My lessons from 15 months in sports marketing & partnerships ??????

In October ‘22 I took a deep plunge into the world of sports marketing after 13 years in tech. My passion for sports pushed me to try something radically new career wise. Although I learned a lot and met tons of great people, I can’t say I’ve been very successful in the last few months. For what it’s worth, I wanted to share my most important lessons and findings from my time in the industry.?

For starters, I’d like to point out that we’re not exactly in the most beneficial macro-economic context right now. There’s a lot of uncertainty and budget cuts are more normal than budget increases still. Marketing departments are under rising pressure to generate additional income streams with the same or more likely less budget to spend. However, even in a pessimistic climate, there should still be room for great MarCom work, right ????

?Acting contra-cyclic will amplify the result of your work. When everyone is going left (in other words: spending more and more MarCom budget on paid advertisements and things that have worked for us in the past), dare to go right. There’s great examples of how sports- and ambassador marketing have created value for brands. In today’s climate, taking that (calculated & informed) risk and doing something out of the ordinary could drive a lot more results than you’d expect.??

?Value driven partnerships win. You can only close (sport) sponsorship deals with sports minded people is an absolute false claim. There’s other very good reasons to start working with a sportive ambassador for your organisation. Out of the 4 partnerships I’ve developed, only 1 is with a sports brand. However, all of the partnerships have a strong set of shared values between athletes and partners, and that’s what you need to look for and amplify. Organisations are looking for a platform to tell their story, and your athlete or talent could potentially be that platform. You need to put values in the first place, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.?

?Sales cycles are rather long and unpredictable in sports marketing. 600 companies contacted > 200 meetings > 4 successful partnerships. That’s the (sad) result of my work for the last 15 months. If you’re going into sports marketing, gear up, because the success rate isn’t exactly great.?

?The gap between the board and the marketing department is getting bigger and bigger. I’ve talked to a lot of unsatisfied marketeers over the last few months, all of them having a hard time explaining that objectives will be difficult to meet with the budget restrictions they have to cope with. No, Mr. VP, we won’t reach Gen Z by offering discounts and cashbacks on our products like we always have. Yes, Mrs. VP, the younger audience we want to reach is looking for inspiring content rather than traditional discounts, probably on a SoMe platform you haven’t even heard of.?

?Be personal. Don’t do mass mailing. Organisations want to be understood and want to feel like you actually know and understand them. Don’t let the outlook of high volume sales funnels push you into an impersonal way of work.?

?As in every sales position, warm introductions and good recommendations are the best set-up for a successful partnership opportunity.?

?I’m yet to meet a MarCom Manager or CMO that has the actual final decision about marketing budgets. That, or my budget request wasn’t approved is the most used excuse in MarCom. And that’s sad. It’s like driving the car but not holding the keys (or not having the ?? to give some actual, valuable feedback to someone pitching you).?

?One of my biggest frustrations over the last months: a lot of Marketing Managers could use a lesson in elementary courtesy. After 2 meetings, a detailed budget proposal and a 2 hour creative brainstorming session, you’d think you deserve some feedback, right? Nope. I’ve been ghosted multiple times, even at times where you think the mutual time investment was big enough to at least close things off in a proper way. A simple I’m sorry, but we’re not interested or at the time we’re committed to XYZ, but feel free to call me again in 6 months is not very hard. I honestly can’t wrap my head around the fact these people are responsible to build a brand, yet can treat others like ??.?

?Influencer Marketing is not the same as Ambassador Marketing. If you’re looking for reach and followers and someone that knows the ins- and outs of Instagram and TikTok algorithms, you should talk to an Influencer Marketing agency. If you’re looking for a credible brand ambassador, someone that shares and can amplify your brand values and can create authentic content together, look for a brand ambassador. With these two terms being juggled around however, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for sports marketeers (and more importantly: the athletes themselves) to distinguish their athletes from influencers. Then again, where’s the line? (catch-up with this article if you’re interested to learn more: https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/culture-people/where-is-the-line-between-athlete-and-influencer/?scope=anon ).??

I'm going back into tech soon, so my time in the industry is almost over. Questions? In for a coffee or want to bounce some ideas back and forth? Want some (free) advice as someone in sports marketing or as a company that wants to get into sport marketing? Slide in my DM’s ??.?

It’s been an immense privilege to work with Poolster Talent Management , the different athletes and partners over the last few months. Thank you all!?