Aligning your brand with a trending topic is one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book. There’s a very good reason for this though, as it allows you to tap into a large, highly-engaged audience. This is particularly true for sporting events, as audiences are especially passionate and attentive to the content in front of them, which is why so many brands look for a way to leverage them.
Given that there are two major sporting events taking place this summer in the form of the Euros and the Olympics, this year presents the perfect opportunity to bring sports fans towards your brand. But, how can you use your content to achieve this? We’ve created a quick guide to give you some tips and tricks for creating effective content for this summer’s events.
Brainstorm a set of ideas
Before getting started, it’s a good idea to brainstorm some sports-themed content ideas for your brand. How can you write about your industry in a way that relates to the events? You don’t have to be a sports brand to achieve this, loosely relating the competition to your own business area can be enough.
For instance, a travel provider could create content on the best holidays for sports fans, such as visiting Olympia in Greece or travelling to destinations which offer tours of historic football stadiums. Meanwhile, a food brand could post about the best mid-game snacks, whereas a motoring company could name the best car from every nation in the tournament.
If you can’t think of an obvious way to write about your brand in a way that’s relevant to the event, you may want to reconsider whether this strategy is right for your company. This is important, as sports fans tend to really know their stuff, so they’ll be able to tell from a mile off if you’re trying too hard to leverage the events, which could have the opposite effect you’re looking for.
Know your audience
As alluded to above, sports fans are some of the most passionate audiences you’ll ever come across, so you’ll have to do your homework if you’re to get this right. Nailing this strategy can make a great bit of fun for readers, but half-hearted attempts to relate to the event will be scoffed at, especially if you get your facts wrong.
So, it’s essential that you properly research the subject you’re writing about. It’s also a good idea to get your content checked by someone who knows their stuff before it’s posted, as this will act as an effective safety net for any potential gaps in your knowledge. Otherwise, your campaign could become an embarrassing own goal.
Think outside of the 18-yard-box
Sure, blog posts are great, but sports events give you a great opportunity to do something a little bit different, so try to tap into your creative side here. Creating a simple tool, game or widget for your brand themed around the games can be an excellent way of doing this, as it has the potential to generate heaps of engagement.
Even if you can’t create something like this, scaling things down to something simple like a quick quiz can still be effective. This can also be linked to your brand, making it a seriously effective approach. For instance, a travel company could run a quiz on previous host nations of the tournament.
Offers and competitions
Got a bit more room in the budget? If so, you could take the above one step further by using your tools, widgets and quizzes to run competitions and offer prizes. These don’t have to be high-value items either, just a small freebie or discount for the winner can be a surefire way of getting your content to convert.
Alternatively, you could cut out the middleman and simply provide a series of offers and discount codes for the duration of the tournament. This can be a great way of generating extra sales during the competition, encouraging your audience to act as soon as possible and minimising the chances of any potential customers drifting away.
Timing is everything
Of course, these events only run for a short window and tend to stick to a very tight schedule, so you’ll need to get your timing right if you’re to make the most of them. If you’re targeting a specific match or event, you’ll need to ensure your content goes out at the right time so that your audience will see it while it’s relevant.
Plus, it should go without saying that you’ll want to have everything ready ahead of the tournament and published before it’s finished. Posting anything after this point will just make your content seem irrelevant, suggesting that your brand is lagging behind, which isn’t a good look.
Find out more
For more digital marketing insights, take a look at the other posts on the It Works blog. Alternatively, get in touch with our team of experts to find out how we can help your brand achieve its digital marketing goals.