Monthly Archives: April 2010
Should Chatham-Kent sports teams use social networking websites for marketing and recruiting purposes? Ian Kennedy, local sports columnist for the Chatham-Kent Daily Post, is a big believer. Kennedy was kind enough to provide CIK Marketing with the following post. If you’re involved with local sports, listen up!
How Chatham Sports Teams Can Use Social Media
Over the last few months, you may have seen some bad press about social media in sports. For the pros, misusing sites such as Twitter and Facebook is easy. One verbal slip up or misread post can go viral. For amateur sports teams, including those in Chatham-Kent, social networking shouldn’t be seen as a liability, rather, social media should be viewed as a budding opportunity.
With the ever-growing presence of teens and parents on social networking sites, social media resources including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Ning, and blogs can be beneficial for young athletes, organizations, parents, and fans. How you ask? It’s simple really. Social networking in sports is common place, and it’s time for organizations in Chatham-Kent to get onboard. Here are some ideas for how local sports teams can utilize popular social networking sites.
Facebook:
As the largest social networking site in Chatham-Kent and worldwide, Facebook has several uses for amateur sports teams. Organizations such as the Wallaceburg Red Devils and Chatham Maroons could benefit from promoting Facebook Fan Pages. Teams can post news, events, scores, and more for their fans. As well, Event Pages can be created to invite hundreds or even thousands of Chatham and Wallaceburg residents to games. If even 1% of those invited attend the game, the Event Page would be a huge success. Social networking in sports isn’t just for large organizations. Small club teams throughout Chatham-Kent can utilize Facebook groups to keep athletes and parents up to date and connected.
Twitter:
Twitter is one of the fastest growing Chatham-Kent social networking opportunities. Picture yourself as a soccer mom or a dad taking his son to football practice with the Chatham-Kent Cougars. Wouldn’t it be nice to receive up to the second messages regarding schedule changes, cancellations, or even have someone Tweet to set up a carpool? If you own a Blackberry or iPhone, Twitter updates are at your fingertips. If you can’t attend your child’s game, you could be receiving instant Tweets updating the score of the game. Starting a team profile is easy and would allow messages to reach large groups simultaneously.
YouTube:
Is your team looking to draw in fans, recruit athletes, advertise an event, or showcase athletes? If you answered yes to any of these, YouTube needs to be a part of your Chatham-Kent social networking campaign. YouTube is now being used for marketing anything from major corporations to tiny sporting clubs. Creating a YouTube channel is easy; all you need is a digital camera, video camera, or even a quality cell phone, and your computer. Uploading top plays by athletes on your team allows instant access by millions of viewers and will promote your players, draw in fans, and build your program.
Blogs:
One way to connect your Chatham social networking efforts is to run a blog. Blogging has become a vital component of social media in sports and business. Blogs are readily available and can help keep fans connected to news, events, scores, and even give personal looks at players. A blog is a great way to keep fans connected and help link them to your other social networking profiles. On your blog, you can include photos, registration or ticket information, schedules, and statistics.
Social networking in Chatham-Kent is beginning to take off. Whether you’re involved in hockey, football, tennis, figure skating, soccer, or archery, utilizing the power of social media in sports will help your team connect to players, parents, and coaches, and to grow and communicate with your community fan base.
Want to connect with Ian Kennedy? Check out his official blog, follow him on Twitter @InstantReplayIK, or become a fan of his Facebook page.
Need help kicking off your sport team’s social networking campaign? Contact CIK Marketing – we can help!
If you think Internet marketing is only for multi-national businesses, think again. There are dozens of Internet marketing tools out there that small businesses can use to connect and engage local customers. Whether you’re looking to reach customers down the street, across town, or within your region, an online local marketing plan can help ensure you are doing everything in your power to attract valuable local visitors to your Chatham, Ontario company website.
Local marketing checklist for small businesses
1) Focus on geographic-specific keywords.
The vast majority of shoppers rely on search engines when trying to find information about products and services. Optimizing your site for geographic-specific keywords will help ensure that local searchers can find your company in these results. To do this, make sure that you pay special attention to the title of your page, the construction of your URL address, and the subtitles in your published content. If you’re a Chatham, Ontario company specializing in automotive repair, use keyword phrases like “Chatham-Kent car repair” and “Chatham Ontario auto shop” to ensure that local searchers can find your content. Just remember – if you have multiple pages for each town or city you service, make sure your content is unique. Search engines tag duplicate content and will penalize you for black hat optimizing practices.
2) Sign-up for accounts on free review sites.
Once you’ve optimized your site for local search, it’s time to take advantage of free search tool accounts. These tools provide ratings and review for various services, and allow customers to comment on the quality of your business. Two major sites worth checking out include Google Places (formerly Google Local) and Yelp.
- Google Places requires you register your business online, then verifies that you are the owner of the company by either calling you or mailing a confirmation code to your place of business. Once you’ve completed the registration process, you have the option of adding additional features, like photos, hours of operation, and product features to your business profile. Google Places listings appear when a geographical search, such as “Chatham, Ontario plumber” is executed in Google’s search engine. Google announced a slew of new features to this program just last week, including new advertising tags and service areas.
- Yelp has quickly emerged as the leading consumer review site on the Internet; not only does it receive high priority in search engine results, but consumers really trust the user-submitted reviews. In order to create a listing with Yelp, simply visit the site and search for your business. Chances are, you’re already listed! To claim your listing, fill in a short registration form and Yelp will call you to verify your account. Chatham, Ontario businesses are able to include special promotions on their profile, as well as announce in-store events. You’re also able to message reviewers on the site – don’t forget to take advantage of this feature. Engaging customers is one of the top objectives in social media, and one of the fastest ways to ensure repeat business from a satisfied client.
3) Reach out to local Chatham, Ontario websites and bloggers.
If you’re looking to connect with local customers online make sure you have a strong presence on popular local websites. Not sure where to look in Chatham, Ontario? Well, why not start with the bloggers section of CKSeek? This useful resource lists a handful of the area’s most proficient bloggers and includes links to their websites. If you have some room in your budget for advertising, consider purchasing some banner space on local sites like the Chatham Kent Daily Post or the CKTimes. Better yet, why not submit a press release to both news sites? Your story could be posted on the front page for the entire community to see!
In a recent interview with WebProNews, Google Maps, Earth and Local VP John Hanke noted that “one out of five searches on Google are related to location.” Make sure your Chatham, Ontario online marketing strategy is helping ensure your business is being found by local searchers. Drop us a line here at CIK and we’ll provide you with all of the tools you need to get started.
