Advertising your club?

[wingnut]

I'm curious what types of advertising clubs have done to promote themselves in your areas.

We have a smallish club (in a growing community) and would like to find a way to get the word out to others. I've thought about TV commercials, but that seems WAY expensive.

Does anyone have any experiences that you can provide that made a positive difference for your club?

Thanks.

[Craig]

Moving to the clubs section.

You should check your local (community) newspapers. Advertising in them is fairly cheap and the moms read those, so you'll get the interest from those looking for an after school activity/class for their kids.

As a general rule, look at where your competition is. (And by competition I mean the karate schools, fitness clubs, etc. that are going for the same target market you are.)

Craig

[remistress]

One thing we have thought of is advertising in pre-movie ads in theaters...especially for kid's movies, or swashbuckling type films. I'm not sure how pricey that gets, however.

[wingnut]

Originally Posted by remistress

One thing we have thought of is advertising in pre-movie ads in theaters...especially for kid's movies, or swashbuckling type films. I'm not sure how pricey that gets, however.

Thats not a bad idea, I'll look into that. I know Regal Cinemas has a system in place already...... hmmmmmmm........

[Hokiiaidoka]

As a marketing major I thought I might throw out some ideas for you . When looking into different ads, you are right about T.V., it is way to expensive for a local club. What you are looking for is a local high intensity cheap advertisement. These are what I can think of for under $1000.

One month - Billboard
Probably....six radio ads

I would also look into doing something at the movie theatre NOT necessarily a pre-show ad. I have seen a lot of clubs have success by doing demos at the theatre. The theatre likes it because you are providing their patrons extra entertainment, and you get more exposure. Now, doing demos is really the best way to go. Go to EVERY community festival, fair, learning annex, ANYWHERE that will book you. Generally demos are cheap if not free.

[eekoloops]

I used the Parks and Rec Department in my town. They print a really nice brochure and suddenly a buch of students showed up at my door. They take a cut of $10 per student for a begginers program, 8 weeks w/ no other fees, and I hope to retain these students on my own.

Good luck

[cyranorocks]

The Public Affairs or Transportation Offices of most military bases send WelcomePackets, huge bundles of materials (local maps, fliers, newsletters, brochures, dining out guides, etc) to servicemembers and civilians who are moving soon to that base. These Welcome Packets, or the materials that constitute them, are available to servicemembers or civs when they arrive, as well.

If you are in a military town, getting a simple tri-fold pamphlet into a Welcome Packet should reach a LOT of in-shape young men and women looking to make some social connections in a new town, as well as staying in shape.

Introductory classes at military gyms might be good outreach, a well.

Many clubs do litle to reach out to military personnel, deeming the investment not worth it for a transient population. A shame, really.

Hope this helps.

[remistress]

I Am helping open a club out here in Nothern California, and according to some reasearch I've done there are a few options I didn't initially think about. Two fairly good options are advertising in school newsletters or writing an article for the local magazine. School advertisements are fairly inexpensive and eager to sell you ad space. Writing an article can be free advertising if the article is about fencing and mentions your club.

[RITFencing]

Whereabouts in norcal?

[tlucente]

We (Richmond Fencing Club) have had good luck with flyers posted in the windows of friendly businesses in a local shopping district, and with yard signs. I was able to get 50 2-sided/2-color corrugated plastic yard signs with stakes for about $230. In the first 2 days of having them in my front yard (high traffic area near a stoplight), we had 4 kids sign up for classes...almost doubling the investment in the signs.

We've also done every requested demo, even if it has questionable obvious value, been in the Richmond paper several times, on the local TV station a few times (my Wife taught the local morning anchor to fence on camera right before the 2004 Olympics), and promptly answer every info e-mail.

Even with all that, I have to say that our website (nothing special, certainly) and the name of the Club, since when someone types "fencing in Richmond" we'll be at the top of the list, are our best marketing assets. Having a quirky name like "Salle de Blood and Guts" sounds cool until you realize that no one will "guess" that'll be the name of the local Club they are trying to find.

[The Armourer]

Here in the UK I have registered our club at the County Library Service and on the Borough Council website - it costs nothing. We find we get most of our enquiries through contact via our website (its having a make-over at the moment and will be relaunched soon).

We have had RFC Business Cards printed and we give these out to any interested person that makes an enquiry via one of our members at fencing competitions.

[edew]

I've been working very hard in this area for the past 6 months or so. One thing I learned from speaking to the person who's helping me is that any sort of advertising that is not somehow coordinated with a general marketing plan is just wasted money.

First off, you need to find the message you want to make. What makes your club unique, among fencing clubs, among fitness companies, among businesses in general. Then look at who will want to buy that. Then make a consistent set of messages to explain that.

Also, finish with an offer.

[remistress]

Originally Posted by RITFencing

Whereabouts in norcal?

Santa Rosa

[Cardinalred]

Also, finish with an offer.

An offer? Such as?

I'm glad I found this thread. There's a lot of interesting ideas that my club hasn't thought of yet, but I will be sure to mention at our next officer's meeting. We'll be starting our next open class soon and so now's the time to start thinking of ways to put ourselves out there.

[LesleighSabre1988]

maybe somewhere on campus during welcome weekend (maybe the red barn) would let us have a demo there. we could get food donated, and my roomie's co-ed fraternity would probably be willing to help out if we needed more people... they are always looking for things like that to do. we could get food donated, maybe find a way to show a fencing-type movie... something that people are familiar with (zorro, pirates of the caribbean) to bring in people. pirate party! so tht 1. it wouldn't be just fencing all the time, and 2. there will be things for people to "do"... i dunno... just an idea.

[thekoby]

I'm in the same situation with my club. I've been pushing for a universal marketing theme the past two years and just recently started to get things rolling.

Before the end of last semester we did demos at all the dorm buildings in front of the hall council members and RAs for that dorm to let them know there is an alternative lifestyle available on campus during the weeknights (since BSU is one of the higher rated party schools in the nation). Another thing we've been doing is at the start of every school year Ball State holds an activity fair so incoming freshmen can see what clubs and groups are available on campus. We get a table next to a window and hold demonstrations outside behind the table.

Something I started this year was business cards. We've done a few demos out in the public at health fairs (since fencing is the main reason I've been able to keep off those dreaded college pounds), and those members who weren't doing the demo were handing out the business cards with some info and our web address to people who asked about us. I also created a YouTube account for our club and will be posting videos from practices and tournaments on there. It's not much, but since we are limited to only BSU students and can't take in general public I'm hoping that it will work.

Have you thought about advertising through your college's TV station?? Ball State does advertising on their local TV station for on-campus events. I think it's around $10 for a 10 second slide.

[Cardinalred]

Koby (and I like how you're not just ANY Koby, ney, you're THE Koby!), I really like the idea of the business cards. That's one that has stood out the most to me, simply because it would be quick and easy to distribute basic information. Myself and other club members could carry a couple with us at all times. So often, it seems, someone finds out that I'm a fencer and they want more information and all I can give them is the basics because carrying fliers at all time or even brochures is too cumbersome. Business cards however, I could carry a couple in my wallet and distribute whenever someone seems interested. Once I run out, I pick more up from a stash back at the club.

As for advertising on the College's TV Station, well, we don't have a college TV station. We just very recently got our radio station back after some riggermaroll about it, and some trouble they had gotten into with it. Even then, it's not in much shape at the moment so for now those options are out. Supposedly, they wrote an article about us in the paper however, which DOES get read quite a bit. That, along with various "lifestyle" type papers that're distributed through the city are avenues of advertisement that I plan to pursue a bit further than we have in the past.

But I love the idea of business cards!!!

[thekoby]

I was able to throw together a quick card layout in Photoshop, burn the image to CD and took it Staples. I had 400 cards printed for $25, so it wasn't really that expensive either. Just plain white background, regular card stock, nothing fancy. It really is a lot easier than passing out flyers, IMHO.

[Cardinalred]

I like the idea of both, myself. For larger events such as demonstrations, having a flier to hand out would be perfect. For something more informal, then having the business cards would work just as well.