Poole 2018

[Grachan 7,314]

20 minutes ago, Skidder1 said:

Simple. get a database or several from other sources. Firstly try data from other sports -Poole have good relationships with other sports clubs - use the local print/audio/ local and regional tv media as well. Start an official (or support an unofficial) fan podcast.

If you want a younger audience then target the college and University populations with special offers via twitter, facebook etc etc.

Of course you have to provide the correctly packaged product once you've got them to attend............in the hope that they'll want to return on a regular basis!!

I feel that you are making the mistake of thinking that because you see things on your own Facebook and Twitter that people with no interest in speedway are going to be seeing these things too.

I don't know if a coffee shop is feasable (probably not in the current climate of coffee shops being dominated by major chains) but, if it was, it would make the name of the club a permanent fixture in the town centre if it was and would get the name out to a lot more people that facebook or twitter, which messages people who are signed up to receive them anyway.

A club podcast would be great for fans, but I'm not sure how that would anyone other than people who are already supporters of a club.

 

[stevebrum 6,819]

9 hours ago, jenga said:

its all small fry sport , until we make it bigger .

It's not going to get any bigger until we make the sport credible. 

Unless it's run independently that's not likely to happen. 

[Woz01 3,589]

A huge part of social media is things get shared/retweeted and people see it even if theyre not following them, people seem to be forgetting that. I always shared Coventry Bees information in the past and it got others popping along or at least asking me about it. I alone retweeting goes to 1000 people that follow me and a huge % of that is local. 

[poole keith 909]

4 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

I think somewhere like Poole which is so holidaymaker-rich in the summer months can only benefit from some kind of speedway presence in the town centre. Whether a coffee shop is the best idea I'm not sure but in essence it's a good concept.

you wont find any holidaymakers in the town centre unless its pouring with rain then the speedways off,target the beaches and beach car parks perhaps,skidders right about students 20 thousand of them i believe but it has to be a special package like horseracing does perhaps 3 or 4 times a yr,but if your too tight to finance a package they certainly wont be interested

[MattK 3,447]

5 minutes ago, poole keith said:

skidders right about students 20 thousand of them i believe but it has to be a special package like horseracing does perhaps 3 or 4 times a yr,but if your too tight to finance a package they certainly wont be interested

Won't the majority of university students go home over the summer, therefore missing a large part of the season? Difficult to generate loyalty towards a team when you miss half the meetings.

[poole keith 909]

fair point  matt but you still have april,may and  part of june plus part of sep say for 3 student specials,dont suppose the thousands that go to the horses are serious punters.£6 admission,free raffle for 10 winners to visit the pits,free raffle 2 winners ride on the parade lap,free raffle 20 winners watch 2 races from the centregreen  in groups of 5,fancy dress competition best 5 do parade lap as passenger on 500cc sidecars,sidecar races in interval,give free admission ticket to every student for a nightclub in bournemouth sure to be a club that would go for that, if they comeback its normal student prices or perhaps they will visit a track when they  are home

[BurntFaceMan 413]

5 hours ago, MattK said:

Social media is an echo chamber. How do you get the message outside of speedway regulars who are likely going to be the only people who follow Poole on Twitter/Facebook? 

That's a fundamental misunderstanding of how social media marketing works. It's not voodoo, it's a tried and tested formula that will grow the sport. A speedway themed coffee shop in Poole will only attract the old codgers that are already attending every week, whilst the young hip market you're trying to reach is sat in the Starbucks down the road scrolling through Facebook on their mobile phone.

Before you get started... this is a long post. But for those who aren't aware of how exactly social media works, it should prove an interesting read for you.

So the question... How do you get the message outside of speedway regulars who are likely going to be the only people who follow Poole on Twitter/Facebook?

Every time you interact with something on Facebook, whether it be a like, comment or share, those items are then also shown to your friends. Say you have 200 friends on Facebook, and you click the like button on a cat video, your one like therefore has the potential to reach your 200 friends. Say 2 of those friends also like that video, and they have 200 friends each, there is now another 400 people who have seen your post. In the industry we call this "reach". 

Now say all the clubs start promoting the Speedway GB Facebook page. It is being printed in every programme, it's being shown on every electronic display board and the announcers at every single club are telling you at each meeting to visit the Speedway GB Facebook page and hit that like button. Maybe you encourage them by saying that every month one lucky follower will win a family ticket? Merchandise? Etc.

Now say you've managed to build that page up to 50,000 followers. They've already got 16,000 followers so it's more than doable. You then create a short (professional, none of this amateur tosh) 60 second clip packed full of all the best bits of speedway. Some epic passes, some fighting between the riders, some scenes of packed grandstands, a few big crashes, and you share that to your Facebook page. Now your 50,000 followers interact with the video by hitting the like button, commenting or sharing. That video is then likely to be displayed to many thousands more people. That's how a Facebook page with 50,000 followers can reach 250,000 people or more with one post. A chunk of those people will also like the page. Rinse and repeat.

And the best part? You can now advertise to each and every one of these followers, every single day of the year and it won't cost a PENNY. Not only can you advertise to each and every one of them, but you can also segment your posts so that they are only seen by people living in certain regions. You can therefore plug every single meeting in advance and only local people will see the post. Social media works. 

And that's just one Facebook page. You get every club doing this, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and you start giving away free passes, free merchandise, sharing epic clips and generally interacting with the fans and before you know it you have a marketing powerhouse at your fingertips and it's not cost you more than the annual wage of 1 or 2 staff members split between all the clubs. 

This coffee shop nonsense, although a nice idea, is just another step backwards. It will be another waste of money with little to no return, that will only further convince the dinosaurs in this industry that advertising and marketing doesn't work. 

Edited January 2, 2018 by BurntFaceMan

[Pirate Rich 40]

What about doing something at the bike night, which I presume still happens on the Quay every Tuesday from about April? I have attended it a few times and never even seen a poster advertising the speedway! Surely it would be possible to have a bike on display at least, maybe hand some promotional leaflets out. There are always hundreds of people there who obviously have an interest in motorcycles.

[BurntFaceMan 413]

3 minutes ago, Pirate Rich said:

What about doing something at the bike night, which I presume still happens on the Quay every Tuesday from about April? I have attended it a few times and never even seen a poster advertising the speedway! Surely it would be possible to have a bike on display at least, maybe hand some promotional leaflets out. There are always hundreds of people there who obviously have an interest in motorcycles.

It's a drop in the ocean. Not only that, but you're targeting bike fanatics. Most of them probably already know of speedway. It's a waste of money for a minuscule return. It would be like handing out leaflets in a butchers for bacon. We need to stop this 90's approach to marketing and move with the times. That's not to say it's not a good idea, it's just that we need to stop spending big for small returns, and start being more tactical with our approach to marketing and attracting a younger audience.

Edited January 2, 2018 by BurntFaceMan

[poole keith 909]

how do all these young people find the time to read these 10s of thousands of facebook pages they are linked into?  shouldnt they be working or studying? or isnt that" hip "anymore? lol (dont take this post to seriously bfm)

[poolebolton 464]

So in actual news. 

 

Chris Holder was meeting Matt Ford today or Tommorrow to discuss a team spot!! 

 

[BurntFaceMan 413]

1 minute ago, poole keith said:

how do all these young people find the time to read these 10s of thousands of facebook pages they are linked into?  shouldnt they be working or studying? or isnt that" hip "anymore? lol (dont take this post to seriously bfm)

Haha I know you're joking, but it's actually a very interesting point. If you were to see every single post of every single friend or page you like on Facebook, you'd never get through them each day! That's where the Facebook algorithm kicks in. Facebook only shows you a small percentage of content from the pages and people you like each day. Facebook will generally show you a selection of the most popular content (which is why it's so important to get interactions on your posts such as likes, comments and shares), and a selection of paid content which advertisers pay Facebook to ensure you see. 

[BurntFaceMan 413]

4 minutes ago, poolebolton said:

So in actual news. 

 

Chris Holder was meeting Matt Ford today or Tommorrow to discuss a team spot!! 

 

And what is the source of this news?

[MattK 3,447]

6 minutes ago, poole keith said:

how do all these young people find the time to read these 10s of thousands of facebook pages they are linked into?  shouldnt they be working or studying? or isnt that" hip "anymore? lol (dont take this post to seriously bfm)

They don't. People filter out 99% of what appears on their time lines, in the same people filter out adverts on web sites.

[BurntFaceMan 413]

Just now, MattK said:

They don't. People filter out 99% of what appears on their time lines, in the same people filter out adverts on web sites.

Facebook controls what you see on your timeline. It's a selection of content that Facebook selects for you based on the popularity of the content, how often you interact with certain pages and the content which advertisers have paid to deliver directly to you.