Marketing your club is an important and often overlooked part of attracting new members and sponsors.
You need to know your brand and the image you want to portray to the community. Your branding should align to the club’s values and the long-term goals set out in the constitution.
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How to market your club
Marketing of your club starts at positive word of mouth. The behaviour of your members, players, coaches, and volunteers on and off the field has an impact on the community and how your club is perceived. Good behaviour is the best way to market your club. For the local community to see your club as an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment, you need to ensure your codes of conduct are upheld and you are showcasing the values stated in your constitution.
When it comes traditional marketing, the cheapest and most effective way to market your club is via:
- a club website
- social media
- local, state and national ‘Find a Club’ directories.
Websites need to be easy to use and updated by a dedicated volunteer. They are a great place to provide information to members and non-members who search your club:
- registration details
- contact information
- club values, policies, and codes of conduct
- club news.
Social media can be used with or without a website, depending on what best suits your club. Social media is a great place to highlight the news of your club, promote registration days, and share stories of your players.
You can also select to make your social media accounts public or closed groups. Closed groups can be used to communicate directly with your players, coaches, and members.
Find a Club directories are one of the simplest ways for new member to find you. When looking for a sports club, potential members will often search online to find local sporting clubs. Having your club added to these directories is a simple way to promote your club. Remember to always keep this information updated.
Communicating with your club
Communication within your club is as important as public communication.
Your communication to the members needs to be clear, simple and consistence throughout the season. Pick a platform that is manageable and that your volunteers and members are more likely to use. This could be a Facebook page, email updates or through your website.
More recently clubs have been moving towards using platforms like TeamApp, which can be easy to manage and including functions like events, team shop, online registrations, and news.
If your Committee Members will be communicating with sponsors and members, it is important they be provided with generic club email addresses. This shows professionalism, organisation and they can be easily passed on to the next person in the role. An example would be presidentclubname@gmail.com or president@clubname.com.au.