by Posh » Sat Sep 10, 2016 8:43 am
The most important thing for the club is not promoting individual games and offers but to engrain the club in the heart and soul of the community. Yes offers play a part but often it devalues the core product rather than creates a genuinely new customer. Offers should be targeted outside the area and to those like students, supporters of other clubs, people with children interested in football. These need to be long-term programmes though.
To engrain the club needs visibility. "Wow, so many people support their local team".
As part of this physical promotion such as posters are invaluable. Back in 2001 I used to distribute posters for forthcoming matches to every pub and busy premises in Morecambe and surrounding areas. It took half a day to do and they lasted for months. They weren't focused on one game but on passionate appeals for people to back their local club. Constantly reinforcing a simple brand message works and gets seen over and over again.
To do this we should have a couple of big poster sites on key roads where people pass all the time; I'd give away free car stickers to every supporter so a message gets seen hundreds of thousands of times; I'd sponsor the Service to Youth League with over 2,000 local kids playing and promote joint working and discounted kit offers; I'd discount kids football kits from the moment they go on sale; and I'd sell second hand kids kit to keep them out there. Impact, impact, impact.
Secondly, social media. Most of our followers are outside the local community (about 55% on Facebook). Let's take Facebook and forget the rest. Facebook is by far and away the most powerful promotional medium - higher usage, higher dwell times etc. Morecambe FC are one of the worst clubs at social. This starts because the Chairman and General Manager don't use social media. Secondly because there isn't a dedicated Marketing and PR Exec. Thankfully volunteers such as Freez and Mark have filled the void, as well as Matt's great videos and graphics. However from my experience it is incredibly painful. There is no strategy because it is difficult to do one when you've got no idea how to develop one.
Facebook's Page algorithms are specifically designed to limit the impact of standard organic posts. So if the club put up a next match announcement it will typically be viewed by a small hardcore who engage with the club, some of whom then share it - roughly six people on average. Not much.
As a result, you have to be smart. One of those is using Facebook Live, which Mark and Freez have. Facebook want people using Live so the algorithm puts it on far more followers timelines currently than organic posts.
The second is paying for ads or sponsored posts. These are incredibly effective. It has the ability to target on very tight geography and demographics. For example, you could offer a £5 a ticket offer with a download to say people 30+ with children and above average incomes who live in Kirkby Stephen only. The costs are still very cheap and they could deliver powerful campaigns for say £20 a week. On campaigns I deliver we can get 250,000 page impressions and a 1,000 engagements (likes, clicks etc.) for less than £100.
The only way to capitalise on organic posts is a like an share offer to promote a specific service. E.g. Give away a table in hospitality with a few cheap to deliver bells and whistles. These can often build up huge momentum if done right. One give away we did got 11.5 million page impressions and over 50,000 engagements for free.
Ignorance is bliss though. Let's hope Diego has a marketing strategy.
VIVE LA REVOLUTION!
