Credit : USA Swimming – usaswimming.org
So you want to bring in some new swimmers? Marketing to attract new members is more than posting a flyer, designing a new logo, or getting an article in the local paper; marketing for swim clubs is about communicating the benefits of your club to current members, prospective families and potential community supporters.
WHY MARKET YOUR CLUB? – The obvious reason most clubs market is to recruit new members into their program; but thinking about marketing can also help a club to:
• Retain current members
• Secure team or event sponsorship
• Increase support from community stakeholders All of the reasons above can and should increase the revenue for your club so any resources spent on marketing should have a monetary benefit to your club. To simplify, good marketing = increase in revenue.
RECRUITING V. RETENTION – Both attracting new members (recruiting) and increasing swimmer retention can help to grow your club. While the resources in this packet will focus on attracting new members, many of the concepts and even some of the materials can be used with your current membership. Just remember when growing your club think about BOTH recruiting and retention.
THE FIRST STEP:
KNOWING WHO YOU ARE – The primary goal of marketing is to let customers know why they would benefit from being associated with your club. But first, you need to establish the identity and value of your team. Spend some time thinking about three to four benefits and values that you want to associate with your club. These might already be listed in your team’s mission or vision statement. Once you have figured this out, make sure everyone affiliated with your club knows them as well as you do. Word of mouth from your membership is often the best marketing technique.
WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE? – After you know who you are, you need to figure out what makes you different and unique from your competition. Remember, your competition is not just the club down the road. It might be another sport or activity that potential swimmers in your area could participate in. One way to determine what makes you unique is to identify something that you do better than someone else. Some examples could include producing Olympic trial qualifiers, lower team fees, convenient pool locations, coaching staff experience, and team travel trips. It is important to narrow these benefits to the one, two or three things that differentiate your team. If you can get it down to one,all the better!
YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH – Can you summarize your club in less than 30 seconds? Being able to state what makes your club the best or most unique in 30 seconds or less is necessary for a proper sales pitch. You need to be able spark interest in your club with a minimum of words.
1 ATTRACTING NEW MEMBERS 101
WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER? – Do you know who is making the decision to join your club? Sometimes it might be the athlete, sometimes it might be the parent. Your customer could also be a local businessperson who you are trying to get to sponsor your team or meet. You also need to know what your customer hopes to gain from your club. Do they want to make it on a National Team? Or do they just want some basic fitness? No matter the reason, customize your message for that particular audience. You want to let them know how your club is uniquely positioned to meet their needs.
WHO IS YOUR COMPETITION? – Knowing who and what you are up against is important while attempting to distinguish yourself from the pack. As we said earlier, your competition is not always the other swim club in town.It might be soccer leagues, baseball leagues, the economy, band practice, etc. Knowledge of your competitors will allow you to customize your message so that it will separate you from your competitors.
DEVELOPING MATERIALS – Once you know the answers to the questions above, developing the materials is the easy part. No matter the vehicle you use to communicate, your marketing message will be created using the answers above. Your materials should convey to your target audience the exact benefits of joining your club and what makes you unique. More than likely there is someone affiliated with your club (assistant coach, parent, etc) that can do some design work for you to help you best communicate the message. Also, remember you do not always need physical marketing materials.
“Word of mouth” marketing is often the most powerful marketing tool you have available. USA Swimming also has some America’s Swim Team Themed materials available for download and to use in your efforts or for inspiration.
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