Social Media for Sports Facilities

Social media is a powerful tool for any sports business to leverage. Knowing what to post, where to post, and how to post are important details for a facility owner or manager to know.

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Did You Know?

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Many believe that parents are the primary decision-makers in the household, but research is continuing to support the influence that children have not only in household decision-making but also on household purchases.

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Research from The Insights Family highlighted how 57% of parents in the UK agreed that their child as young as 1-3 years old influences their purchase of household essentials. This influence also extends to larger household items like smartphones, kitchen appliances, and cars. The child’s impact on large household purchases is growing by over 12% between 2020 and 2021.

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Why does this matter?

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If a child can influence their parents on the purchase of a car, chances are a pre-teen can influence them on the purchase of a batting cage membership.

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This influence may start through social media consumption. Little Johnny sees his fellow teammates training at a facility in town, visits their website, and sees a cage membership costs only $100 a month - a drop in the bucket compared to the phone his parents bought him just last year. Especially as children consume social content younger and younger, learning how to target your posts towards this demographic rather than strictly towards parents can be a key strategy in maximizing your facility's profitability.

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With their influence in mind, knowing which platform to reach your younger target audience on is crucial to driving business growth. Statistics from 2023 by Act for Youth show teens using YouTube (71%), TikTok (58%), Snapchat (51%), and Instagram (47%) daily.

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Whereas usage shifts to LinkedIn and Twitter in the over-30 crowd, and then further into Facebook in the over-50 crowd based on data from Statista.

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So Where Should I Post?

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To take a page out of Garyvee’s book, literally - everywhere.

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Now on a more serious front, as a facility owner or manager, your time is already extremely limited. You don’t need to stress about making Snapchat stories, BeReals, Reels, Tweets, TikToks, Hashtags, or one of the million micro forms of content that exist today. 

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Rather, narrow your focus and the message of your content to a platform that is best suited for it. Planning on running a new summer camp? Blast it on Facebook, LinkedIn, and maybe Instagram. Have an athlete who did something cool? Record it for a TikTok.

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It sounds easy on paper, but in practicality, it might take some time to find your voice and the platforms that suit your business the best.

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But if there’s one thing to take away from this post it’s to not discount the effect even your youngest members will have on the spending of those footing the bill.

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Social Media, Starting From Nothing:

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Okay, you understand now you need different content for different platforms. Maybe some informative content for the parents, and something more eye-catching for the kids. But how can you actually get started?

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Let’s discuss three quick ways you can get started tomorrow with developing content and strategies for your social media.

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1. Getting Setup

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Out the gate, we recommend heading to every platform to grab a consistent handle. This might be hard to do depending on your facility name, a few things to look for in a good handle: 

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• Short as possible
• Easy to remember
• Consistent across platforms
• Avoid underscores if possible
• Either your business name, domain name, or something easily recognizable to your branding

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For more on finding the best handle for your business check out this guide on Brafton.com.

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2. College Internships

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Look at some of your more active members going off into post-secondary education close to home and see if they’d trade their time for a free membership and a chance to boost their portfolio/resume.

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Many students in a business or marketing program will be eligible (and potentially require) an internship component to their degree. If they’re already a varsity athlete and have experience training at your facility - chances are this might be a dream role for them! Be warned there may be some paperwork involved and requirements your business needs to comply with for them to earn credit(s).

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Instead, you can always go a more laid-back route. If there are any active members with some social media savvy, you can always ask if they’d trade their time for a free membership and a boost to their resume.

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With the help of your new social media intern, you can begin to define a brand voice, posting schedule, etc.

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3. User-Generated Content 

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No matter the size of your facility, you’ll have hundreds of athletes coming through your doors on a semi-regular basis. With the boom of micro-influencers, it seems like every athlete is well accustomed to posting their training online or promoting the brands they use.

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User-generated content (UGC), is recorded and posted by your members - taking much of the work off your hands. By tagging your facility, the UGC starts to build a sense of community and provide social proof for your businesses value. If members need some encouragement to post, you can always offer special gift cards, discount codes, or discounted services through a posting quota or a referral program.

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You can extend UGC to your instructors as well. The industry standard is moving more towards instructors posting informative content online or highlighting the success of their athletes. Many of the facilities I worked at baked in a 1-3 weekly post expectation into our contracts to help drive business.

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Next Steps

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This post should help you get up set up and running in the world of social. As your business progresses, you can focus on other channels for growth. This might include paid ads, email marketing, and other forms of direct marketing like a branded mobile app.

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Ready to take the next step?

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Swift can manage your email marketing, and scheduling, and even create a branded mobile app for your business with the ability to send push notifications directly to the hands of each member - skyrocketing your click rates on promotions or new services.

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Sounds interesting? Schedule a demo with a member of our team who can walk you through all Swift has to offer.

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