Marketing & Communication Guidesportlomo-userupload.s3.amazonaws.com/uploaded/galleries/7971... ·...
Transcript of Marketing & Communication Guidesportlomo-userupload.s3.amazonaws.com/uploaded/galleries/7971... ·...
Key Pointers This is a brief summary of the guide, please read on for more detailed information and suggestions
Social Media:
Your social media should be used as a place to drum up club support rather
than offer extensive information.
Update it frequently, particularly with photos and match results and always
ensure content complies with club values and ethics.
Website:
Your website should be the hub of all your club information, including club
history, contact information, FAQs, results and fixtures.
Ensure you follow the ‘5 click rule’ to make your website as accessible as
possible and include visible links to your social media sites.
Press and PR:
Build a relationship with your local media and get to know their print
deadlines to ensure information is relevant at time of publishing.
Send them concise match round-ups with high-resolution photos to increase
chances of publication.
Internal Communication:
Set up a club database with members e-mail addresses and phone numbers
to simplify club communications.
Create a regular online club newsletter with exclusive content as well as
recent news, results and fixtures.
Social Media Social media allows your club to interact and engage with existing members and the
wider public, including possible new members. It is an important complimentary tool
to your clubs website. Social media offers your club the ability to communicate with
your stakeholders in the present moment) as well as becoming more connected and
tangible to fans. Stakeholders are anyone who comes into contact with your club or
has an interest in it e.g. players, members, volunteers, parents, coaches. Some of
the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine,
Snapchat and LinkedIn. While it is not essential to have a presence on all of them, it
is important to be an active user of at least 1 or 2.
Social media by its very nature is public and has the potential to go viral; hence it is a
good idea for your club to have a social media policy or a list of best practices that
may include some of the following points:
Guidelines- It is important that those producing content for the clubs social
media outlets have a clear understanding of what is acceptable and how the club
wishes to portray itself. It is essential to clearly explain what type of photos, videos,
links, posts etc are acceptable. Those in charge of social content should be acutely
aware of what (club) information is confidential and should not be shared online.
Club Values- Interaction with any stakeholder on social media must be in line
with your clubs values, for example you should not upload posts gloating or boasting
over a rival. The benefit of social media, real time interaction, can be also be a
pitfall. Stakeholders expect prompt responses but it is important not to respond too
hastily because once the communication has been made it cannot be taken back and
is represented as the clubs opinion.
Issues-Don’t get drawn into an argument, issues should not be dealt with in a
public forum. If needs be then private messaging is a useful alternative in solving any
issues.
Content is King! - Content should be interesting, relevant and updated
frequently. Uploading content simply for the sake of doing so can have a negative
effect as people view it as similar to spam; everything you post should have a
purpose. A Facebook page, for example, should not be used to just post fixtures.
Facebook is ideal for posting pictures in real time or a link to an article that may
interest your club members, such as pre/post training stretches or healthy snacks.
Advertising- Social media also offers a low cost advertising option, specifically
Facebook. Your club can target the age, gender, location etc of the Facebook users
that they would like to see their advert, which could prove useful in recruiting new
members at the beginning of the season.
Ethics- It is important to remember that everything uploaded to public social
media pages is accessible by everyone. Thus it is essential to be aware of ethical
issues that may arise, such as uploading pictures of junior members or offensive
posts. Please see the following document for more ethics guidelines
Loreto Hockey Club offers an example of a club utilising
social media effectively. They update their social media
platforms regularly with relevant, user friendly
information. For example, they advertise/ remind
members of club events while also promoting match
fixtures and increasing user engagement. They
regularly upload pictures and keep posts short which
are good practices for social media.
The club use Twitter in conjunction with Facebook but
tailor the content to make it Twitter-appropriate, for
example match scores are tweeted in real time. The
club also use the hashtag #loveloreto to build club
spirit and increase awareness.
Website A club’s website is the main source of information for existing, new and potential
members. A general rule of thumb suggests that visitors to your clubs website
should be able to find whatever they’re looking for in ‘5 clicks’. Making your website
easy to navigate and user-friendly will encourage users to visit and interact with
your website more frequently.
A club’s website has several key objectives/functions:
Values and Ethos - The entire website should reflect the clubs values and ethos.
However, a section devoted to the club’s history and future goals is an ideal, specific
section to devote to your clubs core message.
Information/FAQ section- This section should answer any questions a new or
potential member might have. Elements to include are the structure of the club,
such as the number of men’s and women’s teams, as well as the youth system in the
club. This section could also include any training information, kit information, fees,
committee members, contact information etc. The site can also include a section
that provides members with information on club policies and the code of ethics.
Clubmark clubs Limerick and Avoca Hockey Clubs both have extensive club policy
sections with documents such as Garda Vetting forms, membership forms, club
policy, code of ethics, volunteer policy and code of conduct.
Update Regularly- It is essential that the website is kept up to date, particularly
with fixtures and results. Having frequently updated news and stories, as well as
events, can draw visitors to your website more frequently. Your website can also act
as a portal by which members can sign up for your EZine.
Social Media- The website should offer links to all the clubs social media pages.
Think of your clubs website as the base and social media as stemming from and
complimenting this, the website should be far more detailed than your social media
pages.
Promotion- Your website can be used to promote the clubs benefits to the local
community and any sponsorship deals it has. Likewise having a website that has a
high number of unique visitors will appeal to sponsors and increase your clubs
sponsorship opportunities.
Sales Tool- Your website can act as a sales tool for your club merchandise or club
programmes. The website can also facilitate a payment system to make it easier for
members to pay registration fees or other club costs. It is your shopfront 24/7.
Page Rank- It is important to think about your website’s page
rank. A site’s page-rank and score relates to how high up a search
page it will appear, meaning if someone Googles ‘Irish Hockey
Clubs’ then you would like your club to appear as high up the results page as
possible. Suggestions to increase your sites page-rank include using key words, have
relevant links, a well-structured and labelled/named site, and pictures.
Lisnagarvey Hockey Club’s
website is well structured,
regularly updated with scores,
fixtures and featured stories,
links to social media, has the
optimal amount of relevant key
words, has featured Google Ads,
highlights the club sponsor, and
has a rotating picture banner as
the focal point.
Press & PRBuilding a relationship with the press can have huge benefits for your club.
Increased press coverage can help build awareness of your club, increase the
reputation of the club, enhances the value for sponsors and thus increases
sponsorship opportunities, and raise the profile of hockey as a whole.
PR/Media Officer-It is necessary to appoint a club PR/Media Officer to act as a
point of contact with the media. The appointed member should have a clear
understanding of the role’s duties and responsibilities. They should ideally have PR
experience, or at least aspire to work in the industry.
Building Relationships-It is beneficial to build up and maintain a good
relationship with your local media, as well as at a national level when necessary.
Regular mentions and updates in the media help maintain a link with the club’s
community and, ensure that locals feel connected and aware of the clubs
achievements and events. The club member appointed to the role should familiarise
themselves with print and news deadlines to ensure the club’s stories and
results/fixtures are relevant for the time of publishing. It is also an idea to invite the
media to important matches or club events and inform them of any significant
happenings, such as a club member receiving an international cap or a high profile
new coach. If your club finds it difficult to gain media coverage then try writing brief
stories and posting or linking them on social media. Tagging journalists, media
outlets or asking for retweets may help build a relationship and recognition.
Local Media-While it is important to build up relationships with traditional media
agencies, it is also useful to gain contacts on a more focused and local level. Clubs
may have a better chance of getting featured more frequently in local newspapers.
Local papers and radio stations can be great for building goodwill towards the club
and its achievements, as well as recruiting new members. For example, Clonakilty
Hockey Club features regularly in The Southern Star newspaper. Local papers may
not have the resources to report on hockey but would be hugely welcoming of
concise copy and high resolution photos.
Sponsors-Media coverage offers many benefits to a club; attracting new members
and increasing local good-will towards the club, but it can also make the club appear
more attractive to sponsors. A club that is regularly featured in the media will be far
more appealing to a sponsor as they can use the opportunity to increase their brand
awareness while also associating their company to the values of the club and the
benefits of sport.
Monkstown Hockey Club offer a good example of a club that
recognised the mutual benefit a sponsorship deal can offer and are
sponsored by 98FM. The brand gains recognition via the club’s
social media sites, as well as the club’s jerseys.
Banbridge Hockey Club (Clubmark awarded) also have an excellent
sponsorship section on their website that promotes their current
sponsors as well as detailing sponsorship packages and costings for
future sponsors.
Internal Communication
Superior external communication should spark the public’s interest in your club, but
it’s important to maintain good communication once they have joined the club.
Internal communication is key to keeping your members engaged and committed to
the club. Communicating with members on a regular basis and in a meaningful way
will help them feel more connected to the club.
It is important to remember that most clubs have a wide array of stakeholders that
can require different forms of communication. It is not as simple as communicating
with just your teams; you need to consider that there are coaches, volunteers, junior
members, parents, and players of all ages and ability. A one size fits all approach
won’t work for all communication and it’s important to tailor the communication
channel when necessary.
Database- Establishing a database of members information is a necessity to build
up strong communication links. The club should have contact information for all
members, with phone and email addresses being imperative. Members should be
assured that their details won’t be used for any purposes other than club
communication. Details should be kept as up to date as possible and updated at the
beginning of every season. While communicating with members who have moved
on to another club and don’t wish to be contacted is something to consider, there is
huge potential for members who have left the club due to unforeseen circumstances
but still feel a connection to it and may be eager to attend events/matches or just
support the club in general.
Facebook Group- Your clubs Facebook page is both an external and internal
source of communication. However, it might be an idea to have a specific Facebook
group for your clubs committee, for example. Having a Facebook group makes it
easier for members to communicate and arrange meetings. A Facebook Group is
also private and only accessible by those invited to the group so can be used for
internal communication and is separate from your clubs public Facebook page.
Direct Mail/Club Newsletter/EZine- Creating a regular newsletter is a
great way to keep members up to date with news, fixtures, results, events and club
activities. The success of your EZine will depend on the size of your clubs database
and the quality of information being included in the newsletter. The frequency at
which you send out your EZine should be judged appropriately and will depend on
your club, for example the club might have enough interesting information to send
out an EZine once a fortnight or your may prefer to make it a monthly
communication tool. The content of the EZine should be relevant with some unique
information in order to keep open rates high, it is not enough to regurgitate
information already on your clubs website or social media platforms. It may be an
idea to include offers in your EZine for your club café or merchandise, this
encourages members to open the letter and support the club.
Avoca HC (Clubmark awarded) offers a good example. They have a
club newsletter, which website visitors can sign up to and receive
regular updates.
Cork Harlequins make signing up for their club newsletter simple
and easy as the sign up portal is featured on their websites home
page.
I.H.A. Office
Newstead
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Telephone: 01 716 3261