With the success of the 2012 London Olympics, Britain’s sporting confidence has soared, boosting sponsorship funding, and interest in local and national sporting events. Here are some tips and tricks to fast-track your Triathlon or other sporting event.
1. Include Everyone & Make it Accessible
This means think about the people who would like to attend this event, not just fans of the sport, athletes and health and fitness enthusiasts; but what about the people who are curious about sport or have just started a fitness regime? On any advertisements or websites ensure any lingo or strange sports terminology is explained.
If you are able to offer video with a clear voice over to advertise your event, use it and ensure that your website works in text only browsers, this means including alt text and not going overboard on coding and flash animations, as this makes access hard for those with impaired eyesight. As the Paralympics have shown, some of our best athletes are those with disabilities – nobody should miss out!
On any leaflets, flyers or POS make sure you include the location, the date, press contacts and website/social media address – don’t leave anything to chance, and don’t be aloof, get in contact with fans and athletes and get some conversation going.
2. Create Local or National Hype
Local radio stations, papers, bloggers and magazines will very likely want to feature your sports event. So make sure you have a press pack with photos, include details of previous successful sports events and a bit of history if you can, then get in contact with a local sports writer. If any of the articles are published online make sure they have your web address, email and social media accounts, as the transition of interested persons from offline to online, through social media is often the most successful.
Local Councils encourage community events, and if you get in touch with the councils Marketing & Communications team they will allow a marquee or pop up stall in the town centre or park, and being as sports is such a good way to encourage participation, and fitness it’s likely to be free. There may be health and safety stipulations so make sure nothing you plan on doing conflicts with this.
This is an opportunity to catch people’s eye – and the best way of doing this is with prominent signage display boards, and attractive banners. Check out the pop-up banner artwork from Challenge Weymouth’s ‘We Are Triathlon!’ 2014 pro Triathlon event.
Solopress Standard Roller Banners for Challenge Weymouth
3. Health & Fitness Factor
Being active = Better health and fitness levels. It’s a no brainer – sports events are something that inspire people to take part, and push their limits. Pro events give athletes a goal to work towards each year, and allow amateurs to breach the gap, and can eventually turn spectators into participators.
If your event is of the nature where anyone can be involved and depends on numbers, leaflets and flyers distributed through the local community at sports and youth centres, sports bars, education centres and even doctors surgeries and clinics, can help boost your event. If participation is key in your sporting event, remember to promote the health benefits! Including a newsletter web signup on your leaflets, flyers and other promotional material can be a key factor in securing more interest. Things to include could be healthy recipes for athletes to boost their energy reserves, updates on progress, changes of venue or even recommendations of where to sleep and eat if your event is national or international.
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