Football and Marketing

This is by far my favorite time of the year! The fall weather is beautiful and football season is finally here! According to Vince Lombardi, “Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization – an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win – to beat the other guy.” Nowhere is this level of competition more apparent than in advertising. For a football team to be successful, they need to have a balanced approach. All aspects of the team need to work together for the common goal, winning the game. Advertising is no different. All aspects of an advertising campaign need to be balanced and coordinated to win the ultimate prize, a new customer! The dilemma is then, how to achieve this balanced approach in advertising.
With the advent of technology, it has become easier for advertisers to deliver a consistent message across a wide array of media. One of the most powerful ways to do this is through Key Word advertising. There is no better vehicle to engage potential customers across different advertising media than through key words. A key word is a specific word that a potential customer can text via a cell phone to a specific number. The potential customer then receives a message on their cell phone directly from the advertiser. This message can be in the form of a coupon, a special promotion or just a branding message. The beauty of key words is that they can be included in any form of advertising from print, to radio, to email. The use of the same key word across a wide variety of advertising vehicles, gives the consistency and balance to engage the consumer.
Another way to balance advertising is to use a traditional text message campaign in combination with an email campaign. The text message can initially capture the potential customer’s attention, and the email can be used to reiterate that message and provide additional information. The more times an individual sees an advertisement, the greater the chance they will act upon it. Presenting the same message to an individual twice in a short amount of time is an excellent way to increase the response rate.
In football, in order to score the team has to cross the goal line. If they come close to the goal, but loose the ball, all their effort is wasted. If you have a successful advertising campaign and drive potential customers to your site but they don’t convert for you, you have also wasted your efforts. Ensuring that the website you are driving potential customers to is attractive, easy to navigate and in keeping with your advertising message is essential. Creating a landing page with the same look and feel as the advertisements will help you achieve the ultimate goal of making that prospect a customer!
Finding new clients is a challenge all advertisers face. As competition in the marketplace grows, it becomes increasingly more important to have a balanced approach to advertising campaigns. By relaying a consistent message across many different media and producing a website that mirrors this message, your organization can cross the goal line and win the game!

Originally posted by blarson