How To Target Sports Fans With Aerial Marketing July 8, 2014
In the days of a few monolithic broadcasters, it was easy to target sports fans with a handful of ad purchases. But audiences have fragmented with the explosion of sports advertising. Fans have multiple channels to get their sports news, including but not limited to 24/7 cable sports channels, social media, sports websites, and sports radio. It sounds like a daunting challenge, but don’t worry — sports marketing, and especially aerial advertising at sporting events, offers a lot of potential benefits for companies of all sizes.
First, though, it’s important to understand why marketing through sports is so valuable. The core reason is that sports fans have passion and devotion to their teams at a level that’s hard to find in any other area of entertainment. You’re able to leverage that passion by targeting your brand and message to the sports and teams that your target audience loves. When a brand gets connected in the minds of fans to a team, event or venue, fans start building loyalty to that brand. On top of that, sports fans attend games to relax and spend time with friends and family, so messages delivered via aerial marketing have a better chance of sinking in than during their hectic day-to-day lives
Companies often approach sports marketing from the standpoint of sponsorships, the premier form of sports marketing. Smart aerial advertising around a sporting event extends a pricey sponsorship and strengthens the connection in fans’ minds, ensuring that you get the most from your advertising spend.
For example, a company that sponsored a NASCAR driver flew aerial banners at a subsequent race congratulating him on a win. A sponsor of a college football team flew a banner supporting it when the school reached the national championship game. Fans notice gestures like those. In part because of the strength of such connections, an article from Forbes reports that sponsorships have risen from almost an afterthought to one of the most important tools in the marketing tool belt.
Of course, sports sponsorships are expensive and require an ongoing commitment, so they’re not the best fit for every company. However, sports events draw people from all walks of life, so whether you’re trying to reach middle-income consumers or find high-end business-to-business opportunities, you want your brand to be visible. Fortunately, sports events bring passionate fans into a concentrated area, so you’re able to save money and get your message seen with aerial ads.
Many companies don’t explore how they could benefit from marketing through sports, but aerial marketing reduces the cost to entry. For example, flying an ad around a New York Giants game or a New York Jets game costs the same as flying an ad around the New Jersey beaches. Bulk discounts lower the cost further for companies that want to, for example, target season ticket holders and improve message recall by flying all of a football team’s home games.
Whether you want to strengthen the impact of your sponsorship or just want a unique and cost-effective way to reach an important audience, there’s a sporting event out there for you. Find a way to use aerial advertising to integrate your brand with the event or team to make an impact on fans and spread your message.