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Sports Marketing

Discover the proper definition of sports marketing, subdivisions of sports marketing, segmentations in different types of strategies, how we can help you out and a lot more interesting info and links to help you further with your search! Need help improving your sports marketing strategy?

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What we'll cover:
Marketing vs sportmarketing

What is sports marketing?

“So what’s your job exactly?” “I work in sports marketing.” Oh, what’s that? Wait, you manage athletes? You organize sports events? No you sponsor teams? Well, yes and no. The term sports marketing is used in so many ways that even professionals within the industry aren’t aligned in which contexts sports marketing applies. Basically, it’s all of the above. Before I’ll give you the description of sports marketing, let’s start with the definition of marketing in itself: 

  • ico-yellow-16px Marketing

Marketing is the way you promote your business in order to achieve your goals. Specific goals are divided into sales / business goals such acquiring more customers or selling more tickets, while marketing goals include data capturing or brand awareness.

  • ico-yellow-16px Sports Marketing

Now sports marketing is defined as a subpart of general marketing. It is seen as a distinctive branch within marketing because our industry has specific characteristics which differ from other markets.

Our definition of sports marketing?

“Sports marketing is a subdivision of general marketing which focusses both on the promotion of sports, sports teams, sports event, athletes or products as well as on the promotion of non-sports related products through athletes and sports events.”

What we do

Sports marketing specialities

There are three distinctive subbranches within sports marketing, each with their own specific goals and approaches.

  • ico-yellow-16px Marketing through sport

“Marketing through sports refers to the use of sporting events, teams and individual athletes to promote non-sports related products.” This is basically a synonym of sports sponsorship. When professionals talk about sports marketing, this is the type of sports marketing that is usually referred to. The most popular example here is Red Bull, which is thé icon for extreme sports, though the product itself is not sports related. Also many banks or airlines use this approach. 

  • ico-yellow-16px Marketing of sports

Marketing of sports is the promotion of businesses in the sports industry. Examples are the advertising of sports event and sports associations such as the Olympics, La Liga or specific sports teams such as Manchester United.”  The goal here is for people to go watch this sport and fan engagement will play a crucial goal to reach the business goals here. Generally the definition stops here, but this is a very limiting description. At MySueno, we see it as marketing for any business active in the sports industry. Including sports nutrition brands, clothing brands, sportstech companies, … 

  • ico-yellow-16px Grassroots sportmarketing

The last type is the promotion of sports to the public in order to increase sports participation. It is categorized within social marketing, as this benefits the public. You’ll be promoting existing sports and new sports such as frisbee, bossaball or earthing – bet you didn’t know that last one yet, did you? 😉 The main goal is to enthuse people and especially kids to get to know the sport, have fun whilst doing it and to become a regular player. In most countries, this is managed by governmental or non-profit organizations rather than private sector organizations as this doesn’t generate as much revenue as other forms of sports marketing.

Creating a sports marketing strategy

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Assuming you’re working on a marketing strategy for a sports brand or grassroots sport, these are the steps you should follow to create your sports marketing plan. If you’re looking for marketing through sports, check out our sponsorship page. 

Knowing who your ideal customer is, what their needs and habits are and where to reach them is the core of a successful marketing strategy.

WHO

ico-grey-16px Who's your ideal customer
Define the WHY of your business in order to create a good sportmarketing strategy.

WHY

ico-purple-16px What's your vision?
A sport marketing strategy consists out of 4 crucial elements

WHAT

ico-blue-16px Your marketing strategy
How and when will you execute your sport marketing strategy? That's one of our specialties at MySueno.

WHEN & HOW

ico-yellow-16px The action plan
Knowing who your ideal customer is, what their needs and habits are and where to reach them is the core of a successful marketing strategy.
  • ico-blue-16px It's all about understanding

WHO - Your ideal customer

And be perfectly aware about what they needs are, on which channels they’re active online, what they’re willing to pay and which information they need to receive to perform your desired action. This will obviously depend strongly on the type of sports they’re in as they all have their own subculture and values.

This will be translated into a persona and buyer journey mapping. Where we will use data, company insights and qualitative research to define your perfect customer and their buyer journey towards your product or service. 

  • ico-blue-16px Based on their needs you create your

WHY - Positioning & identity

In your business strategy, you will define why your company exists, which need you’re addressing and what makes you different from your competitors. This includes your market definition: which activities you’re going to perform (now ànd in the future), and where you business boundaries lie. You should decide on which position you will claim in the market. This is crucial to define your marketing strategy as it is the foundation on which your branding, visual identity and website (your online identity, shop and name card) will be based on. 

Define the WHY of your business in order to create a good sportmarketing strategy.

WHAT - Your Marketing Strategy

This is always done with the needs of your ideal customer and the channels on which he is active in mind. You also take into account how much they want to pay and what information they need. We call this determining the persona that is crucial to start the buyer journey, which is how you can determine the 4 Ps of your marketing strategy. This is actually quite an old model. The 4Cs are often referred to but this model is most compatible with the inbound marketing model we always use for communication. 

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Product

How will you offer value to your customer?

Product

How are you going to provide value for your customer. Have you thought about flexible intro-offers to lower the barrier for new customers? Which product launches are scheduled and which promotions throughout the year.
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Pricing

What is your offering worth to your customer?

Pricing

What is the pricing you're going to implement towards different offerings and different customers. Have you thought about packages, upselling offers and loyalty pricing? Will your pricing be the same across all channels?
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Place

Where will you sell your product or service?

Place

Where are you going to sell your products? Through your own webshop? Through affiliates? Amazon, bol.com or Coolblue? Or brick & mortar stores. Will this approach be equal across countries?
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Promotion

Through which channels will you reach your customer?

Promotion

Through which channels are you going to reach your ideal target audience? How are you going to split your advertising budget between your "always-on"-channels and campaigns?
More about communication strategy

This all comes together in your inbound marketing strategy, where you’ll define how you will attract – convert – close – and delight your customers. 

  • ico-blue-16px Make it actionable

HOW - Planning & implementation

Once the marketing plan has been created, it’s time to create a detailed planning, set up KPIs and calculate budgets.Which building blocks do you need to perform this strategy? Which skills or partners do you need for the execution and what will be the cost of the next steps.

How and when will you execute your sport marketing strategy? That's one of our specialties at MySueno.

Sports marketing clients

It was a pleasure to work with Julie! She is a fast deliverer and has an attitude of great professionalism: she is proactive, focused on detail, interested and hardworking. Does all the tasks quickly and well. A great asset to any team. Julie was in charge of the strategy and detailed workflow creation of the NN Running Club community. As a community manager she defined the structure of ads, posts, mailings, and partly frontend platform features. Julie is also a very nice and attentive person to work with, a real asset to any team! 
Energy labRobin Decottignies - Account Manager
Energy lab
Julie has worked with us as an external advisor and consultant on various sports related projects. She's always very proactive and asks the right questions from the start in order to get the job done! She's able to bring focus and define the best possible actions for a particular project while still having the broader picture and the end goal in mind. I'd truly recommend working with Julie if you're looking for support regarding your sports marketing strategy.
SportUP - STRN - VictorisKristof De Mey - Sports Technology, Innovation & business Development
SportUP - STRN - Victoris
“Julie gave us a fresh look on the (sports)market of today and tomorrow. She posesses a contageous portion of energy and provides tools which make the world of marketing instantly accessible and implementable. It felt like we got sucked into the head of our consumers.”
Fros multisport VlaanderenMartine Verheyen
Fros multisport Vlaanderen
I had a great experience working with MySueño. As a start-up it was super convenient that I had a marketing strategist & branding specialist by my side but only when I needed it. Julie developed the full marketing launch strategy but also gave me acces to her wide network in the sports/marketing industry. Thank you for the great work so far & looking forward to the next steps!
Cyclo StudioEnzo Maenhaut - Owner
Cyclo Studio
Julie combines a very profound digital expertise with pragmatic solutions. She is a very valuable link between our Brand Managers and the digital agencies for all our digital plans. Moreover, Julie is a very nice person to work with. Therefore, I would really recommend Julie for anyone who wants to optimise their digital ecosystem. Looking forward to continue working with Julie for our future plans and for further optimisation!
EGLieve Pattyn - Marketing Director
EG
I had the pleasure to work with Julie in her first role at Etixx & more recently at Polar. Julie is a very dynamic, hungry & positive marketing professional. Julie is only happy when the job is done and the results are there. She quickly identifies opportunities and knows how to structure various tasks. She works fast-paced and communicates very open and honest. I would work with her again when the opportunity arises.
Polar ElectroKoen Demyttenaere - Marketing Director
Polar Electro
“Julie is a top consultant in communication strategy and implementation. She brings structure, works very hands-on and to-the-point. I can highly recommend Julie when you need help with your communication challenges.”
SportkompasBruno D'Hulster - Social Entrepreneur
Sportkompas
I had the pleasure of working with Julie when we were both consultants at EG. She came in as a whirlwind - with an incredible capacity to cope with masses of work. She not only masters the aspects of digital technology but also combines a clear strategic vision with a very strong 'let's do it' attitude and appropriate focus on cost-effectiveness. This unique skill set allows her to really make a difference to the business in a short period of time with sometimes limited budgets.
EG - Business Consultant Katty De Bruyne
EG - Business Consultant
Julie worked for Moov-IT as a Corporate Wellness consultant and gave a guest lecture to one of our clients on the "Psychology of Motivation" related to the gamification of apps. Julie is a dream to work with. She studied and used all input from our current presentations and knowledge center and transformed them into something even better! Julie is super independent, highly skilled, autodidact and takes on a project van A to Z, even to Z+++! To our delight she added her personal touch & branding insights helping our company taking it to the next step. We'll definitely keep working with Julie and MySueño!
Moov-ITGriet Johanna Vandenhouweele - CEO
Moov-IT
Julie is a driven & passionate marketeer with a large knowledge of website development, e-commerce, contentmarketing, social media … with implementation on an international level. Her presentation skills are excellent! She has a very ‘natural’ flair in doing ‘business’ with external partners and is always open for input and eager to improve.
Etixx Sports NutritionMietje Kestelyn - Brand Manager Belgium
Etixx Sports Nutrition
Julie's understanding of technology and the relationship between business needs and digital enablement was insightful and the reason for online success of the Etixx brand. Julie was able to implement solutions supporting business objectives with limited budget and resources. She handled business relationships while also interacting with technical teams. Julie's work is detailed and she has excellent communication skills. I look forward to crossing paths again with future initiatives.
PerrigoAnthony Hogan - Senior Director Commercial Solutions
Perrigo
I've had the pleasure to work with Julie, by the time she was at the International Etixx Team. As a distributor she ofered us great and efective tools to activate the brand in our country. As a professional i think she is so talented, with a so remakable vision and understanding on digital world and it's opportunities. As a professional I would always like to have Julie playing for my team.
Etixx Sports NutritionJordi Clapés Oleart
Etixx Sports Nutrition
Julie gave a workshop about the go-to-market strategy as a mentor for Sport-UP boost. The workshop overflowed in its quality and I noticed the start-ups really got it. She was able to respond quickly to individual cases and gave very down to earth advice. The balance between examples and personalised advice was very good. I would give the session a 9 out of 10.
Sport-UP Nico Delleman
Sport-UP
The cooperation with MySueño for the Cycling World Cup was professional and dynamic from the very beginning. The creative input in terms of contemporary marketing techniques was a real added value. The courage and willingness to leave well-trodden paths when promoting major sports events was inspiring. The informal contacts - an important lubricant in any cooperation - were also spontaneous and infectious. That their patience was sometimes tested on this project thriving within a government context will have been a good learning experience for later, similar marketing assignments....
Sport VlaanderenFrank Bulcaen - Coordinator Policy and Projects
Sport Vlaanderen
Julie's team at MySueno provides communication and marketing solutions tailored to your organization in a smooth, professional and proactive manner and gives an extra push to your communication operation after a thorough analysis of your communication actions.
Sportdienst Stad GentElvira Verleyen - Onthaal & Sportpromotie
Sportdienst Stad Gent
We, Korok and Dita -hockey brand of Decathlon-, enjoy working with MySueño and Julie. I came to them with a very specific question and they offered me a personalised offer to work on the brand identity of both brand AND other things we needed help with. They offer us everything we need: they work quick; great quality; co-creation; great follow-up; flexibility;... I really recommend them and if you have any questions, please contact me!
DecathlonLeentje Van Meirhaeghe
Decathlon
With Decathlon, we called on Julie from MySueño to facilitate the writing of our sports marketing plans. Throughout the process, Julie assisted us with theoretical frameworks as well as practical tips and together we looked for solutions tailored to our business. The collaboration completely met our expectations and we may work together again in the future!
Decathlon BelgiumBram Candries - Marketeer
Decathlon Belgium
Discover all about Sport Marketing and how we can help you at MySueno.
Expertise domains

Sports Marketing - how we can help

Knowing who your customer is, what their needs are and fully understanding their buyer journey is key during your marketing strategy. It’s safe to say that you cannot create a good strategy if these are not clearly defined. 

This will define which position you will claim in the market compared to your competitors. This includes your market definition: which activities will you perform (now or in the future) and where will your business stop. This is a crucial step in your marketing strategy as this should define your visual identity, branding and pricing strategy. 

A good visual identity and tone of voice  is a crucial aspect of your marketing strategy. We have talented partners who can create this for you under my guidance. I’ve also worked on projects where I advised the internal brand manager on branding projects performed by external agencies or partners.

I see a good, SEO proof website as part of your marketing strategy rather than your communication strategy, as this is basically your online store, and represents your business online. Even long before starting to communicate it. 

A good marketing strategy will be the groundwork of your communication: who will you target, what will be your pricing and commercial plan, through which channels will you sell your offering and through which channels will you reach your target audience. 

The Go-2-Market strategy will give you a general overview of how you will approach the market. Which will be your sales channels, who are your target audiences and how will you reach them. 

Here we will define the main communication channels through which you can reach your ideal audience and your goal with the biggest ROI. Creating a 360° channel strategy, where digital strategy is not a separate section, profession of job, but part of the overall strategy will help you reach your goals in no time. 

The content strategy is the translation of the communication strategy into content items. While communication will tell us what we will do, content strategy goes deeper into the messages we’re sending out. Your general content strategy will display your tone of voice, type of imagery used and other branding subsections such as colors, fonts and brand hashtags. 

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