Sport’s marketing and communication methods have also been computerized. What, then, are the components of digital marketing in the sports industry? They are based on personal experience and lead to the usage of “wearable” data collection equipment. Without forgetting one thing: the user must be in the center now more than ever.

Digital marketing for sports is now a reality, in the sense that the digital transformation has reached this business sector, among many others, transforming its dynamics.

To the point where it’s now unimaginable to envision a complete and effective marketing strategy without also building a section that oversees the digital realm and makes use of the available tools and technologies.

This is especially true when it comes to a business like sports, which, by its very nature, lends itself well to the use of digital languages, as well as being close to the entertainment industry, with whom it shares many of the same languages and mechanisms.

What exactly does “digital marketing for sports” mean?

Before digging into this topic and evaluating its most intriguing parts, it’s important to establish what we’re talking about when we say “digital marketing” so that we can see how it applies to the sports industry.

“A set of integrated techniques, technologies, and information that enables marketers to create new products and services, enter new markets, improve the processes needed to engage in a dynamic conversation with people who are influencers and buyers, and ultimately target, acquire, and retain customers,” according to Gartner.

The synergy of tactics, technology, and information emphasizes the hybrid nature of digital marketing, which adheres to classic marketing logic while reinterpreting it in light of the new opportunities afforded by digitalization.

Furthermore, industry analysts have noted this shift, emphasizing how this new marketing approach has resulted in the merging of the well-known 4Ps – product, price, place, and promotion – with the so-called 4Es, i.e. experience, exchange, everywhere, and evangelism.

The experience, rather than the product, is at the center, stimulating and assisting in the creation of a strong relationship of intimacy and loyalty between brand and client, which is the engine that propels the search for new experiences.

Digital technologies, among other things, are tremendous tools for preserving this link and this insatiable appetite for experiences and feelings that sport, unlike few other things, manages to deliver.

However, the question now is: how can this be accomplished using digital marketing?

A passion that sticks to you

Let’s start with a non-trivial fact: many people like participating in sports.

To summarize, moreover 260 million individuals, or 4% of the world’s population, play soccer, according to FIFA (realbuzz.com).

Basketball, on the other hand, has a sizable following: there are an estimated 400 million professional and amateur players worldwide.

Not to mention individuals who participate in individual sports like jogging or cycling.

This means that there are millions upon millions of people who participate in sports daily, who may become clients or users, and who so form the target audience for many sports-related businesses.

However, while there were few touchpoints available to intercept these folks earlier, digital transformation has enabled some very effective ways for tracking this cohort of non-professional sportsmen and reaching them with highly relevant material.

In this example, we’re talking about the plethora of smartphone apps aimed at people who engage in physical activity.

There are numerous sorts, ranging from those for simple home workouts to those for jogging, counting steps, cycling, and other activities.

Nike is one of the most interesting and successful examples of how digital marketing can be used in the sports industry. The user enters a completely immersive realm after downloading this software, where he can choose his workouts and establish goals and results.

That’s not all, though.

Because of the tracking that these applications give, the user receives workout proposals tailored to him every day, which he may pay by associating with a premium package.

Furthermore, the app has an editorial offer that gives the user with more inspirational and instructive information to provide him with the best recommendations on how to exercise, what to eat, and how to stay as long as possible on the platform.

Also, the platform features a section dedicated to purchasing, which is not restricted to workout packages but covers a wide range of things, to which the user is naturally directed after reading an article or following a certain activity.

This wonderfully encapsulates the attitude and interaction style that digital marketing tools may facilitate.

In reality, as seen above, the item on which we focus is no longer the product, but the user, who is at the heart of an experience that is as personalized and tailored to his or her qualities as possible.

This experience combines functional elements (specific training), editorial elements (blogs, diets, etc.), and those more related to a conversion phase (purchase of products, subscriptions, etc.) to be as complete and immersive as possible, resulting in a stable and long-term relationship of attendance and loyalty with the user.

All of this is accomplished via digital technologies in a “mobile” format, which fulfills one of the four E’s listed above, “everywhere,” ushering in a new manner of engaging people, practically “on top” of them.

New touchpoints are becoming more prevalent.

One of the many benefits of digital marketing is that it provides all of the tools necessary to establish and leverage new touchpoints.

Wearable accessories, which are now an essential component of each athlete’s equipment, are a valued and strategically crucial touchpoint in sports.

Wearables, which include fitness bracelets, shoes with tracking devices, and smartwatches that can be used to download sports and wellness apps, are getting more and more popular, and are becoming an increasingly important product category of great interest to the industry’s major players.

To summarize, even though the recent health crisis has caused a significant slowdown in the industry, this market segment has continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate than before.

Apple, for example, sold more than 7 million Apple Watches in the first half of 2020 – thus in the early stages of the pandemic – a 23 percent raise over the same period in 2019. Even though sales of fitness bracelets increased less than in previous years, the segment’s value remains at 17 percent, with a steady yearly growth rate of around 2.4 percent.

This indicates that not even the health crisis has been able to put a burden on sports wearables; on the contrary, the forced lockdown has pushed many more people to rediscover sports and these accessories, which is good news for players who can use them in their marketing campaigns.

Digital marketing is worn on the sleeve

How, as always, is the question.

In actuality, the methods vary depending on the desired outcomes; yet, many fascinating approaches can coexist successfully.

Wearables, first and foremost, are a useful data source.

Not only do they keep track of people’s workouts and performance statistics, but they also report on their routines and behaviors, such as the most frequently followed route, training times, and favorite circuits.

All of this is critical because it allows businesses to profile individuals in extremely detailed ways, hyper-personalizing any advertising communications subject to retargeting.

Wearables’ integration with digital marketing tactics, for example, makes it easier for industry participants to build a fluid and efficient integrated omnichannel retailing framework.

It is feasible to approach the user with relevant and well-calibrated communications both in terms of timing and content, based on the indications offered by wearables and making use of modern digital geolocation solutions, which integrate seamlessly with the requirements and expectations of individuals.

You might, for example, utilize geolocation to provide targeted discounts for users in specific areas frequented by athletes or who engage in physical activity near the company’s outlets.

Wearables, among other things, allow you to rethink how you communicate with users, such as sending a notification while they are using a specific app to avoid being regarded as an unwanted interruption.

The language of digital marketing is social.

Another technique to take advantage of these devices in digital marketing is to utilize them as “bait” for social media users.

It’s no accident that the majority of sports and fitness apps demand social network connections. Users are more likely to publish their results on their profiles as a result of this, which is important for collecting more data and keeping the dialogue going about the firm and its goods, without necessarily putting them at the center of communication.

After all, social media is an important part of any digital marketing plan, especially in the sports industry.

Because social networks are where people share their hobbies and passions, they must be managed.

Take a look at the number of pages and profiles dedicated to specific sports or teams: All of these areas of interest should be monitored and analyzed to profile passionate users and establish a long-term digital relationship with them.

Never Just a Post

To accomplish so, you’ll need to create a clear and exact digital identity, as well as useful material for your users, while properly balancing the emotional and marketing components.

Also, “content is king” on social media now more than ever.

But, of course, it’s never that simple, because the timing and personalizing of communications are crucial once again.

On the one hand, it is critical to manage your social profile’s editorial plan to create a consistent and continuous story that can be followed by everyone.

On the other hand, posts that allow you to develop highly targeted advertising campaigns where diverse individuals, each with their unique features and surfing patterns, may be contacted with tailored and, thus, more relevant messages, are required.

In this way, digital marketing alters the approach to sports communication by balancing functional editorial content with more emotional or empowerment content, to keep the user’s passion alive by tying it as closely as possible to a brand or a company that takes on the task of expressing it in the best possible way and providing all the necessary tools to increase it.

This indicates, among other things, that every action taken in the context of a competent digital marketing strategy serves to both pursue specific marketing objectives and cement the company’s image.

Influencer marketing is a type of digital marketing used by athletes.

Exploiting the digital dynamics of influencer marketing is another technique for digital marketing to help a sports business expand and consolidate.

After all, it is now widely recognized that athletes at certain levels can act as true influencers, influencing the behavior and decisions of a significant number of enthusiastic users.

Beyond traditional sponsorships and image sales contracts, digital tools are also critical in improving this relevance.

In this sense, the sports influencer plays a strategic role in the industry, as he or she can become an effective medium for generating online interaction, both for themselves and their team, regardless of which sport is played.

These celebrities certainly have a following and are well-known, but even in this situation, smart management of their “famous” is required to fully exploit it while avoiding the dangers of overexposure.

These stats, on the other hand, can be used to create innovative and engaging campaigns that will surprise consumers and provide a variety of benefits, ranging from the introduction of new trends to the acquisition of data to defining a new positioning for the club or league as a whole.

Conclusoin: It’s no longer simply about sports.

When it comes to digital marketing in sports, perhaps the most important – and definitive – point to remember is that, more than ever before, sports is no longer just about a sport.

It is a sought-after territory to conquer for all new technologies and digital solutions, not only because it represents an increasingly important business, but also because it has specific characteristics that are fundamental for digital marketing: the importance of the experience, the centrality of the human element, and the strong identity relationship.

This is in addition to having a great ability to create emotionally engaging stories, which is the foundation of modern, effective, and necessary digital communication.