Promoting Sport blog
New Club Toolkit on the Promoting Sport ToolkitIn order to survive and grow in an increasingly competitive market, sports clubs must find ways of attracting new members while retaining existing ones.
Through marketing you can achieve this, while it also helps you:
- Identify opportunities for growth and long term sustainability;
- Clearly communicate and raise awareness of exactly what your club has to offer;
- Become more visible and a hub within the community;
- Increase sponsorship and engage local businesses;
- Recruit volunteers.
The new Club section in the Promoting Sport Toolkit contains a club toolkit and how to guides to assist clubs with their marketing and promotion.
Don't forget, to receive regular updates on marketing and promoting within sport, register for the Promoting Sport blog.
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Get your website site noticed in search engines
Posted: 10 Mar 2008 10:33 AM CDT
Search engine optimisation is the phrase used to describe the process of obtaining a high natural search engine position for a website. Google optimisation is now viewed almost as important as the site design itself, if not more important.
It is becoming more and more important to appear in a high position, as Internet users are less inclined to flick through page after page of search engine results. Have you ever looked at page twenty-one of any results page on a search engine for example? Probably not.
Remember, behind every Internet search is a person and that person could be the next member of your club.
For some basics on how you can improve where your site appears on a list of search results, check out this link.
Wii with the WI
Posted: 21 Feb 2008 07:14 AM CST
Is it possible? Can playing video games, the ultimate pass-time of the couch potato, really help with your fitness? It seems that this one can.
Gwinear Parish Womens Insitute is the latest group to take up the Nintendo Wii challenge from Cornwall Sports Partnership (CSP).
Cornwall saw an opportunity to use the console with community groups and sports clubs and devised resource cards to accompany the Wii.
‘We devised the cards to compliment the console using heart rate monitors and stability balls - turning the Wii into something that had a structured physical benefit to the user – the kids loved it and now we are using it in the community and workplace as a way of engaging adults to get involved in "virtual sport". We hope that this will be an introduction into taking up real sports like Tennis, Golf, Athletics etc’ – said Chris Hunkin from Cornwall Sports Partnership – who leads the Wii Project. They have already had interest from WI members wanting to take up the sports that they enjoyed on the Wii.
The CSP are working with the WI by introducing taster sessions with the Wii over the coming months with a view to holding a National WI Wii Championship in the Autumn.
Gwinear lady, Liz Davis, said: ‘What fun - I can’t believe the workout you get from a computer game. Its really quite challenging but if us ladies can do it anyone can!
This project has been getting national coverage. The Sun coverage can be seen here and on the Cornwall Sports Partnership website here.
If you more details on this project or want to take part in the National Wii with WI challenge in Autumn then register your interest with Vicki Gregory at vgregory@cornwall.gov.uk or on 01872 32 33 46.
Using the Six Nations to your advantagePosted: 11 Feb 2008 07:06 AM CST
I have to admit - I've been a little dissapointed by the performance of the England rugby team so far. However win, lose or draw people are more likely to want to get into a sport when there's a major competition going on.
You can use Go Play Rugby to get people playing rugby in your area. Put info up on your website, newsletters, and anywhere else you run any promotion to the public. People just need to enter their postcode on www.goplayrugby.com or text their postcode to 64411 and they'll get details of their local club.
It's simple and effective. 9000 people started playing rugby again during the World Cup as a result of this campaign.
If you want to do the same for other sports then why not promote the club finder tool at www.sportengland.org/getactive which has links to the club details for dozens of sports. Not all sports have this information available on the web, so please check it out before promoting it for a specific sport.
Testing a new online design toolPosted: 05 Feb 2008 10:55 AM CST
I'm building an online design tool to help sports clubs and community groups produce high quality promotional materials. It will be part of the Promoting Sport toolkit, and will use photos from the photo library.
Please can you take 3 minutes to feedback on the ease of use of this tool, and ask others (especially people from local sports clubs) to do the same.
Online design tool: www.getsportnoticed.co.ukUsername: userPassword: password
How to publish the sporting calendar to your web sitePosted: 28 Jan 2008 10:55 AM CST
Why not improve your website with very little effort? If you'd like to add some automatically updated relevant content to your website then read on.
I've set up an RSS feed from the the National calendar of events run by James Ventham of Lancashire Sport Partnership.
In order to get the next 10 national sporting events as a list on your website just give the html code below to whoever runs your site for you. Wherever on your site they put it the list will appear - just like magic.
<script src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/NationalSportingEventsCalendar?format=sigpro" type="text/javascript" ></script><noscript><p>Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: <a href="Powered'>http://feeds.feedburner.com/NationalSportingEventsCalendar"></a><br/>Powered by FeedBurner</p> </noscript>
If you want only 5 events instead of 10, or all events for the year, or in calendar format rather than as a list then just let me know and I'll tell you how to do that too.
New sporting year on the Promoting Sport ToolkitJan 18 2008
It’s a big year for sport in 2008 with the obvious highlight being the Beijing Olympics which kicks-off on the 8th of August.The Promoting Sport Toolkit has a comprehensive calendar of major sporting events in the coming year. While many of these events may not have the profile of the Olympics, they still generate a great deal of interest nationally.Sign up now to the Promoting Sport blog and be kept informed of when the toolkit is updated and improved. You will also be sent useful tips about promoting sport.Visit the Promoting Sports toolkit today at http://promotingsport.sportengland.org
Sporting Champions videoPosted: 13 Dec 2007 08:57 AM CST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfyLQ_oL0sw
I've produced a short Sporting Champions video to show how it can help you to get young people playing sport.
Don't forget that anyone at all can book these free visits from elite athletes to help get young people playing sport. To see how visits work just watch the video.
If you want to book a visit call 0800 328 4903 and they'll give you the correct contact at your local County Sports Partnership. Alternatively visit www.sportingchampions.org.uk.
New developments on the Promoting Sport Toolkit
Posted: 06 Dec 2007 06:01 AM CST
Want to learn how to use some basic marketing and promotional techniques to increase sports participation or your club's membership?
Check out the new How to guidesfor some for some simple steps to follow when choosing and implementing the most appropriate techniques for your club or organisation.
Subject areas include advertising, direct mail, branding, using the media, using technology and how to write a design brief.
Each section also includes examples of how others have used the particular techniques.
It is widely accepted now that traditional marketing techniques can influence behavioural change. Commericial organisations have been using these for decades to get people to listen to their message and adopt their products and services voluntarily. There is no reason why these same techniques cannot be successful in changing peoples' attitudes toward sport and physical activity.
The new How to guides have been designed so you can quickly and simply use some of these tradional techniques.
Communicating to the Sport England segments
Posted: 03 Dec 2007 10:10 AM CST
Sport England's research department has released some fantastic segmentation work recently, which is fantastic news because segmentation is an essential element of any good marketing work.
In an ideal world we would market to everyone individually, however this is impractical. What often ends up happening instead is one communication to everybody, which normally only appeals to a small percentage of the population. Segmentation allows us to group together people who have something in common, in our case with relation to sport.
The best example of segmentation nowadays is Tesco who have used the information from the Tesco clubcard to dominate the market.
In order to help you use this information to market and promote sport better I have written these communication plans. I used the information from the pen portraits alongside a tool called TrueTouch from Experian to write . These specifically cover how to promote and market sport to each of the segments. --------------------------------------------
New photography in the photo library
Posted: 26 Nov 2007 05:51 AM CST
There are 30 new photos in the Promoting Sport photo library. 20 of them are orienteering photos courtesy of British Orienteering - thanks very much Caroline.
The other 10 are from a recent photo shoot by Sport England, and are split between running, football and wheelchair basketball.
Do you have any high-quality photos (over 3MB files and good pictures) which you would be happy for others to use? If so then please send them on a CD to me at John Ainsworth, Sport England, Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London WC1B 4SE and I'll get them up on the site.
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New to the Toolkit! Media campaign case studies
Posted: 13 Nov 2007 05:22 AM CST
Check out how Northumberland Sport and Sport Nottinghamshire have used the media to drive up participation in their areas.
Click on the link below to view documents relating to the successful campaigns which were run in the two counties.
If you have any information you would like to share on the Promoting Sport Toolkit, email chris.smith@uwe.ac.uk.
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Use the power of the media to recruit volunteers
31 Oct 2007
6.4 million people in the UK would like to volunteer. 15% of them say they just haven't heard about how they can get involved. So how can you reach these people and inspire them to get active?
Volunteer Genie thinks it has the answer, and claims to be able to help you to:
The site is certainly clean looking and easy-to-navigate and the advice looks good. All in all this looks to be a good and useful site.
Thanks to Laura Hall from Greater Sport for the pointer on this one.
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Contact your councillors or MPs easily
October 26, 2007
This website allows you to easily contact your local councillors or MPs, and I think some people will find this a useful tool when you're needing to get people to campaign on a particular point to local decision makers. For instance, if you want to raise awareness with MPs or councillors in your area about a particular issue, then this could be a good way of facilitating a variety of people contacting the right person locally.
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How to get a Sporting Champions visit
September 27, 2007
Since I wrote about Sporting Champions a few weeks ago there's been a fair amount of interest in how to use the scheme, what visits can and can't be used for and who to talk to about them. So I spent some time talking to Louise Calton to try and clear things up.
Sporting Champions is a Sport England initiative which brings world-class athletes face-to-face with young people* to motivate and inspire them to participate in sport.
Visits are available for free, but there are limited numbers so please book early to avoid disappointment.
What can you use visits for? In the past visits have been available mainly for schools, but 200 visits are now available for community-based visits and are aimed at increasing participation in community sport. For example at a youth club or young person project.
Community visits from a Sporting Champion can help you:• Engage young people and get their attention• Get them excited about sport and joining local clubs• Motivate them in their wider lives• Emphasise the importance and benefits of volunteering and getting involved
50 strategic and campaigning visits are also available and can be used for events which are about increasing participation, but don’t necessarily involve meeting with young people. For example a local sports seminar aiming to engage community sports volunteers and build links between school and club sport. A Sporting Champion can help bring a seminar or launch to life by sharing their own experiences.
To qualify for a strategic or campaigning visit you simply need to demonstrate how it would help increase participation by either:• improving links between schools and clubs; or• promoting leadership and volunteering.
Who can book a visit?It’s generally sports development officers who book visits, but almost anyone who works with young people in sport can do so. For example:• Local sports clubs and programmes• Local Authorities• Community Sports Networks• County Sport Partnerships• Sport England Regions• Sport England Support Centre.
How do I book a visit?County Sport Partnerships (CSPs) are responsible for nominating events in their area, so you will need to contact your local CSP wys.admin@wysport.co.uk to find out if your event is suitable for a Sporting Champion visit.
For your CSP’s contact details, the online booking tool, or any more information please go to www.sportengland.org/promotingsport and click on “Visits from Sporting Champions”. For more information please call the Sporting Champions Hotline on 0800 328 4903.
*young people here means anyone under 25
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Accessing support through Corporate Social Responsibility
Posted: 25 Sep 2007 04:36 PM CDT
Whenever I'm talking to people who work in sport I ask "What's the biggest thing that's stopping you from promoting sport." The answer is nearly always money and/ or resources.
So while I was at the Social Marketing Conference in Oxford this week I took the opportunity to question people about good ways to get hold of money. The recurring answer was that businesses are becoming more and more interested in working with the public/ charity sector, and providing financial or other kinds of support.
So how do you go about accessing this support? Well I'm going to be looking into that further, and one resource I'm definitely going to be checking out is the new book by Phillip Kottler and Nancy Lee "Corporate Social Responsibility - doing the most good for your company and your cause".
It's written for the benefit of businesses, and helping them to figure out how to use CSR to their advantage, and I've been told it includes some great information that we can use to understand how to work with businesses. I'll report back when I have more information.
Incidentally - Nancy Lee was in fact one of the speakers at the conference and I managed to quiz her for 10 minutes on a couple of questions about promoting sport. I'll post more on that when I get back to the office.
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September 22, 2007
Ever been curious to know what Bob Dylan thinks about the Promoting Sport toolkit? Well wonder no longer promoting sport fans!
(you have to give the video a little while to load, so please be patient)
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Promoting Rowing (by John Ainsworth)
Posted: 18 Sep 2007 05:59 AM CDT
Indoor rowing is one of the fastest growing sports in England. According to the Active People survey around 80,000 adults regularly take part in water based activity with up to 4.7 million involved in gym based indoor rowing. This article includes an explanation of some of the benefits of rowing and a series of case studies on how people have got involved in the sport, and programmes run locally which attracted new people. These case studies include London Youth Rowing which is a project aimed at increasing the level of participation in youth clubs, schools and disabled organisations, primarily in deprived areas of London. It also includes a guide on how to promote indoor rowing to adults, schools and details of where you can get more support and advice on topics of interest to you.
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Embedding Google maps in your web pages Posted: 03 Sep 2007 09:33 AM CDT Credit for this suggestion belongs to John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. It just got easier to put a good map on your website. Google maps recently added a feature that makes it really easy to embed a map, rather than simply copy an image or link to a map. This means that you can use a map with all the functionality right on your web page. Many clubs and facilities can benefit from this tool, especially when it comes to local search. To create a map for your club or facility, simply visit Google Maps, conduct a search for your club (you’ve got to be in the Google Maps directory to show up - get listed), hit the “link to this page” link and copy the HTML code for your map. I’ve simply pasted that code below so the map shows up in this post, but you could put it on any web page. Then create directions in text to your club or facility from various routes and you’ve created some nice local keyword rich content (ie it will help your google search rating.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: 30 Aug 2007 10:32 AM CDT Sporting Champions are a Sport England initiative, which brings world-class athletes face-to-face with young people to inspire and motivate them to participate in sport. Their main goal is to show young people that sport can and should be fun, and to sow the seeds which start a lifelong enjoyment of physical activity. There are only 200 general visits available so they do require a visit code, which you can ask your local County Sports Partnership. More information on how they decide whether to allocate a visit can be found on the the Sporting Champions page of the Promoting Sport toolkit. If you get a code from your local County Sports Partnership, then you can also book the visit via the Sporting Champions page. If you have any problems or ideas on how to make this process simpler then please email me at john.ainsworth@sportengland.org or leave a comment below. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: 22 Aug 2007 06:59 AM CDT I wrote a post a few weeks ago on why people do exercise, and that the main reasons aren't about health. I've been looking through some more research recently, and came across some more statistics on why people do sport.
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