How to Turn Loyal Fans Into Your Street Team
When you hear the term street team, you don’t usually associate it with sports marketing. However, the truth is that this type of marketing can be very successful and effective for sports teams, especially when you recruit your loyal fans to be a part of your street team.
In this post, we’ll define what a street team is and why it’s the perfect match for sports teams, how to recruit your street team members, how to incentivize them and prepare them, as well as share a few marketing ideas that your street team can help you with.
What Are Street Teams?
Put simply, a street team is a group of people “hitting the streets” to promote an event or a brand. Street teams are usually associated with the music industry but in recent years, they have been used by authors to promote their books and are getting traction in the sports industry as well.
Why Street Teams Are a Perfect Match for Sports Teams
Street teams are usually filled with people who are passionate about the brand they are promoting. Given how passionate sports fans can be when it comes to their favorite team, it’s only natural that street teams full of your loyal fans are the perfect way to promote your team.
How to Recruit Fans Into Your Street Team
When it comes to recruiting your fans into your street team, you can do it online and offline.
Recruiting Street Team Members Online
The easiest way to start recruiting street team members online is to use a contact form plugin such as Contact Form 7 or Gravity Forms on your site. You can ask for basic information such as their name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and to share a few sentences why they would be a perfect fit for your street team.
Once you have the form created, share the link to it on your social media platforms to get the word out and send an email to your list.
Recruiting Street Team Members Offline
You can also recruit fans to become your street team members offline. The perfect opportunity for this is each game or match you play. All you need to do is create a sign-up sheet that asks for their name and email address so you can email them all the information after the game. You can then send them the link to your sign up form on the website so they can sign up.
Once you have a decent number of interested fans, you’ll need to decide if you want all of them to become your street team members of only a select few. Keep in mind that no matter what you decide your street team should have a true passion for the sport as well as for your team and should consist of people that you would be proud to represent your brand.
How to Prepare and Incentivize Your Street Team
After your street team has been formed, you need to explain to them what they can expect and what you expect them to do. You also need to cover the benefits they get from promoting your team. Here are a few ideas to help you prepare and incentivize your street team.
Send a Welcome Packet
Send your street team a welcome packet that explains what is expected of them. Your welcome packet can be as simple as Word document or a PDF that outlines the following:
- Welcome message
- The desired outcomes from street team marketing
- Your team’s history and values
- Suggested promotion location
- Games and matches calendar
Have an Orientation Meeting
A good way to prepare your street team is to have an in-person or online orientation meeting. This gives you a chance to elaborate on the points addressed in the welcome letter and for your street team members to ask you any questions they might have.
Offer Free Tickets or Merch
When it comes to offering incentives, free tickets to your games or team jerseys, coffee mugs, and scarves are a great way to give them something in return for promoting their favorite team.
Consider the Possibility of Giving Them College Credit
Another way to incentivize them, especially if you have a younger audience on your team is to offer college credit. This will be applied to any marketing college course and you’ll need to investigate this possibility with your local college.
3 Marketing Ideas That Your Street Team Can Start Working On
Once you have all the details worked out, you need to come up with some marketing ideas that your street team can start working on. Here are three ideas to consider.
1. Facebook Marketing
Considering Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks with the most users, it goes without saying that it’s the first place where your street team should start. They can share details about your sports team as well as create events for your games. You can also create a photo overlay in your team’s colors and ask your street team members if they would be willing to add it to their profile photo before the big game.
2. Forums or Message Boards
Research which forums or message boards are popular among sports fans in your area or generally in sports. Then have your street team join and participate in the community and engage with other forum users. They can then add a line in their signature that promotes your next match or create a calendar of matches that you’ll be playing.
3. Passing Out Flyers
Finally, print out flyers that promote an upcoming match and have your street team members distribute them. They can pass them out near bus stops or metro areas or leave them on college message boards, local cafes, bars, and restaurants.
Grow Your Sports Team With the Help Of a Street Team
As you can see, street teams can be very effective in helping you promote your team. Use the tips in this article to form your very own street team with the help of your fans and don’t forget to download our street team cheat sheet.
