Marketing Opportunities for Your Sports Business
By Mike Szudarek
Whether you own and operate a gym or training facility or simply have
your own personal sports training business, there are time-tested,
simple communications techniques that you can learn and follow to help
your operation grow and prosper.
Your immediate goals in talking about your business are
twofold—increase awareness within your target audience about the
enterprise and build positive public perceptions. Positive perceptions
cover many factors including expertise, quality, dependability, friendly
service, attractive prices, comprehensive equipment, convenience, and
more.
Achieving these goals depends primarily upon your marketing
communications publicity efforts and fall into three general
categories—advertising, public relations, and word-of-mouth.
- Advertising represents paid commercial messages that tout
your business, and generally all businesses at some point need to
advertise. These can be print ads, radio or television spot
commercials, and internet website ads. Advertising, however, can be
very expensive. In addition to paying for the cost of the ads, there
is the initial creation and production of the ads themselves. Most
startup or very small businesses can’t afford much advertising.
- Public relations messages take advantage of
existing media and other outlets that would mention your business
strictly because it might be newsworthy or if your operations
somehow complement another venture or activity. Generally, there is
little or no cost to promote your enterprise in this way because you
are tapping into the promotional or news coverage functions of other
organizations. Engaging these outlets also helps you achieve your
objectives because of their ability to lend credibility to your
operations.
There will be considerable effort on your part though to make the
media and related organizations aware of new developments related to
your business. And don’t forget that you will have no control of
what is said by third parties such as newspapers and magazines if
they decide to write a story about you and your enterprise. An
additional audience for PR messages falls under the category of
customer relationship marketing, where past and present customers
are specifically targeted to increase retention rates and possibly
increase the volume of business.
- Word-of-mouth is the best kind of publicity—if it
is positive. It costs nothing and is long-lasting and persuasive.
Both advertising and public relations initiatives can stimulate
word-of-mouth in the initial stages of building awareness. In the
long run, however, customer attitudes based upon their satisfaction
with your business will determine the nature and extent of any
successful word-of-mouth generated.
Making public relations work
The following key points are a checklist to consider before you try
to attract media attention to publicize your business. Strategically
speaking, it is much more advantageous to “have your ducks in a row”
before seeking any publicity opportunities. This way you will be
prepared to take full benefit of what they can provide when
opportunities arise.
- Know your business: Have a clear understanding of
what your business is all about—what it offers, whom it serves, and
what makes it unique.
- Identify your key audiences: Who are you trying to reach
with your messages? In addition to present and prospective
customers, you will also be trying to reach other audiences who
might have influence on your business such as educators, healthcare
professionals, sports equipment retailers, trade associations, and
financial institutions.
- Find ways to reach these audiences: Do a little research
into how you might influence people in your target audiences. What
do they read? What websites might be popular with them? To which
organizations do they belong? Where do they purchase their sports
equipment?
- Determine what is newsworthy about your business: What is
unique about your business? Is it the first of its kind in the
community? How is it better than what was formerly available? How
does it tie into current community interests, values, and needs?
What have you achieved since you began the business? Are you having
an anniversary that should be noted? Answers to these will give you
an idea as to whether the news media might be interested in
developing a profile on your business.
- Know the media: The answers to the above suggestion need
to be considered in terms of the particular media outlet you wish to
use. For print publications, you need to know if the magazine or
newspaper uses the type of material that you are planning to send.
If you want to be featured on radio or even a local television
program, you should know the media personalities, hosts, news
anchors, and overall formats of their programs as well as the nature
of the stories they like to target and why.
- Prepare the appropriate presentation: In most cases, a
simple news release will reach the appropriate editor at a
publication or radio station and will suffice. In other cases, a
more fully developed press kit describing your business venture
might be more helpful in gaining media interest and attention. In
addition to packaging the story in a concise and compelling way,
make sure it gets to the right people at the right time. Be familiar
with the deadlines that media outlets have established for
developing and producing their stories.
- Consider using a media specialist: If you feel
uncomfortable with writing your own news release copy, facing the
media, or want to explore additional publicity opportunities that
are not immediately apparent, you might want to hire a media
specialist or a public relations firm. A competent communications
professional will be able to walk you through the intricacies of
media relations as well as identify other initiatives that might
prove worthwhile. These could range from developing newsletters or
direct mail campaigns to joining other organizations where you might
be able to network or find viable marketing opportunities through
the web.
Public relations activities have a long track record of introducing
thousands of proven, profitable techniques that can work successfully
for you. They can help to increase sales, enhance community and employee
relations, and broaden public awareness of your organization. They are a
potent force in your marketing because people are more inclined to
believe what they read or hear in an editorial context than accept the
same information in advertising.
Incorporating public relations strategies into your business requires
a strong marketing orientation. There is a special skill in discerning
those things about your organization that can be made interesting to the
media in the form of news or features. Every day, these techniques are
successfully used by businesses all over the world. Tomorrow, they can
be used to start helping you.
Mike Szudarek is a partner at Marx Layne & Company, one of the
Midwest’s leading full-service marketing communications and public
relations firms. He counsels clients in the consumer products, sports
marketing, and business-to-business industry sectors. He also has an
elite total in the 220-pound weight class in powerlifting.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the
strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength
training products and services while providing the highest level of
customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment,
information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.
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