Chapter 9 Marketing & Promotions

Transcription

1 Chapter 9 Marketing & Promotions 9.1 INTRODUCTION In this competitive day and age whether your Junior Olympics track & field program is competing against AAU, or your Association cross country meet against a local road run, or your Association championship road run against seven other road events on the same weekend you need to have a basic knowledge of marketing and promotions in order to set your product above the competition. In the early days of road running, a thousand flyers stuck under windshield wipers at a previous race would get you somewhere around a hundred runners. In these days of the Internet, ten thousand s might not give you the same result. You should give thought to a mix of approaches to the running population as you seek an audience. Some will be more successful than others, given variables you may or may not be dealing with: whether the race is staged by and/or for a popular charitable non profit, the appeal of a course, the longevity of the event, whether there are any tangible or perceived rewards of the competition, and dozens more. Gone also are the days when you could walk in the door of a large local corporation and simply appeal to their sense of community. Likewise, national marketers have dozens of choices of how to reach people all over the country, and their methods get more sophisticated every day. All of the potential reasons/factors why someone might want to participate in your event should be listed by you or your organizing committee, and your marketing your reach to a sponsor who would benefit from reaching those same audiences and promotion how you reach potential participants will both benefit from the results. 9.2 SPONSORSHIP ACQUISITIONS Almost every sports organization relies on revenue from sponsors to provide necessary funding for programs and services for their clients, members and fans. This is especially true of USATF, as both the national organization and Associations are largely dependent on sponsors to be successful. Associations can survive without sponsors, relying on membership and sanction fees to fund the activities and events, but the more successful Associations have done well in securing sponsorships and been able to build more diverse programs and services. Locating and finding sponsors requires research, planning, an understanding of the product to be sold and knowledge of potential sponsors. Before volunteers can approach a prospective local sponsor, a plan of action needs to be carefully formulated. This plan requires work, but is the first and essential step to success. Marketing a sports organization is not an easy task. Frequently the membership is too small or geographically too dispersed to offer immediate benefits to the local sponsor. Only through proper positioning of the 9 1

2 organization s role in the community can these disadvantages be overcome. Proper planning includes: Formulation a plan, Defining the market, Creating a strategy, Identifying areas for sponsorship potential, Developing a hit list, Preparing a proposal in a workable time frame, Implementing a plan, and Evaluating and modifying the plan. Formulating a Plan Sponsorship proposals can be presented to an individual, a corporation or a foundation. But before presenting your proposal you must be ready to do your homework. A plan needs to be created. Your Association s short term and long term goals must be identified before targeting sponsors. By understanding these goals you will be able to focus your efforts in specific areas (i.e., more programs for Masters T&F, added communications to your members, having a functioning website, etc.) and consequently target corporations with corresponding demographic targets (age, sex, race), community involvement goals (supporting minority or physically challenged programs), philanthropic activity, and emotional tie ins. The plan should include Association goals, and should list potential sponsors capable of attaining these goals. With this information, a customized proposal may be drawn up for each potential sponsor. The proposal should clearly state the sponsor s role in the achievement of the organization s particular goal. Defining the Market Businesses and corporations are often looking for reach, which is how the association with your organization will help sell their product. Often this means they are looking for a large number of people who will be influenced into buying by seeing the corporate logo or hearing the product name. A potential sponsor must look at the cost effectiveness of the association. It is necessary to prove cost effectiveness to the prospective sponsor with an accurate number of individuals you represent. The actual number of athletes (base) probably will not be an attractive amount; however, the base may be broadened by including other family members (those with the purchasing power) and the non competing children within families that will be exposed to the sponsor. Do not stop there; broaden appeal by adding the audience that may learn of the sponsorship. Sponsors are very interested in the number of logo imprints that your organization can offer The New Jersey Association, which has a membership base of around 4,000, has a LDR Grand Prix that encompasses over 120 races and 70,000 participants. Each of the races in the Grand Prix is required to print the USATF New Jersey LDR Grand Prix logo on their applications. This logo includes the logo of the sponsor of the Grand Prix. A study of these 120 races showed that the total number of races applications printed was over 1 million. So one of the major selling points to a potential sponsor of this Grand Prix is that their logo will appear on over 1 million race applications in the state of New Jersey. In an effort to retain the sponsor, the Association is very diligent about sending a copy of each of the race applications to the sponsor. Creating a Strategy Many organizations think that the solution to marketing their programs is to find a single, large sponsor that will provide consistent annual revenues. This strategy is attractive, but it does offer potential risks. Also, it is difficult to obtain a single sponsor because there is considerable competition for the few that are available. If you obtain a single sponsor, a multi year agreement is always a good idea. Many organizations have thought their financial problems solved, only to find that income was dependent upon the sponsor s financial position. If that position weakened, the support could be reduced or eliminated, creating a financial crisis for the receiving organization. Whenever possible it is important to renew expiring agreements by September 30 so that your Budget & Finance committee can develop an accurate budget for the coming year. 9 2

3 A more realistic strategy that reduces risk is to divide program needs into key categories and seek multiple sponsors for differing aspects of the program. Most sponsorship requests are either athlete, event, or program based. Listed below are some types of sponsorships to consider. (This is not a complete list, but provides a sample break down of sponsorships that might be solicited. It is important to establish a list of sponsorships that are unique to your organization and help to meet your objectives and budget.) Identifying Areas for Sponsorship Potential Athlete based Budget relief for event travel Matching funds for other fund raising activities Financial aid for scholarships Event based Sponsorship of competitions: Stand alone events Series of linked events, such as a grand prix or all comers series Sponsorship of parent/athlete/coaches clinics Sponsorship of annual awards and/or banquet Budget relief for necessary equipment Budget relief for facility improvements Program related Sponsor for newsletter Sponsor for club recruiting Literature Developing a Hit List It takes time to compile a list of potential contributors, but knowing your resources can simplify the task. As part of the identification of potential sponsors, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the individuals responsible for evaluating sponsorship requests should be compiled. This is not an easy task and you will need some help to obtain this information. First, look to the Association s membership and more specifically your board members. Individuals who are or have been involved in our sport or who have demonstrated a genuine interest in athletics are good prospects. Let your membership know of your search by publishing the sponsorship goals in the newsletter. Ask the membership to alert the organization to local businesses or corporations with sponsorship potential. Determine companies or products that the membership patronizes (fast foods, soft drinks, etc.). The greatest chance of success lies within the resources of the organization itself. Next, look to businesses or products directly related to track such as sporting goods stores, running specialty stores, and equipment suppliers. These could offer budget relieving sponsorship and could be the easiest to sign on. For example, if your budget allocates $1,200 annually to printing costs (meet programs, recruiting literature, newsletters, etc.) a local printing company might provide these services at no charge (value inkind or VIK). This provides your organization with budget relief that can be reallocated to other programs. This printing company might become your organization s official printer with appropriate advertising space in all printed material. The objective is to realize that, although money seems a simple request, budget relieving services are as good as money and sometimes easier to obtain. Also, watch and listen to the media local and regional newspapers, television, magazines, free local journals with calendar opportunities, and web sites in general to see what companies sponsor similar organizations and activities. Company web sites often have a philanthropy section and will tell you the kinds of charitable opportunities they seek. It is suggested that you maintain a spreadsheet with all potential sponsor contact information, as this will allow you to generate letters and envelopes efficiently and professionally. After developing a list of potential sponsors, investigate each prospect and gain as much information about the organization as possible. This information should include demographic targets (age, sex, and race), community involvement goals (supporting minority or physically challenged programs), philanthropic activity, 9 3

4 and emotional tie ins with sports. Again, look at the philanthropy section of their web site, where they will usually tell you who they have been involved with and what types of partnerships they are seeking. Remember, corporate sponsors must justify the expense of the sponsorship. Determine the potential sponsor s goals and present your organization s case as they relate to those goals. Preparing the Proposal in a Workable Time Frame For all requests, timing is critical. This does not refer to when your organization needs its support, but the best time to present the proposal to a potential sponsor. Requests should be submitted when the corporation is in the budget formulation process. This could be any month of the year because company s fiscal years vary. Although many corporations reserve funds to allocate on an as needed basis, it is not wise to rely on this money. Therefore, find out when the fiscal year begins and ask when they consider sponsorship re quests. This will help decide when to submit the proposal. Prepare a generic proposal that can be adapted to any prospective sponsor. Take this shell and customize it for each presentation, as some requests will require more collateral support than others. The proposal should be typed and bound. A bulky document will not be read; therefore, plan to keep it to a reasonable size. Organize the proposal as follows: Title Page Mission Statement Executive Summary The Proposal Attachments Some details of these topics include: Title Page: Present a clean, simple title of the proposal. The title can be reproduced on your organization s letterhead with logo. Mission Statement: This statement shows that the organization has defined its purpose. It may include a focus on youth, the community, amateur sports, etc. One of the first questions corporations and foundations will ask is, Are you a non profit organization? It is appropriate to establish that criterion in this portion. Executive Summary: In one page, give the brief overview of the organization s history and accomplishments. Summarize the proposal with detail on one program or aspect of the program that helps fulfill the mission statement. The Proposal: The proposal should begin by showing how the association with your organization will benefit the corporation. This is really a written business plan and the prospective company will be impressed that you researched their goals and community involvement. Continue with listing goals of the Association, detail strategies that will be used to meet the objective, and state the need for assistance to execute the strategies. Finally, end with a direct appeal based on the capabilities of the sponsor to fulfill that need. It is imperative that the proposal demonstrate a classic win win for both parties. Do not simply ask for dollars, but show what the sponsor will receive in return. Again, if you have done your homework, the sponsor s needs will be addressed accurately. Attachments: Include samples of the organization s published literature (i.e., newsletters, brochures, etc.), publicity clips, and bios of athletes who will benefit from the acceptance of the proposal. Also, include the résumés of key personnel so that you enhance the professional image of the organization. Provide an Internal Revenue Service determination letter establishing the 50l(c)(3) designation. Finally, it is appropriate that the organization s budget and five year plan be included in this part of the presentation. Although each of these attachments will enhance the proposal, pursue opportunities as they present themselves. Do not delay a timely request for sponsorship just because all the support materials have 9 4

5 not been pulled together. Remember that the Association will most likely be using talented volunteers. It may take many months to construct the ideal proposal format. Construct it, but do not delay requesting support while waiting for it to be completed. Implementing a Plan Now that you have formulated a proposal, targeted a group of prospects and developed a specific proposal, the decision of how and when to submit the request for support is necessary. It is critical in this phase to use appropriate personnel for the presentation and to provide the follow up necessary to secure the support. Just as you evaluated potential sponsors in order to select a targeted list, you must evaluate the talent in the organization to ensure proper handling of the personal contact. Recognize that the person who conducts the research or writes the proposal may not be the best choice for inclusion in a business meeting. Work with the organization to identify members with business experience who are comfortable making formal presentations. This person should sign the cover letter which accompanies the proposal. The cover letter should end by stating that a contact will be made on a certain date to arrange for an appointment for a formal presentation. Sometimes there may be no formal presentation. But, if the prospect allows a formal presentation, it is important to have a printed agenda and a time limit set before the meeting. The presentation should consist of a review of the proposal and a question and answer period. It is important that the organization s representative be sensitive to stated concerns and addresses them openly during this phase of the request. When appropriate, emphasize the benefits to be gained by the sponsor. Presenting a proposal for sponsorship is essentially a sales call. Therefore, as its first objective, the call should seek a commitment to the proposal. If the sponsor is not ready to make a commitment, establish what the next step should be. If the potential sponsor wants to evaluate the proposal or share it with others within the organization, offer additional information as needed. If needed, commit to a date by which the information will be provided. Try to determine when they will make the decision before concluding the meeting. Modifying and Evaluating the Plan A salesman closes very few deals at the first meeting. If you are not granted acceptance during the presentation, recognize that a follow up will be necessary. Be sure you maintain contact with the potential sponsor at appropriate intervals. Even if a sponsor declines the opportunity to support your organization, maintain contact. The more the sponsor knows about the Association, the more probable a chance of future success. A successful committee will constantly evaluate the plan. Changes will always be in order to make the plan more appealing to the sponsor community. After each presentation or round of presentations, you should step back, compare the plan to the results it did or did not produce, and make the appropriate modifications for the future. 9.3 PRESS RELEASES Let s face it; we usually have to take a back seat to sports like baseball, football and basketball. But that doesn t mean that we can t enjoy our fair share of space in the papers or on the nightly news. There are several key ingredients to insuring that we get that space. But the first rule of thumb is never to call up and gripe about the lack of attention you re getting. That won t win any friends. In fact, chances are the people at the medium will regard you as a crank. As we ll see, there are more effective ways to get across your point. Let em Know You Are There First, find out who your local media contacts are. Put together a mailing list. Your list should include newspapers, radio stations, and television stations and, if you are in a large market, the wire services. Don t skimp! If there are two reporters who should receive your material, don t hesitate to send to both. Something to keep in mind: Remember to include your weekly newspapers. For example, the New York Times may not include your road race schedule on their agate page, but the Staten Island Register just might, especially if one of the events takes place there. 9 5

6 Keep a steady flow of information going to the media, but make sure it s useful. Calendars of events are always handy items. Advance material on upcoming events is good for the media. These don t have to be works of deathless prose, not by any means! Instead, just put together something in outline form following the basic five W s (Who, What, When, Where, Why) of journalism. Whatever you do, don t flood the media with reams of useless information. The Contact List An Association should create and maintain a media contact list of print (local newspapers, local or regional running publications i.e. Minnesota Running & Track, New England Runner), national publications (i.e. Runner s World, Running Times, Track & Field News), local journals newsletters and community publications, club newsletters and any other print outlet deemed appropriate. You are the best source for what counts in your area. This is a valuable resource and gives you a good excuse to contact these people once in while, just to update your information. How To Get Your Material To The Media is the most efficient way to reach the media these days, but there may be times when you should FAX or hand deliver your material. If you have a release written on Monday on something that s going to take place Tuesday, by all means get it to the media as soon as possible. If you don t have access, sending information via FAX can be nearly as effective as . After distributing a press release via or FAX, it s always a good idea to make a follow up call to make sure it arrived. This also gives you the opportunity to answer any questions or pitch another story idea. Establishing Rapport with The Press If you stay at it long enough and play the game right, your local reporters will get to know you as someone they can rely on for information on athletics. If you re a spokesman for your organization, this should be your aim. Make yourself available to the press, and let them know that if they have questions you re the person to contact. Naturally, this means that you ve got to have the answers, or at least you ve got to know where to go to get them. Always be truthful to the media because their trust in you is essential to promote your organization and its events. If you don t know the answer to a question, tell them, and then do everything possible to find the answer and get it to them ASAP. Media relations are all about providing a service. If you provide good and consistent service to the media, you will eventually see better coverage of your events. What s News? Any information you can provide on events and happenings is potential news. On a slow day, you never know what they will pick up. Calendar information on upcoming events, information on special events like the Minnesota Athlete of the Month regularly picked up by local newspapers, special awards, events honoring awards, clinics conducted by elite athletes, results of events all are examples of the kinds of things that may attract news interest. What to do for calendars? If you want your events listed on calendars, by all means send this information. Find out what schedule the publication follows so you know how far in advance to submit the information. This includes the dates, sites and the names of contacts (along with addresses and phone numbers) for further information. What to do about results? If you want to get results to the media, get them there immediately! It s always a good idea to let the media know a few days in advance about your event, and that you will provide them with the results ASAP following the competition. Results of an event that happened on Saturday are worthless to a paper on Sunday! Be sure you have complete information, including the correct spelling of the athletes names, correct times or distances, and the athletes affiliations or hometowns. Summary The tenet that s helped us the most over the years is this: Put yourself in the reporter s place, and try to imagine what you d need. You won t always see your material in print competition for newspaper space is tougher than it s ever been these days. But when you do, take pride in the fact that you ve made it happen. 9 6

7 9.4 NEWSLETTER / MAGAZINE Every Association should seriously consider publishing a newsletter/ magazine for distribution to its constituency. Newsletters/magazines can vary from a simple, text only version up to a sophisticated magazine layout with pictures and graphics. The main purpose of your newsletter is to keep your constituency in formed of what is happening in your Association, as well as nationally. This information should include Association and National contacts, schedule of events and meetings, information on programs, articles on athletes and clubs, updates on Annual Meeting, etc. The list can be end less and will vary from Association to Association. Offering a newsletter/magazine is a great member benefit and should be promoted as such. It should be used as a tool for recruiting more members by providing something valuable to them that is not found in any other sources. You should also take advantage of your publication and its uniqueness, as way to generate added revenue by offering business, services and events the opportunity to advertise in it. By offering a vehicle to help disseminate their information to your members, you can pay for the costs of the publication. USATF members are typically the most active athletic participants in every area and purchase a lot of athletic equipment and products. Newsletter/Magazine Distribution At a minimum, you should try and include the following on your mailing list: Individual Members; Member Clubs; Sanctioned Events; Sponsors/Supporters; National Staff office and Officers; College & High School Coaches; Running Specially Stores; and Running Camps 9.5 MEDIA PARTNERS Newsletters and/or Association information can also be incorporated into existing publications (i.e. New England Runner, Oklahoma Runner, Midwest Running, and Northwest Runner) in the form of USATF news pages or columns at little or no cost. A good example would be California Track & Running News and Running Journal, both of which provide our Associations with one or more pages relating to their Association. The drawback to this method is your information can get buried within the publication, and you are giving up your membership list to the publica tion. If you cannot provide a newsletter in any other manner, the positives of this method outweigh the negatives. In order for this relationship to work, you should 1) know the exact location and amount of space available for your use, 2) the deadline for submitting material(s), and 3) the cost involved. Ideally you should make sure the magazine is mailed to your entire mailing list (see below) and you will need to negotiate the mailing cost accordingly. With the addition of your mailing list to the publication s existing list, their magazine becomes more valuable to advertisers. Before making such arrangements you should become familiar with the new USATF Privacy Policy that can be found at WEB BASED MARKETING SYSTEM The National Office has contracted with Delivra, an Internet based blast company that can contact large numbers of individuals via . The service allows the communications chair or anyone delegated by the communications chair to use the system. However, reaching the general public and/or your membership or community with blasts is different than having a complete web based marketing strategy. 9 7

8 Marketing Audits Before you can embark on a major campaign to increase web traffic, you have to have a sense of where you are in the marketplace. Who are your competitors? How do you rank among them? How are you communicating? How well are you articulating your brand, your offers, and your value? Which technologies are working well for you and which are not? Site design When most people think of site design, they think of how the pages on your web site look and feel when a user lands on them. But there s more to site design today than just quick graphics and fast download times. You ve got to focus on how many clicks it takes a potential customer to find the information they are looking for ease of the find makes them happy! As well, certain key branding principles will guarantee that your site will be high on the Internet search engine ranking when someone Google s or Bing s you. This is all about integrating strategic vision, branding, design, sales focus, and technology needs. Managed direct advertising and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) This is marketing speak, but we often forget we are competing for the leisure time of millions of potential customers. If we want to beat out soccer, X Games, and other modern (read: television) sports, we have to give people quick and easy ways to find out about us and our programs. You want to select the right path for advertising success. Whether it s converting wasted print ad dollars to Google Ad Words or Facebook advertising, or choosing to stay with a great print publication that still works, everyone s goal in any campaign is to use the advertising channels available to them that will deliver the highest number of targeted impressions to their audience, the greatest number of actions, or the highest number of clicks. As print advertising began to fail in the market place, people often joked that they didn t need an ad agency, since anyone could put up a web page for next to nothing. The past few years of success with online advertising has given many companies, groups, and sports a new path to their markets. Search engine marketing (SEM) through Google Adwords or Google Adwords Express, compelling graphics, video or text ads on the Google Display Network, and Facebook advertising campaigns have demonstrated paths forward with options and opportunities for most businesses. Conversion optimization Conversion Rate Optimization is the process of improving content, page flow, landing page design, and site architecture in order to increase the percentage of site visitors who become customers. As Google has refocused that market on the need to have great content, we re heading back to a world where good writing is rewarded. You need to study the information in your marketing audit. Use it to improve your copywriting, landing page, page flow, calls to action, and design in order to help convert more site visitors into customers. Content creation and management You more than likely don t have several copywriters on staff and are not able to react quickly to potential customer needs for regular social media updates, new articles, features, etc. But keeping your content fresh and enticing, attracting old and new users on a constant basis, is important to your success. You will need to set up systems where approved administrators can place appropriate materials on your site in a timely manner. 9 8 Associations Manual