To most people, the idea of using sports marketing to grow your business may seem strange – especially when you’re not actually a sports team, athlete, or fan. But if you’re looking to use sports as a tool to grow your business, you’re in the right place. Here we’ll discuss how you can do just that.
Grow A Following
The first and most obvious application of sports marketing is to use the platform to grow your following. Whether you’re passionate about golf or baseball, you can become an expert in your chosen sport and use that knowledge to grow your audience. For example, if you were to run an Instagram account devoted to golf, you could become an expert in the sport and share the most up-to-date news and information on courses, equipment, and fashion.
Being passionate about a sport doesn’t necessarily mean that your account will be devoted to just that one sport. If you’re passionate about tennis, you could have an account devoted to tennis with the goal of attracting tennis fans. Alternatively, if golf is your game, you could have an account that is more focused on growing your following than winning over existing fans. Whatever your reason for creating a sports-related account, you’re guaranteed to find a niche that will allow you to grow your account quickly.
Grow Confidence In Your Target Audience
Another important application of sports marketing is to build confidence and trust with your target audience. Even if you’re not involved in sports marketing per se, everyone on social media is engaged in some way in the game – whether it’s a fan, journalist, or business owner. When you’re on social media, you’re competing for the attention of your audience, and much of social media is governed by the ‘attention economy’ – meaning you have to keep up a steady stream of entertaining content if you want to stay in the game.
The key is to use your social media accounts to display thought leadership on your chosen sport. That way, when your fans, followers, and customers come across your content, they know exactly what they’re getting into – even if you’re not directly affiliated with a sports team or organization. Being seen as an expert in your sport allows you to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, attract the right audience, and gain credibility – which in turn, can help you market your business.
Grow A Base Of Regular, Durable, And Experienced Follower
An important factor in the game is to build a base of regular, experienced, and durable followers. Simply put, unless you have an extremely large following, you’ll never make it in the game if you don’t engage with your audience on a consistent basis. If you want to succeed as a sports marketer, develop a habit of commenting on your followers’ posts regularly – even if it’s just to say “thank you” for sharing their content.
Experienced followers are important because they make up the ‘credibility bank’ of your industry. If you’re seen as an expert in your chosen sport, people will naturally look to you for advice on the topic. When people see regular, experienced experts in your chosen sport, it provides you with a level of credibility that can’t be easily replicated. At the very least, your followers know that you’re a person they can go to for advice and information on your sport. This is important in helping you establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your chosen sport – and potentially, your industry as a whole.
Use The Platform To Get More Exposure
As with any social media platform, the key to success is to get as much exposure as possible. While in theory, getting more exposure sounds like an easy enough task, in practice it can be a challenge. To get the most out of social media, you have to be willing to put in the time and effort to promote your account on social media – which can be a difficult balancing act between building your audience and maintaining your sanity.
To get the most out of your efforts, you need to build relationships with influential people in your chosen sport. The better your networking, the better your chances of getting more exposure – and eventually, success as a sports marketer.
Use The Platform To Establish Thought Leadership
Last but not least, we’ve got thought leadership. Established thought leaders are extremely valuable in today’s world of information overload. The better you are at establishing thought leadership, the more people will look to you as an expert in your chosen sport.
Thought leadership can be difficult to achieve. You need to put in the time and effort to create high-quality content that is both informative and entertaining. You also need to make sure that you distribute your content on the right platforms – such as Twitter and LinkedIn – to ensure that your audience sees your content and remembers who you are. Finally, you need to make sure that you respond to all comments, questions, and requests for information from people interacting with your content.
If you want to succeed as a sports marketer, put in the work to learn the ropes. The more you master, the more you’ll succeed in this new and exciting industry. And remember, having fun while doing your job doesn’t hurt either.