How to Get Started with Content Marketing for Sports Teams
The sports industry is one of the most popular industries around – not only is it a huge moneymaker but it also attracts millions of fans. In 2015, the sports global market generated over 145 billion dollars which only further speaks to its popularity.
When you take that into consideration, it’s easy to see why content marketing is a great way to build your brand, connect with your fans, and grow your audience. Devoted fans all over the world are hungry for content that will keep them in the loop and entertain them between seasons.
If you’re in the sports industry and want to get started with content marketing, you need to know the best way to reach your audience and keep their sports cravings satisfied. Here are some ideas to get you started with content marketing that will appeal to sports fans and draw attention to your brand.
Develop Your Audience
The first and most important step is to develop your audience. Knowing who you want to attract helps you position your brand and target the message the right way with each and every piece of content you create. Every brand, sports team or not, has a different target audience that it wants to influence and attract.
Knowing their demographics, what they like and dislike, as well as where they are most likely to spend their time online are all key pieces of information that you will need for a successful content marketing strategy. If you have no idea where to start, you can and should analyze your competitor’s efforts and learn from their success as well as their mistakes. Do avoid copying them, however, as that will only hurt you in the long run.
How to Choose Distribution Channels
Once you know who your target audience is, you need to select the right distribution channels to reach them.
A traditional approach would involve the standard content marketing options such as a blog or an email. However, in an ever-increasing mobile world, it’s worth exploring different options such as social media channels which allow you to produce content that can be consumed quickly while on the go.
A younger audience will most likely show a better engagement rate on your social media channels while the older generation will be more appreciative of a more thorough approach via blog posts.
The best choice will largely depend on your target audience, however, a well-rounded content marketing strategy will often combine both blogging and social media promotion for the greatest impact. Keep experimenting with different content on new channels and platforms to see which method gives you the best return on investment.
Use YouTube to Reach Your Audience
YouTube’s popularity cannot be denied. It has over one billion users worldwide and every day people watch hundreds of millions of hours on the video network, generating billions of views.
With that in mind, videos are a great way to show off your team, players, and club. As a sports team, you can use videos in various ways to engage with your audience.
You can show your team’s capabilities to the fullest extent, provide a recap of games, and analyze competitions, as well as highlight new players that have just joined your team. But why not take it a step further and use YouTube to highlight your winning moments, discuss future strategies and invite your audience to participate via comments?
And if you really want to win their hearts, consider showing your human side and posting funny moments that happened during training or while on the road to face the competition?
Adding a Blog
Creating a website for your team has never been easier thanks to WordPress and the SportsPress plugin. However, it’s a well-known fact that Google loves sites that are regularly updated with fresh content. The best way to ensure that happens is by adding a blog.
As a sports team, you can use the blog to provide an in-depth analysis of a particular match, discuss why certain choices were made, the pros and cons of these decisions, and the main takeaways from it.
Additionally, you can discuss the strategies you used in the past, keep your fans up-to-date with the upcoming season, and notify them about any changes happening on the inside.
Creating a Podcast
A podcast is the modern-day version of radio shows and as such, they provide an excellent way of reaching your target audience even while they are on the go.
You can create podcasts weekly, monthly, bi-weekly, or however often you’d like and they can include team members interviews, discuss the latest news in the sports industry, interview your fans, provide press conferences before and after matches, offer health and nutritional tips, and much more.
How to Promote on Social Media
No content marketing strategy would be complete without a little social media promotion. Social media is a great way to engage with your audience right then and there while the action is happening.
There are multiple social media networks out there and knowing how to pick the best one circles back again to your target audience. However, here are a few ideas to get the ball rolling.
Twitter is a fast-paced social media network and as such it’s a great way to get instant engagement. By creating a dedicated hashtag for your team, you can see everyone who engages with your tweets and then reply to them instantly, which will make your fans feel special.
Consider creating a weekly or a monthly Twitter chat where your fans can ask you questions and you can provide them with exclusive content before anyone else knows about it. You can also invite team members or your team captain to co-host the chat with you and allow your fans to get personal interaction with their idols.
Another way to use Twitter is to live-tweet the game as it’s happening to encourage all the fans who couldn’t make it to your match to participate and feel like they are right there in the stadium.
Instagram is a very visual medium (and very popular, at that). On top of sharing your own content, you can curate content from other users and encourage your fans to post photos of their team pride with a dedicated hashtag. You can then choose which of their photos to post on your own feed which helps build their loyalty and appreciation.
Wrapping Up
Your fans are your most valuable asset. They are loyal to your team and players and they will continue to support you on your journey as long as you keep them entertained with great content in between seasons.
Content marketing may seem scary if you’ve never done it before, but once you get clear on who you want to serve, everything becomes much easier. The tips outlined in this article should help you get started with content marketing and provide you with inspiration to come up with even more ideas.
By the way, the team behind SportsPress Pro plugin has done a great job of providing any sports team with a tool to build a professional sports team website easily. You can even try it for free! And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
In the meantime, be sure to sign up for your our email list to gain access to our free Content Marketing Calendar so you can get a leg up on organizing and schedule your next month’s worth of content.
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