5 Strategies to Market a New Sports Brand

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October 26, 2022 Marketing

Brand strategy delivers results if you want your new sports brand to thrive. The difficulties you encounter in the beginning are common. You can manage them strategically as you move closer to your business goals.

To market a new brand strategy you need to develop a brand identity, create a fan base, generate creative ideas to engage your target audience, and advertise through contests, sponsorships, and partnerships. You must also analyze the sports marketing challenges and trends to map out and implement these strategies.

Ensure a successful business with these brand strategies to market a new sports brand.

Brand Strategy #1: Build a Brand Identity

Brand identity is essential for your brand marketing. Make your sports brand a preferred choice, desirable and valuable for your target audience, sharing the same feelings and values with them, thus gaining trust and loyalty in the long run.

Your Story

The brand story narrates your origin. Let your target audience know your brand more deeply by answering these questions:

What are your brand’s purpose, beliefs, and values?
How did you start?
What keeps you going?
What are your products, services, and prices?
What do people experience and say about you?

Communicating with Your Audience

Your brand voice is how you communicate with your new and current audience. It establishes the relationship and expectations your audience will build from your brand. You may create a brand voice style guide for consistent communication with your audience.

Your Brand’s Look

A sports brand strategy includes a brand design: logo, colors, typography, shapes, illustration style, iconography, texture and pattern, photography, video, animation and motion, interactive elements, data visualization, and layout. These elements work as one system and become your brand signature that distinguishes you from competitors.

Your Brand’s Existence

Brand values tell what matters most to your business and are decision-makers for your brand positioning. They include your brand’s vision, mission, core values, and guidelines in any endeavor like content creation, partnership, or sponsorship.

How Your Audience Feels

Want your sports brand to appear funny, playful, serious, or sarcastic on your website, social media channels, product labels, ads, etc.? A brand vibe creates a memorable experience that helps your audience interact with your brand and makes them want more.

Brand Strategy #2: Target a Specific Audience

Your new sports brand need not attract all types of audiences. You can employ target market segmentation – a brand marketing strategy that targets a more specific group of people you want to reach. Consider the following audience characteristics:

Location identifies the local sports teams and athletes that your customers have and allows you to schedule ads and content for the best visibility.
Age helps you adjust your marketing strategies for your customers.
Interests make you build better connections with your target audience. In which sports are they more interested, and in what other business are they involved?
Lifestyles give your sports brand an advantage. Are they sports spectators, aspiring athletes, or just trying to be in shape? What is their level of athleticism?
Income affects how your target audience spends time and money.

Brand Strategy #3: Engage Your Audience with Creative Content

Every type of audience reacts differently to the same content. Vary your content strategy for every platform you have, and make the content engaging with the audience’s favorite sports figure.

Choose the Right Media and Platforms

Market your new sports brand through different media types, such as print (newspapers, magazines), broadcast (TV, radio), outdoor or out-of-home (billboards, buses, posters), and online. The Internet has more than 5.4 billion users daily. Online marketing involves:

You need not use these media and platforms all at once on your start-up. Just use what you currently have. Prioritize those that best benefit your brand in generating leads, traffic, and sales.

Perfect Timing

Effective sports marketing needs perfect content timing across your media and platforms. Your audience may want to be engaged before a game or a live event or live chat with their favorite athlete. You can then automate these marketing strategies based on the analytics of your previous campaigns.

Create Shareable Contents

Most sports fans check their social media while watching a game online. Let them connect with like-minded enthusiasts by creating content they can share across platforms for more traffic, engagement, and leads.

Video-On-Demand

You can utilize and monetize video-on-demand (VOD) on your sports marketing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, etc. VOD content has less to no costs and is watched more than scripted ones. Plus, you can take your target sports fans behind the sports scenes in the locker room, field, or the actual game.

Brand Strategy #4: Advertise Your New Sports Brand

Here are ways you can utilize a brand strategy to advertise and promote your new sports brand:

Sport Contests

Sports contests get fans excited and motivated. They can increase customer outreach and brand awareness and invite sponsors by gaining more attendance from sports fans.

Sponsorships

Gain more exposure and credibility for your brand with sponsorships. As a sponsor, your brand logo appears on jerseys, race cars, helmets, or in stadiums and schools.

Partnerships

Sports brands and teams generally form a strong partnership, a foundation of sports marketing. Partnerships drive intended results for your brand.

Sports Marketing and Management Companies

Make your brand more authentic and closer to action with your audience’s favorite athlete. Consider partnering with sports marketing and management companies. They have linkages that lead to your brand’s success.

Brand Strategy #5: Consider the Esports Market

Don’t be the last to hop on esports marketing. The esports market will be about $1.62 billion by 2024. Athletes, celebrities, and other brands have partnered with esports players, teams, tournaments, and leagues and generated $641 million from sponsorship revenue in 2021.

A Thriving Brand

Marketing a new sports brand entails a well-planned brand strategy. Ensure marketing strategy effectiveness by consistently monitoring and evaluating them and being flexible with the latest market trends. In no time, you’ll get the results you always wanted, and your new sports brand will thrive.