Feb 1, 2017 / By: Nicola Krishna / In: Athlete Program Development / 0 Comments

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If you're a volunteer or a Director for a sport club perhaps even a non-for profit, you're likely looking for ways to get the best bang for your buck so let's look at some tips on how to get some advertising absolutely free!

If you’re looking to get a bit of buzz going for your local program, a great way to gain some “free” publicity is through public relations.  Let's look at some ways to get sport club advertising for free.  Often, this would be something you would pay a professional for, but sometimes, a little grassroots PR can be done on your own with a few simple tools.

The best way to get noticed is to have a good “story”. That is, a local angle angle that a reporter might be interested in. Maybe you have a totally revamped and relaunched your athletics program? Or perhaps you have a very young and uniquely qualified Director this year? Maybe you’re getting kids involved and active at a young age, helping to curb childhood obesity in your community. Or are you doing something particularly eco-friendly? Any of these angles might be of interest to a local reporter. The key here is doing your research. Dig a little and find what a reporter has written about before, then tailor something just for them.

To stand out from the hundreds of emails they probably receive, you want it to be local and relevant. No one wants to be pitched something they’ve heard a million times, or worse, get a blanket email that isn’t catered to their area of expertise. Craft something short, sweet, and ideally with an interesting image. Hit send, and see what happens!

INTRODUCTION:

Tweet, tweet, tweet! An active social media presence can do wonders for your local program. But to have social media presence and more importantly influence, you need to have followers. It might take some time and effort to build up a following, especially an engaged following, but it won’t cost you anything and is well worth it if it means reaching your target demographic.

Check out our post on how to take awesome pics for your social media profiles.

On the other hand, maybe Snapchat is the right way to deliver a fun, behind-the-scenes video of someone on the job. The key here is doing some research, and targeting key contacts you think would find value in being connected with you.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

This is a little bit of Part B to the social media section. Say, you’re still building up your social media profile. You don’t have a ton of followers yet. That’s fine, that takes time. But what about other people that already do have a BIG presence and are in you industry? These are people you might be able to tap into.

For instance, if you’re running a youth sailing program, you might look to people who are very involved in the sailing community already and already have an established following. These people can help ‘influence’ your product with their own rub off of followers. Now, there’s a reason this is a bit of a subhead - this is usually a paid service. For instance, you might pay someone who has a big following for an Instagram post that promotes your program or product, or even just mentions it organically. But, anything is negotiable. You might find someone with whom you could build a mutually beneficial partnership with. It may be worth their while to align themselves with you, for little or no fee.

Maybe you’re organizing an event at your local club. And you’ve love to get the word out without spending a fortune on advertisements, or mailing postcards. What else can you do? Perhaps there’s a partnership opportunity. Maybe you’re hosting your first event for teens and you’d like to build some buzz to gain more participants?

Or even just to get the word out about the program itself. Is there a company that has some existing reach in the community that might see a benefit in gaining access to your racers? Maybe a healthy snack provider? A local sports retailer? An outdoor wear provider? You could approach this company as a potential in-kind sponsor for your event,  where no money is exchanged.

If this potential sponsor has a great social media presence, or maybe a great email database, they could send out an email blast about your event, in exchange for providing brand exposure at the event itself and free advertising on your event website. Maybe a snack provider provides food and refreshments for the event, in exchange for a booth with brand exposure on site and VIP tickets to your next key event. The opportunities are endless. Both of you can benefit from an in-kind sponsorship agreement like this, and it can often be relatively easy to execute once you find the right fit.

Nicola Krishna is a passionate and strategic communications professional, with nine years of experience working within the public relations industry.  She also acts as Checklick’s Public Relations Partner.

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