What do you do if your sports marketing strategy needs a boost from new technology?

Sports organisations are approached every day by someone selling a tech solution. This brings more risk than opportunity. These products may all sound great if the salesperson is good enough - so you could burn through a lot of cash buying stuff you didn't know you needed. Chances are you may not need it. The key thing is - have a plan. Constantly assess your tech ecosystem: is it doing what we need in order to meet our objectives. Then, what new tech do we need? Proactively procure that tech - rather than reactively listening to the sales pitch of whoever made it into your inbox. Finally, use experts to do all of the above. Have tech experts on your side deciding what you need and sourcing it for you.

Suppose a sports club aims to enhance fan engagement and gather data for targeted marketing. Identifying the need for a technological boost, they recognise the challenge of competing for attention in a digital age while understanding their fans' desire for immersive experiences. To address this, they could deploy augmented reality (AR) experiences within their stadium app. For instance, fans could use AR to unlock exclusive content, participate in interactive games, or virtually meet players. By leveraging AR, the club enhances fan engagement, gathers valuable data on fan preferences, and stays competitive in the digital realm, as exemplified by clubs like FC Barcelona with their Camp Nou Experience app.

First, you need to understand what are the essential needs and what are the so-called 'nice to have' ones to make sure that you solve the first ones at the beginning. Then seek for the right tools to optimize the effect, automatize part of the effort and support your technical staff efficiently.

If your sports marketing strategy requires a boost from new technology, there are several steps you can take. Firstly, assess your current strategy and identify areas where technology could enhance performance or efficiency. Next, research and explore available technological solutions tailored to your specific needs. Whether it's leveraging data analytics for audience targeting or implementing immersive experiences through virtual reality, integrating innovative technology can revolutionise your approach to sports marketing. Finally, collaborate with tech experts or consult industry professionals to ensure seamless integration of new technology into your strategy, maximising its impact and effectiveness.

It is important for any sports marketer to set out their needs, challenges and goals from the outset and make sure that these align with, and will lead to tangible impact on work towards your strategy. If your needs and challenges do not align with your strategy, it may be that they aren't your true needs and the challenges you should be focusing on. Alternatively, your strategy could need a refresh. With so much technology out there, it is easy to overspend and pay for more tools than you need. I would always advise first asking "do we have current technology that can be used or adapted for this new challenge?" If you then decide you definitely need new tech, commit to doing research and seek impartial expert advice. Don't rush in.

When doing your research, it is critical that you identify the difference between what's "best prcatice" and what is right for your business. For example, just because everyone is diving into NFTs doesn't mean you have to. Just because a new social platform becomes popular doesn't mean you have to be on it. It is all about making the best of working within your means. Taking on any new tech and being a trailblazer can be scary, but if you see an opportunity that aligns with your needs, addresses your challenges and gives you a competitive advantage then pursue it. Don't let your fear hold you back.

If you have followed the right process and set out with the right mindset (addressing a clear need or challenge and thus focusing on a clear benefit) then at this stage the main focus is likely to be the cost and the future opportunities in using your new tech. The upskilling cost in new tech is often forgotten about, but its a critical element. Therefore, when choosing new tech it is worth seeing if anyone within your team already has experience with it. Think also about the training/longevity ratio. If this is a tech you need a few months but training will take 30% of that time, then is this the right tech for you? Also, make sure you are not over-investing in an overengineered solution that you won't fully use but will pay a lot for.

I cannot emphasise enough how important analytics and performance monitoring are in today's age. They are arguably the best ways to sift through noise, verify theories/hypotheses and filter out our own biases. The metrics you should use differ drastically based on what you are looking to achieve. However, whatever ones are chosen should be easy to understand and simple to report on. Beyond the metrics, it is vital that your analytics are paired with the right reporting. Reporting is critical to providing context to data and generating business-wide buy-in for plans and strategic decisions. Every business needs someone that can be the bridge between turning data and trends into actionable insights and business value.