ENGINEERING YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB’S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
In a country of 1.3 billion people, finding a few thousand to like and support your brand shouldn’t be too hard. So, if your football club doesn’t have a fan following, maybe you’re addressing the wrong issue.
There is a general engineering principle when designing machines – you need to use the right number of parts to make a machine as efficient as it can be.
The more parts a machine has, the more places there are where it can lose energy or break down.
The fewer moving parts a machine has, the easier it is to achieve efficiency.
However, there is a breaking point below which you cannot continue part-reduction as it starts negatively affecting performance and efficiency.
The best engineered products, therefore, are the ones that hit the sweet spot!
Digital marketing for sports teams and football clubs is a bit like that – yes, matches, training sessions, interviews and other events are great fodder for digital campaigns, but if you’re just sitting in a room, editing images/videos and posting updates, then you’ve crossed that breaking point and entered the zone of ineffective marketing.
If all you do is edit pictures or clippings of matches gone by, then all you’re going to get is a handful of shares and empty seats during matches.
You know why?
Because social media posts don't cost money to like, comment or share!
If your football club uses social media metrics as a means of measuring fan engagement, you are living in a bubble.
METRICS FOR MEASURING FAN ENGAGEMENT
Now, I am of the personal belief that the most important metric in determining brand adoption is “Revenue”.
For a football club, that would mean revenue that fans generate – direct or indirect!
Direct would include merchandize, match tickets, event participation, etc. while indirect would be sponsorships, television deals, donations, etc.
Linking revenue streams directly to marketing actions enables you to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and improve efficiency.
Now, if a club were tech-enabled, they would probably have an app where fans could buy tickets and merchandize; participate in events or contests; view digital content, talk to other fans and connect with the club on social media platforms.
The app would also provide them a wallet that can be used at the stadium or concession stands – seamless transition from outside the stadium to the insides.
That app-wallet would also work at local partner-businesses – with special discounts for fans – especially on matchdays.
This would guarantee pinpoint tracking of what the revenue streams are and what areas need to be enhanced or removed.
Unfortunately, the current engagements are only measured on social media platforms and the currency is a like or a share or a comment - with minimal Analytics data to boot!
And because social engagement is free and very rarely directly lead to revenue, you’ll generally find more fans on social media engaging through posts, than in stadiums, supporting the club.
THE "5,000 TO 500,000 FANS" JOURNEY
If you are a football club without any digital presence – you have to get your act together if you want to survive!
Now, almost every club that with social media-engagement – 50 or 5,000 – is off to a great start - but that's all it is - a start!
However, here’s where the game has to change from the "sitting in a room and editing pictures" approach to creating opportunities that connect with the community.
If you want to increase the club’s fan-base numbers, you have to increase the effort!
Keeping budget in mind, here are some ways you can easily get more fans and form a deeper connection with your community.
- School Programs
- Charitable Programs
- Medical Programs
SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Engaging schools and involving them in club-related activities is the easiest way to create a fan-following. Unfortunately, the most common approach chosen is to "sponsor" some school-events with banners and posters highlighting the association – there’s no real association, just a blanket of support.
Converting that into real support and active involvement is quite simple really – clubs have one thing that kids adore – professional athletes!
Players guest lecturing physical education classes, participating alongside students in awareness-raising school plays; organizing weekend camping trips; serving mid-day meals, or simply visiting schools for vocational Q&A sessions – there are so many student activities that players can become a part of.
The idea is to get kids involved with your team and players, and create a bond – so then when there’s a game on and children want to go watch it, their parents take them!
CHARITABLE PROGRAMS
When it comes to helping those in need, I (personally) support education-based programs only. Handing someone a free meal is unsustainable and doesn’t solve any problem(s) in the long run.
We’ve got to move away from the "feed-the-people" mentality and move into the "teach-the-people-to-feed-themselves" mentality – the logic or morals behind that are a whole different discussion.
For now, let’s just focus on teaching people to fish, rather than giving them a fish.
Again, "education" does not mean English, Science, History or Geography – it can mean vocational studies with basic reading/writing skills.
If you have the money, setting something up is the way to go – if not, partnering with some courses or training institutes is a great way to set people up for life.
Think metal-work or agriculture studies or electrician-training - anything that can help people earn a living!
Sponsoring people’s courses and supporting them while they learn is the best way to approach charity – and the most long-lasting solution as well.
MEDICAL PROGRAMS
The third idea for community engagement is to organize medical programs for the community or use the club’s medical facilities for the benefit of its supporters.
How about organizing vaccination drives at the club’s facilities or taking players along to vaccination camps for people who cannot come to the club?
Why not provide season-tickets with additional benefits like free annual health checks for season ticket holders or free testing for senior citizens in their families - partnering with a testing laboratory or medical facility might help arrange this.
The club’s medical staff can also provide some basic services on special days – while the players can play a role by involving themselves or simply being there.
If, for a moment, we forego the fact that this might create a life-long fan out of someone who rarely cared about the sport, let alone the club, then just think of it in terms of your social media feed!
You will get a lot of high-quality content that shows how your club is actually connecting with the community and making a difference in the lives of people.
That kind of content is fantastic for your brand image on social media!
Essentially, what you want is a long-term solution so approach things with the lowest cost first, and build up to something better – it is always better to create sustainable solutions like these, rather than one-time affairs that may turn away more.
There’s one thing I guarantee – you will get more people following you and coming to your games than what you get by organizing award-nights for a few stakeholders with vested interests!
Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you'd like my inputs on improving your brand's digital presence.