What helps promote sports? The best sports marketing campaigns

Any sport is surrounded by many stakeholders. Sports clubs want to play, win and earn, spectators want to attend competitions, sporting goods manufacturers want to increase sales, sponsors want to promote their brands, and TV channels want to broadcast rating matches. The consistent actions of each of these actors to achieve their goals are categorised as sports marketing.

Best examples of sports marketing campaigns

The best sports marketing campaigns use images to connect emotionally with the audience and a clear message that gets to the heart of the event. The results are campaigns that go viral and spread online at the speed of wildfire.

Here are some of the best sports marketing campaigns we've seen in recent years.

This Girl Can Do Sports, England

The English Sports Council created the This Girl Can campaign as a way to tackle health problems such as obesity through athletics.

They found that more men participated in sport than women, mainly due to women's fear of people judging their image.

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This Girl Can featured ordinary women involved in fitness. And the goal was to motivate other women by their example.

As a result, the original video garnered over 8 million views and the hashtag is still in use today. More importantly, it has attracted many more women to the sport to improve their health.

Manage yourself with Under Armour

Under Armour's target audience at the time of this campaign was young people from the millennial generation. The Rule Yourself campaign captured the audience with the story of Michael Phelps as he prepared for the 2016 Olympics.

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The genuine message of the advert struck an emotional cord, which is quite difficult to achieve as young viewers lose interest if the message seems fake.

As a result, the advert became one of the most shared Olympic adverts on social media. And to top it off, it won an award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

"Thanks, Mum!" by Proctor and Gamble.

Proctor and Gamble took a different approach to the 2018 Winter Olympics. To link its products to the sporting event, it used mothers as the central theme.

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As part of the "Thank you, Mum!" campaign Proctor and Gamble positioned their products as a way for mothers to support their Olympic heroes.

The result has resulted in over 74 million views worldwide and over 370 million interactions on Twitter. However, despite such an emotional message, they are still just a brand selling household products.

Social media with Paddy Power

Paddy Power is a sports betting site that utilises social media marketing campaigns to significant effect. They are a great example of how knowing your audience can bring great results. Their marketing strategy aims to remove contradictions and obstacles to engage with their customers in real time.

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As an example leading up to the 2016 World Cup, they pretended to carve "C'MON ENGLAND" into the Amazon rainforest, which caused a storm of outrage on social media. They then showed additional images demonstrating their efforts to raise awareness of deforestation.

Paddy Power's marketing efforts resulted in over 160,000 visits to their blog in 24 hours. And it demonstrates how a smart campaign differentiates you from your competitors.

The best sports marketing and promotion ideas

Now, not everyone has the advertising budget of the big sports brands. But that doesn't mean you can't get amazing results from your digital marketing efforts.

1. Host a sports competition or prize giveaway

Hosting an online contest is a fun way to tell fans about your sporting event. And at the same time, create excitement and encourage more people to attend.

Offering raffle prizes builds anticipation, which helps you get more entries. And posting your contest on social media helps expand your reach.

2. Redirect contest entrants to relevant advertising
   Media adverts play a huge role in attracting visitors to a website. They work by showing adverts to people who have already visited your website. So using this tactic in sports marketing and promotions is a smart move.

3- Survey your sports fans and supporters

Another solid sports marketing and promotion idea is to ask your fans what they want.

Sending out a survey will help you gather important feedback about fan preferences so you can improve your business and serve them better in the future.

4- Address your mailing list

Chances are you've already started building your mailing list. But did you know that your list is the perfect place to connect with people who already want to hear from you?

When visitors sign up for your mailing list, they express a desire to receive updates from you. So when you send a newsletter, they are more likely to open and read it.

In the same way, you can promote your sporting event by sending out a broadcast to active subscribers. And if you include social media sharing buttons in the email, they can also spread the word to their friends.

5. Share teaser materials before the game

Sometimes your main marketing goal is to sell as many tickets to the game as possible. A great way to do this is to share content during the lead-up on social media.

Here are some ideas of what you could post before the big game:

Photos of individual athletes with a brief description of their strengths on Twitter.

Graphic slideshows of preparations at the venue on Instagram

YouTube videos of your team warming up before practice

Flash sales of discounted tickets on your website

By posting frequently, you keep your team visible in news feeds, which increases the chances of more people seeing your content.

6. Publish behind-the-scenes footage

Another way to generate interest in your sports brand is to share behind-the-scenes shots on social media.

"Real Madrid" demonstrates this brilliantly with its behind-the-scenes tour of the state-of-the-art sports complex.

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With over 30,000 views, the video was an instant hit with fans.

7. Working with sports influencers

Influencer marketing has taken the world by storm and for good reason. Partnering with influencers in your industry can expose you to a wider audience.

Nike is a great example of how working with popular sports influencers can strengthen your brand and increase awareness. 

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Consider working with smaller influencers with an engaged, close-knit community. This way you can focus your campaigns on the audience that matters most to you.

Publish real-time updates about your sporting event

Finally, an effective way to promote any event is to publish live updates on social media.

For example, live posts about events as they unfold help people who can't make the event stay up to date.

But if Twitter isn't where your audience hangs out, most other social media sites have live posting features. There's live streaming for YouTube, Instagram has Instagram TV, and Facebook has Facebook Live.

Whichever network you choose, each has tools to keep your fans informed and engaged with your business.