What is Sports Marketing? 

Simply put, it is the use of sporting events to promote a brand or product. This type of marketing allows businesses to utilize the popularity of sports to place their product right in front of some of their biggest target audiences. Some examples include Super Bowl ads, ads in a stadium or arena and also paid endorsements by athletes. For many, advertising through athletics helps create a certain brand image that people love because it can help show a healthy, successful lifestyle that people want. 

Game Plan:

Develop a Target Audience

Who is your audience? Ensure you know who you’re targeting by knowing about your specific audience demographics such as where they are located, their age range, what their interests are and what type of income they have. When thinking about your target market, you can determine how you can reach your consumers better. 

Create Engaging Content

With the help of celebrity sports figures, you can create engaging content to attract more viewers. Fans love to interact with their favorite celebrities, so they’ll likely share the content they post with your product(s) often, meaning that you can take advantage of the pre-existing networks.
 

Time Your Messages Correctly 

Almost ¾ of sports fans prefer to have engaging content before the game starts. When you market before the game, you take part in the pregame excitement. This allows fans the time to get excited even before the main event which can keep the buzz going.

Utilize Sports Contests

A contest can tap into the excitement that fans already have for the game as they are motivated to feel like winners, even though they might not be athletic. Contests get people excited about what you have to offer your customers, making these great tools for customer outreach and motivating your customer base. Plus, you can give out free product as a prize – who doesn’t love free stuff!

Brand Partnerships

Sports teams and brands are looking to align with one another as businesses continue to become even more data-oriented. Brands are always looking for new opportunities to invest in partnerships, so they continuously look for new avenues to make that happen.

Challenges in Sports Marketing:

Just because the industry is growing rapidly, that doesn’t mean that challenges don’t arise – there are hurdles to jump just like in any other industry. Keep in mind that…

• Professional athletes are not actors, they can’t always effectively market. 
• Millennials are not always watching traditional media.
• Incentivizing people to attend sports events in person can be a struggle.

The good thing is, here at Burkhart, we know just the steps to overcome those hurdles. Reach out to us today to see how we can help you.