SOCCER & SPECTATORS; EXTENSIVE MARKETING THE SOLUTION TO GFA

.

Can you recall any three ads you saw today? Probably not.

Despite the so call willingness of GFA, the media houses and other football association to make football in Ghana very attract

Every once in a while, some creative at some ad agency does something truly brilliant, and we have to stop and marvel.

Whenever there is news about your favorite football team or updated scores from a big game, one of the first places those updates are shared is on social media. Sports marketers in most countries unlike Ghana do recognize how much activity occurs on these channels, and create social media strategies encouraging fans to engage with the game through freshly shared content.

Sports marketing differs from other forms of B2B or B2C marketing because sports fans are already engaged with their favorite teams (the product/brand in other marketing departments).

Sports marketers in Ghana should therefore develop social media strategies that resemble plans implemented by other marketers, but with some minor adjustments. Most soccer enthusiasts have devoted their love, passion, time and other resources to western soccer due to the high level of strategic marketing endorsement by their authorities.  

For instance, the English Premier League has come a long way since its development back in the early nineties. It took a nation’s favorite game by the scruff of the neck and dragged it out of the gutter through excellent marketing and business decisions. It has now established itself as one of the wealthiest entities in not just soccer but all sports across the globe. This is because of the global marketing of the league now. All the teams are due to receive more money due to improved television deals. Thomas (2010) suggests; “The sale of the international rights has been particularly successful, doubling from $930 million to approximately $1.8 billion for the next three-year period.” Not just the league itself but players and coaches are becoming globally marketed.

The challenge for sports marketers is to craft unique content that maintains that interest and encourages engagement rather than what B2B marketers refer to as upper-funnel content that is primarily curated to increase awareness.

The modern sports experience isn’t confined to the stadium. Nearly half of all sports fans prefer to follow their teams digitally, and frequently use their laptops or smartphones to search for sports-related content during a game.

In this digital sports sphere, marketers are developing clever ways to engage with modern fans. Infographics, videos, and even webinars allow curators to break down relevant statistics using clever designs or animations. These creative visuals liven up player, team, and league stats, and encourage sports fans to share great visual content across social channels (like Instagram).

Profiles of star players, lists that compare the best goals scored within a season, and even video recaps of game highlights are also widely distributed across social media. The experience is no longer just about watching a game or cheering for a team throughout a season. Today sports fans embrace a lifestyle and engage with content providers that best cater to this lifestyle. A good sports marketer will use content to tell engaging stories, and establish a community of like-minded followers who live for the latest highlights.