growing field, and for good reason—attracting fans and generating interest in your sports is now more accessible than ever before.
UF Sports Marketing used a variety of digital marketing methods to gain traction online. The study explores the role of social media and digital marketing in the broader context of sport engagement online.
The Importance Of Digital Marketing
If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume you already know the importance of digital marketing in today’s world. If not, here’s a quick rundown.
Thanks to the ubiquity of the internet and smartphones, digital marketing has become an extremely valuable tool in today’s marketing mix. While traditional marketing like radio or television ads still hold important places in businesses, the ability to target the right audience and engage them into action is now possible even without the help of a traditional ad agency.
With the right combination of SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing, it’s possible to gain significant traction in the online space. However, all three of these tactics alone won’t cut it. As a business owner, you need to have a clear picture of what works and what doesn’t so you can effectively deploy your digital marketing strategy.
Social Media Vs. Digital Marketing
Let’s examine the difference between social media and digital marketing for a little bit of perspective. Social media refers to the platforms we use to communicate and engage with others – be it Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. It also encompasses our use of tools and platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and others.
While social media can be a valuable tool for connecting with potential customers and engaging with them, it’s not the same as marketing done explicitly online. Social media merely facilitates the process of marketing online – which is why it’s usually considered a subset of digital marketing.
Traditional marketing, on the other hand, encompasses paid advertisements in traditional media like paper or television. However, since the beginning of this year, much like social media, traditional marketing has become somewhat pervasive on the internet. Blogs, for example, have existed for centuries but only recently have experienced a revival thanks to digital marketing’s ability to target the right audience and engage them into action.
With all this in mind, it’s important to understand the difference between the two. If you’re just getting started with marketing, it’s definitely worthwhile learning about digital marketing – it’s a fairly new and burgeoning field, and one that can help you gain significant ground in your chosen industry.
Marketing Mixes: The Foundation Of A Successful Digital Marketing Campaign
Now that we have a general idea of the difference between digital marketing and social media, let’s examine the various components that comprise a digital marketing campaign. This will help you determine what works best for your business and the type of results you’re looking for.
The first step in any marketing campaign is to decide on your overall objectives. What do you hope to get out of this campaign? Are you looking to raise brand awareness? Drive traffic to your site? Generate leads? Get feedback on your products? Deciding on the answers to these questions will help you determine your target audience, the type of content you’ll need to produce, and the methods you’ll need to use to reach your goal.
The next step is to develop an effective strategy to tackle your goals. You might choose to do this through a mix of digital and traditional marketing, but it’s up to you. You need to balance many factors here – your budget, the time you have to dedicate to the campaign, and the goals you hope to achieve. If you have a new product to promote, determine if this is a sustainable model or if you need to go back to the drawing board. If you decide that the campaign is a success, you can use this as a springboard for further marketing activities.
What Makes Up A Successful Digital Marketing Campaign?
To elaborate on the previous point, let’s examine what makes up a successful digital marketing campaign. Having clear goals is essential here, but so is a systematic approach that draws from proper strategy and analysis. In order to determine what makes up a successful campaign, you’ll need to consider many factors – including but not limited to:
- The platform you’ll use to disseminate information
- Your budget
- The type of content you’ll create (e.g., video content)
- The style of the content you create (e.g., educational videos)
- The type of subject matter you cover (e.g., sports)
- Your target audience
- The type of person you’ll communicate with (e.g., millennial consumers)
- The content you’ll create
- Your website (if you have one)
- Social media platforms you’ll use (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Click through rates (CTRs)
- The conversion rate of website visitors into leads, followers, or customers
- The number of times your video content has been shared
- The engagement rate of your video content
- The amount of time you spend per day on social media marketing activities
- The amount of money you’re willing to spend per month on ads
- The amount of money you’re willing to spend per week on SEO
Running A Lean Marketing Campaign
There’s a saying that “fancy footwork in marketing will only get you so far”. It’s true – oftentimes, the more sophisticated your strategy is, the more you’ll achieve, but also the more you’ll spend. While you might have a hunch that certain methods work better than others, it definitely takes some time to figure out what drives real results and what doesn’t. If you keep all this in mind and are realistic about your expectations, then you’ll be able to develop a much more effective and efficient strategy – one that draws from both digital and traditional marketing.
Key Takeaways
To recap what we discussed so far, having a clear idea of the difference between social media and digital marketing is essential. The former is simply a tool that you can use to connect with potential customers and engage with them, while the latter is the overall strategy and approach you use to accomplish your marketing goals.
If you’re just getting started with marketing, then it might be worthwhile learning about digital marketing. It’s a fairly new and burgeoning field, and one that can help you gain significant ground in your chosen industry. Proper digital marketing involves a bit of research so you can determine what works and what doesn’t. Proper analysis of your target audience, competition, and other similar factors is key – after all, you’ll be developing strategies and ads for other businesses. It’s always best to be as objective as possible and gain a clear picture of what’s going on.
Similarly, developing a digital marketing strategy and plan is key. Having a plan and sticking to it is crucial – you might decide, for instance, that video content is the way to go for your company. But if things don’t go according to plan, then it might be difficult to figure out what went wrong and what you should do for the next campaign.
To conclude, marketing sports online is a growing field, and for good reason – attracting fans and generating interest in your sports is now more accessible than ever before. With a bit of research and proper planning, however, it’s still possible to go wrong.