Marketing

Marketing is the process of matching up a product or service with people who want to purchase or participate in it. These people are referred to as "the market". Marketing is also a planned approach to "sell" your product or service.

It is through the club's overall plan that it tries to attract sponsors, increase and retain members, recruit volunteers, develop strategies for player development, education of volunteers and indicate to the members where the club is going in the future. Through the marketing plan the elements of membership, sponsorship and volunteer recruitment are looked at. You are selling your club to these markets.

Sport, leisure and recreation are extremely marketable products: they have a head start over many consumer products because the public already sees them as healthy and worthwhile ways to spend time and money.

However, with so many recreational options now available, it is unwise to sit back and wait until people stumble across the club or activity. You have to make them want to take part in your activity or sign up as a club member. This process of persuasion is known as marketing.

Marketing is not just "hard sell". It is a carefully planned mixture of advertising, publicity, sponsorship and public relations. It is important to consider all these areas when working out a marketing strategy for your club.

The product you are selling is your own club or organisation - or the activity around which the club is based. So it stands to reason that you must present whatever you are offering in a positive light.

What should a club do? Each area of marketing must be broken down and considered separately as part of the club's aims. Asking the following questions may help:

• What is our product and do the public understand it?
• Who is our target market - who would be interested?
• What do we want to achieve - e.g. more members, more sponsorship etc?
• Are we in for the long haul? Marketing is not a fund-raising drive
• How could we best promote it to the public?
• Do we have the work force to implement our plans?
• Who carries out the Marketing?

Marketing can be a straight forward process if you treat it as a series of stages. There is no reason why your club could not implement its own marketing plan. It is important to be sure that everyone who is involved is clear of the steps and the particular order in which they must be done. A team approach is recommended. This reduces stress levels and means that there is good support throughout the process.

One person should be responsible for the implementation of the marketing plan. This could be the club's chairperson, the development officer or a specially appointed individual. This person heads a team or committee which constantly assesses the club's marketing strategies to ensure it continues to have a product/service with a related market.

 

The Five Marketing Stages

Marketing is made up of the following stages:

1. Defining the product/service
2. Defining the target market
3. Setting objectives
4. Developing the marketing strategy
5. Compiling the marketing plan

Defining the Product/Service

Before you can undertake any marketing, you need to identify and know the product or service you are offering. The point is that if you can't identify and define what it is you are marketing, it is unlikely that anyone else will be able to. Define the product in relation to your club and its aims - e.g. if a football club wanting to attract new members directs its marketing efforts too much towards the game, more people may take up football - but they may join another club. Think about the particular benefits and attractions of participating in your activity:

• Be as specific as possible about what you have to offer. This is your "selling tool" and the basis of your marketing strategy. While your club is your main product, other products or services may be offered in association with club membership, such as professional coaching, free uniforms, preferential booking of club fields, safety protection, child care.
• Sometimes, products can be in the form of special events. Competitions, fun days and social events can be promoted through marketing campaigns.
• Events can also be products. Competitions, "Come 'n Try" days and social events can be promoted.

Defining the Target Market

A marketing strategy will only be successful if it is aimed at the appropriate group of people. You can take the shotgun approach - load the rifle, fire it, and hope that whomever it hits will be interested enough to check out your activity. But unless you are extraordinarily lucky, you will probably end up wasting both time and money.

It is much easier to target the audience or groups you want to reach and focus your program directly at them. Often, all it takes is a bit of common sense. For example, a club wanting to start a daytime competition would not target working men and women, rather those people who are free during the day.

A general rule is to ask: Who are they? Where are they? What are their interests? How can we reach them? And, most importantly, why should they be interested in what we have to offer? Look at the current members of your club. Ask who are they? Why are they here?

When trying to identify the target market, consider the following list:

• Gender
• Religious background
• Age groups
• Educational background
• Single people or couples
• Location/town/suburb
• Family groups
• Other leisure interests
• Occupation
• Time available for leisure
• Ethnic groups
• Availability of money for leisure activities

When looking at club members, consider the common factors they share. Are they all male or family groups, do they come from similar backgrounds, do they share other leisure interests etc?

 

Setting Objectives

You must have a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve through marketing. Do you want to increase the numbers playing at your club or do you want to identify individuals that will develop into world champions? Your decisions will have a major impact on the type of marketing plan you produce. Your objectives might be to:

• Increase participation
• Increase club membership
• Increase volunteers
• Raise media profile
• Obtain sponsorship
• Increase achievement/performance goals
• Improvement in facilities and services
• Entry into other competitions or leagues

Developing the Marketing Strategies

When your objectives are clear, it is time to develop a marketing strategy. Remember, you need to be able to reach your target audience - be aware of where they live, where they shop, what they read, what they listen to and if and where they work.

The key is to work out what is important to each group and tailor your plan of action accordingly. Don't forget to consider the price of your "product" or service - it should be in line with what your target group can afford to spend. What are the issues that will influence your group's participation?

Example: The strategy might be to deliver information through community service organisations, (city councils, local sports centre, shopping centres) etc.

Compiling the Marketing Plan

Once you have worked out your marketing strategy you should prepare a marketing plan that outlines the steps you intend taking to implement the strategy. The marketing plan is simply a written document outlining what you intend to do. This plan will present a summary of your marketing objectives, a description of your target market and of the product/service you are selling to this market and finally the method by which you intend targeting this market. The club's administrators can refer to it regularly to ensure the club is meeting its objectives. For larger clubs or large scale projects you will probably need to compile a more detailed document.

The following marketing plan outline has been designed to cover all situations and questions. You may like to use it as a guideline.

Executive Summary: this is the overview of the marketing plan which serves as a summary for club executives and members. It serves as an introduction to your marketing strategy - but is always written last. It should be short, concise and focus on the highlights of the plan. As a general rule, the summary should fit on one page (two at the very most) - if it is any longer, it is not a summary.

Situational Analysis - this determines your club's position within the current environment. It should include a three-way analysis:

• The market situation (the size/prominence of your club in relation to others, the number of clubs in the competition, the potential for enlarging the club, the stability or changing nature of the recreation market in your area.)
• Internal analysis (assessment of your club's strengths and weaknesses).
• External analysis (potential opportunities and threats to your club, why your club has the competitive advantage or how it can develop one (SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats - analysis).

Objectives - this is a written statement of your club's "mission" and that of your marketing plan. Are they compatible? Objectives should match your funds, resources and abilities. Work out how your success can be measured. Establish a deadline for meeting these objectives.

Target Markets - the group/s you are aiming to reach. Assess whether your product or service meets the needs of your target market. Consider whether the target market has changed in recent times and in what way. Is there potential for expansion? Consider the best methods of reaching this group.

Strategy and the marketing mix - this is simply an outline of your strategy for implementing the plan.

Consider your marketing mix - give a brief description of these four components:

• Product/service
• Price
• Promotion
• Distribution

Consider how this marketing plan differs from the most recent plan your clubs has used. Why are these changes necessary?

Action program - consider each component of your marketing mix in detail. Look at the history of each, the current situation and likely future trends. Assess your competition and think about any changes/modifications you may have to make in the future. Work out a test marketing process for your product:

• Product/service
• Pricing
• Distribution
• Promotion

Budgets, controls and accountability - developing and implementing a marketing and promotion strategy will require financial outlay. You should ensure that this plan is incorporated into the club's annual budget.

Once completed the marketing plan will become an invaluable resource for the club. It can be used in the form of a prospectus that is given to potential sponsors, government departments when seeking grants and to potential new markets.

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