5 tips for successful sports marketing social media campaigns

I wrote this post for another website, and thought it had at least a loose tie in to this website, so I figured i would share.  This is by no means an exhaustive list.  Please feel free to add more tips in the comments.

This is an interesting time for those in the sports marketing world…a turning point, so to speak.  The new wave of sports marketers are relying on and will continue to rely on social media to help market their clients and their products because of its cost effectiveness and ultimately, its reach.  Facebook has over 250 million users, Twitter is over 75 million, LinkedIn is at approximately 50 million…and you certainly can’t forget the myriad of other options; blogging, Myspace, YouTube, etc.  You can effectively market to all of these groups, assuming you have the money and the know-how.  Of course, every knowledgeable person has the budget of a Klondike or Upper Deck or NFL, so how do us “little guys” still get our message across while staying within some reasonable budgetary confinements?

Interested?  Then read on for 5 tips to help ensure that your first, or your next social media marketing campaign is a big success (without breaking the piggy bank to do it!)

1. Know your target base.  The most important component of a traditional marketing campaign is still the most important part of any social media campaign; you have to know your market.  With a social media campaign, this aspect becomes of greater importance because of the different social media options available to you, the marketer.

Is your product specifically geared toward younger children?  Towards professionals?  Realistically, are you looking at a regional product or a national product?

Questions like these are just a few things to think about.  Fortunately, there are many tools available to help.  Twitter has tools available to discover the trending topics within a particular region, Facebook and LinkedIn have groups focusing on a particular topic, etc.  Use these to your advantage.

2. Know your options.  Even if you have 1000 Facebook friends, or 1500 people following you on Twitter, you aren’t guaranteed success if you pitch your product to your follower base.  Know your options.  Are you running a contest? If you can convey the message properly in 140 characters, maybe you use Twitter, or maybe you use a Blog for longer content.  Do you know the rules regarding running a contest via Facebook, and what you can and can’t do without their permission?  Plan on using video?  YouTube is always an option, or you can live stream an event using uStream, or maybe something else altogether.  Do your research.  Sometimes the biggest or most obvious option isn’t the best fit for your campaign; don’t be afraid to use some of the smaller sites or blogs for your campaign if those are the options that fit your niche.

3. Network.  Network. Network. You know you have a great product.  But if you’re one of only a handful of people that know it, your chances at success are obviously very limited.  Welcome to the world of networking.  If you know you’re going to ask X blog to help promote your product,  do your best to get to know that person beforehand.  Comment on their blog, retweet their messages on Twitter; send them an email saying you like what they’re doing, whatever.  Show an interest in what that person is doing in the world of social media.  I was able to get a product mentioned on Yahoo! Sports, not because I knew someone there, but because I knew someone that knew someone, and I had commented on that person’s blog a few times and they thought it’d be a good idea to pass my product on to a larger audience.  You never know when the people you know could help your product be a success, so, specifically network with people you want to work with, but network with as many people in your area of expertise as possible…you just never know when it will help.

4. Utilize the athlete/Know your Contracts. So, you’ve found the perfect athlete, created the perfect product and created the perfect marketing plan.  That’s all well and good, but don’t forget to use that perfect athlete to your advantage.  Think about it…if you’re doing a product with Chad Ochocinco, who are people going to be more apt to listen to?  You, or Chad himself?  Utilizing the athlete’s fan base is the best form of target marketing because you assume that anyone following the athlete is a fan and at the very least will be interested in your product will therefore buy that athlete’s product…So make sure you’re written social media usage provisions into the marketing contract!

5. Be versatile. You know your target base, you know the different social media options available to you, you’ve networked, you’ve utilized the athlete…and the campaign still seems to be failing.  This brings up two points.  Firstly, if for some reason you aren’t, continually monitor your social media campaign.  Are you seeing people follow your twitter feed due to your work?  Are they leaving blog comments?  Joining your facebook groups?  Analyze your campaign daily, if not multiple times a day.  Social media and media generally, is constantly changing, and since you’re using social media for your marketing campaign, it would only make sense frequently check your work .  Secondly, always have a back-up plan.  Maybe your initial campaign is in need of a contest giveaway (i.e. autographed merchandise) or maybe the product needs to be bundled with something else (i.e. trading cards to accompany the product, coupons for deals on future products?) in order to be successful.  Be versatile!  Don’t give up on your social media campaign just because things aren’t moving as quickly as you’d like in the beginning.

And there you have it.  5 tips to put you well on your way to a successful social media sports marketing campaign.  Of course, this is only a starting point!  Have other tips that aren’t listed?  Be sure to mention them in the comments.