Reel in the Crowds with 3D Pop Up Cards for Sporting Events
Across the world, sports are a big deal. There are athletes that participate in sports solely as a hobby, and others who invest in the more competitive sports career level. We see football players from local universities being drafted into the NFL and lightning-fast swimmers going on to excel in the Olympics. Many professional athletes are paid quite high for their skills. It has even been found that in the United States, alone, total revenue in the sports segment is projected at $1.33 billion. This is only going to continue to rise.
But just because sports are so popular doesn’t mean that your event is sure to sell out. You must be able to promote events well. This means using memorable and innovative promotional items, such as 3D pop up cards. We are going to walk through how you can best showcase your sporting event to the public, both digitally and tangibly.
Create Event Posters and Fliers
Get the word out about your sporting event with the help of visual marketing materials. Considering the majority of the population consists of visual learners, people are going to be more likely to retain information about the event if you show them something interesting. So, to boost your publicity, you need to go with posters and fliers that are colorful. Perhaps they even showcase a prominent member of the team. They should also have striking, legible fonts and graphics. Someone should be walking or driving by and immediately notice your materials. You want to get the community excited, and the way to do that is by visually engaging with them as you communicate.
Make sure that your posters and fliers are displayed early on. Give your audience enough time to notice them and prepare to attend the event. Here are some places where you can use your innovative promotional items, if given approval:
● Community gym
● Local sports park
● Coffee shop bulletin board
● Tennis court
● School football field
● City hall bulletin board
Inform Your Social Media Audience
Because social media networks are open to virtually everyone, you are able to accumulate a lot of traffic that you otherwise wouldn’t have. Even by using relevant hashtags, you could get noticed by people who have never previously seen your profile. Use something simple like #baseball and #austin, for example. People who are searching for those hashtags or frequently look at content with them will be more likely to stumble across your post. They may then decide to attend. You can also encourage supporters to tag you in their posts from your team’s games so you capture the attention of their followers.
Instagram is a great place to post highly visual content. You can make photo posts with details about the upcoming event. The Stories option gives you the opportunity to share images or videos for 24 hours, so you can make last-minute reminders. Or you can share footage from past games, behind-the-scenes clips, and teammate interviews through Reels. The combination of all of these things will show your audience what they will experience when they attend your sporting events. You can also use Facebook for your event marketing. It offers an easy way to create and promote posts about your upcoming game. Regardless of the platform you choose, the goal should be to consistently stay at the top of your followers’ minds.
Use Both Email and Direct Mail
If you want to have the biggest outreach possible, you won’t just limit yourself to digital marketing efforts. That being said, you should still be present in the email inboxes of your supporters. Say you are the marketer of a college basketball team. Students should be receiving email notices about your upcoming games so that they never have to miss one. With that in mind, email marketing is especially great for recurring events. You can use automation tools to help you work smarter and faster.
However, a big problem that comes from email is that recipients may not read the full thing before sending it to their trash bin. They are used to being sent far too many promotional messages in a given day. But this won’t be the case with innovative promotional items sent via direct mail. Those same people are going to open the envelope from you and actually consume the content provided. If they see a 3D pop up card in that envelope, their positive reaction will be tenfold. You are sure to get a high return on investment for your direct mail efforts. If someone were to have seen your email already, this just means that you have succeeded at drawing their attention in two places. So, you are certainly covering your bases.
Host a Sports-Themed Giveaway
People love getting free things. This includes team merchandise. You may decide that your best course of action in this regard would be to give something to the first 100 people who arrive at the venue. This incentivizes attendees to show up early, as they have something to look forward to beyond the game itself. It could be something as simple as a bandana with the mascot on it, for instance. Many will argue that receiving free promotional items makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Or, if you would prefer to give your free items during the in-between moments of the game, that can be a fun way to go. Consider getting a T-shirt cannon to shoot T-shirts out into the stands. A local sponsor may even want to host their own giveaway.
Another option could be to hold a giveaway on social media. It should be easy to apply. You can collect the names of interested individuals by asking them to like certain posts, tag some of their friends, and or post about the event on their own channel. There will be a lot of anticipation surrounding the event as people wonder whether they will be the winner of a secret piece of merchandise.
Benefit from Word-of-Mouth
Any brand can say thanks to the power of word-of-mouth marketing. For sports teams, this is especially true when you take into account the die-hard fans that are going to each one of your games. These are the people who are helping to boost you along the way. They might have friends who wouldn’t have gone to your sporting event without their glowing recommendation of the team. This means they have quickly earned you more spectators and increased participation, which has the possibility to only grow as more people become supporters.
One great way to achieve word-of-mouth power is by sending out 3D pop up cards. These incredibly useful direct mail tools are visually intriguing enough to get people talking. An example could be a 3D football helmet. Display your team’s logo and branded colors. On the cover, you can include the team’s name and a slogan. When members of a community or school receive these innovative promotional items, they will show them off. Give these cards to your sponsors, as well.
Being able to expertly market a sporting event is the key to its success. Branded 3D pop up cards are one of the best ways to do this. No matter the age or background of a recipient, they will be delighted to receive them. Plus, there are no limits to 3D pop up cards. You are able to pick any design that means something to your organization. From there, it will be transformed into an innovative promotional item that can be held onto long after it arrives in the mail.
